FLOWERY BRANCH – Cleveland quarterback Brian Hoyer , who's set to face the Falcons at 1p.m. Sunday at the Georgia Dome, spoke to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution on Wednesday.
After beating out Johnny Manziel for the starting quarterback position, he’s guided the Browns to a 6-4 record and have them in the hunt for an AFC playoff berth.
Here’s what he had to say:
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Credit: D. Orlando Ledbetter
Q: What have you seen from the Falcons defense the last couple of weeks?
A: With coach (Mike) Nolan's defense you never really know what you're going to get. There are some base defenses that they always kind of revert back to, but he's definitely a game plan-type of coordinator. We know that he's going to have some type of system in place for how we play. There will probably be a few new looks. I think they've done a great job of that over the past few weeks and have used that to their advantage to get those turnovers. Sometimes it can be confusing for a quarterback with some of the coverages that they play. We have to be on top of our game. In the first quarter, we'll see what their game-plan is for us and we'll have to make some adjustments on the sideline.
Q: What has it been like getting wide receiver Josh Gordon back at practice this week?
A: It's so good to have him out there and get (the suspension) over with. We've had that cloud over our head … Josh is Josh. We all saw what he was capable of doing last year. Obviously, he hasn't played or practiced in 10 weeks. We are trying to bring him along at the right pace. He's Josh Gordon and he did what he did last year. It wasn't by coincidence. …we'll see how it plays out.
Q: With Ben Tate released on Monday, what do you expect to get from the two young running backs Isaiah Crowell and Terrance West?
A: The rookies do a good job of not dancing around too much. They get down the hill with the ball. A lot of that is due to our scheme, but they are still learning. Some time they kind of revert back to the college type of running. In this league, if there is a hole, it's going to close quickly. I think they've done a better job the last few weeks of getting the ball, getting downhill and hitting those holes. I think schematically, everybody in the league knows that we want to be able to run the ball. When we can do that, we are pretty successful on offense.
Q: How are your other receivers playing?
A: We have a lot of fast guys. I think the biggest thing is that especially with Josh being out, they all stepped up and made big plays. (Andrew) Hawkins, (Taylor) Gabriel, Miles Austin or Travis Benjamin (have all made plays.) We've done a good job of dispersing the ball amongst those guys.
Q: How has left tackle Joe Thomas performed this season?
A: Joe has been the rock of this organization since he's been here. He's been through so much turmoil, whether if it's new coaches or new players. He's the guy who's been here the longest and has been through so much. At this point now, he's kind of in uncharted territory where it's mid-November and we're playing meaningful games. He was talking about that the other day and how excited that he was to go play because at this point in the season he's usually not playing for much. He does a great job of being a leader for that offensive line, especially now that (center) Alex Mack is out. All of those guys look to him.
Q: How did you put up with the quarterback controversy with Johnny Manziel around?
A: While I was rehabbing and trying to come back, that really kept my mind off the controversy. I really focused on what I had to do. I think actually having that injury helped me through that time because I had to focus on getting back, getting healthy and learning a new system. I had so many things to focus on with myself that I really didn't focus on the stuff outside of the building.
FALCONS FAN MAILBAG: We take your questions from 11:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m. on Friday.
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