Martz on the Mike

[RamWraith]

Head Coach Mike Martz
Friday, December 10, 2004

(On how QB Chris Chandler looked)
“Good. He’s ready to go. He’s excited about playing. He has a real good grasp of what we’re trying to do. The timing of what he’s doing is really good. I’m excited for him, and I’m excited that we have him here. We were just talking at practice, that at this point in his career, to be in this situation, he can enjoy where he is, go out and have fun, make some things happen, and appreciate the opportunity. I’m sure he’ll do a good job for us.”

(On the running backs)
“Arlen (Harris) will start. Marshall (Faulk) is ready to go, I think. We’ll just see where Steven (Jackson) is. We didn’t do anything with him (today). There’s no sense in making it (his knee) swell up again. We’ll see where he is on Sunday. If he can go, he’ll go, if not, he won’t. We’re going to get him back in short order. He’s not going to be out very long. If he misses this one, I’m sure he will be back the following week. I don’t know if he’ll miss this one, we’ve just been very cautious with him.”

(On the defense)
“I think knowledge of what we’re doing is the key. We do so many different things every week, like we do offensively. To be able to do those things, make those adjustment, and to do it at a high level or with great speed, and without being tentative. That tentativeness is where we’ve been all year, and we’re starting to shake that now. That doesn’t mean that we’re not going to make mistakes. They’re playing now with enthusiasm, because I think they are a lot more sure of what they’re doing out there.”

(On RB Arlen Harris)
“He’s a terrific runner. He’s hard to knock off his feet. He’s real patient, and his running reads are really outstanding. He’s a much better player than he was a year ago. Last year, he hadn’t worked for two years basically, and he wasn’t sure he was going to make the team. Obviously he more than made the team, but he played well last year. Now with a full offseason, physically he’s so much further along, and he has a good grasp of what we’re doing.”

(On him practicing at fullback during training camp)
“We were just trying to figure out a way to get him on the field. That was the whole idea about being a fullback. We just felt like he was too good of a player to be standing next to me on the sideline during the game. Once we realized that he had ascended from where he was a year ago with his running skills, we knew we had to get him in the game as a runner. He’ll run very well (on Sunday). If we do our job up front, I’m not worried about Arlen at all.”

(On who is going to be the backup quarterback this Sunday)
“I think initially we will go into the game with Jeff (Smoker) because he knows what is going out. I stuck him in practice yesterday in the blitz period, and I was very pleased with how well he responded. He did a great job. He’s been through camp, and played for us in the preseason. I think at this point, that’s where we would start, and give Jamie (Martin) some time to get his feet on the ground.”

(On if he has broken down this season into four game increments)
“Not untill now. We have just had so many factors on this team. This has been kind of a transition for us, from a personnel standpoint. You’re just trying to get guys up to speed. We have so many young players, and some veterans that are new. This is the first time this year we’ve looked at it as a four game season, step-by-step. Up to this point, we were just trying to get better. I felt like at midseason we could start to do that, but we weren’t far enough along.”

(On this being like a playoff game)
“It is a playoff game, and that’s what we told them. The regular season for us now is over. These are playoff games now in our mind, and that’s how we need to approach it.”