Rams coach Jeff Fisher spoke to the Atlanta media on Wednesday. Here’s what he had to say about the Falcons and the Rams:
On the Alex Mack and Aaron Donald matchup:
“You know, I’m just really impressed (with Mack). We’re early in the preparation week, but just really impressed with his quickness, his strength, his leverage, the ability to get down to the second level, his ability to help the guards. It’s really the first time I’ve really studied him in a few years, and he’s got some really good players lined up next to him as well. I’m really impressed with how the offensive line is playing.”
On what’s going on Todd Gurley and the run game. Why did he have just 11 carries last week:
“We got behind so that’s hard. We’ve not been the offense that we hoped to become this year. The numbers reflect that, but it has nothing to do with Todd personally. Todd is feeling great. He’s had some explosive plays. He’s had some good runs, but it’s a team oriented thing. What happens is when we are inefficient as we have been on third downs you just don’t get the opportunities. You just don’t get the extra drives, the extra shares and the extra touches. Todd is a great team guy. He’s working hard every day and we are going to continue to try to get the football to him.”
Any signs of frustrations from Gurley with his productivity:
“He’s working hard with the rest of the offense just to increase our production. I think we are all frustrated from an offensive standpoint, but Todd doesn’t let that affect his game. He doesn’t have that type of personality. He was voted a captain this year in his second year. That will kind of give you an idea of what kind of teammate that he is.”
How is the development of Jared Goff coming:
“We see improvement. We waited intentionally until we felt that he had a chance to go out and be successful. He had some good drives and big plays in New Orleans two weeks ago. This week we just couldn’t get started offensively. He’s made some plays. We had six drops. Three on third down. So you can’t fault him. On both of his interceptions he was hit on one. There other one was a drop that was deflected. I’m please with where he is. I’m not pleased with where the team is overall, but we all know that Jared is going to be special player in this league.”
On how wide receiver Kenny Britt playing:
“Kenny has played well for us this year. He’s play hard. He’s been consistent. He’s made some great players. I think his average per catch is about 15 yards and that shows his big play ability.”
On the Falcons’ RB duo of Devonta Freeman and Tevin Coleman:
“It’s really impressive to watch. Devonta is special from a lateral quickness standpoint, strength and quickness through the hole. Not only as a runner but also as a pass-catcher. And Coleman is very, very productive. He’s a strong inside runner; he can get the ball outside. Both of them appear to be very, very smart players. They understand protections, they both play equally on third down, so it’s a great combination. They’ve done an outstanding job with their offense as a whole.”
On Atlanta’s young and fast defense:
“I’ve been really impressed with Beasley. The sack numbers reflect that. I think it’s a disciplined group. As you say, they do have speed, and they minimize a lot of big plays. It’s impressive. When you have an offense that’s scoring points like they are, it puts a lot of pressure on the defense. There’s a lot of catch up stuff going on, hurry up. The numbers, statistically, don’t reflect the type of talent they have on defense. They’ve done a good job building that defense.”
On the injury report for the Rams – defensive end Robert Quinn (Concussion), wide receiver Tavon Austin, offensive tackle Rodger Saffold and cornerback E.J. Gaines:
“Everybody has a chance.”
Is Quinn in the protocol:
“He was in the protocol last week. He’s feeling much better. You guys are just going to have to wait and see.”
About the Author
