Re: Faulk Interview Part 2-faulk on martz
Thanks for the info GC
Maineram
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Faulk Interview Part 2-faulk on martz
I just watched marshall faulk on the midwest sports report, part two of his week long interview. Tonights topic was his relationship with Martz.
Faulk was complimentary, calling martz both a friend and agreeing with the characterization of martz as a players coach. He refused to second guess the decision at the end of the carolina game to go for the field goal and stated that he is not upset at the end of the games if he doesnt get the ball a lot as long as the team wins.
He commented on his role as a team leader noting that martz is open minded to suggestions, although he doesnt always adopt them.
Tomorrow night the topic is faulks future with the team. The preview clip shows faulk stating that if he stays healthy, he doesnt see the end in the near future.
ramming speed to all
general counsel
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Faulk stepping aside to aid Jackson
By Jeff Reynolds
June 27, 2005
Mike Martz didn’t call Steven Jackson to alert him of a forthcoming change atop the RB depth chart.
In retrospect, it wasn’t Martz’s call to make.
Frankly, Martz was stunned when Marshall Faulk came to him at season’s end to tell Martz that Jackson would be the starter in 2005. Since 1999, Martz had allowed Faulk to carve his own niche with the team. Faulk decided when he would enter and leave a game and, because his level of preparedness exceeded most of his teammates’ and matched some coaches’, Faulk had some say in how the Rams would attack each opponent.
“Any guy with the accomplishments of Marshall Faulk in this league wouldn’t deal with (a demotion) very well,” Martz said in his office at the team facility west of St. Louis. “But ultimately, this was Marshall’s decision. He talked initially that Steven should be the starter and that he could help him avoid so many of the problems that he had had his first few years in the league.”
At first, Martz was unconvinced that flipping the depth chart — elevating Jackson to the No. 1 spot with Faulk moving down and helping in other areas, such as lining up as a slot receiver — was the right thing to do. Faulk explained further: “I can help (Jackson) avoid those mistakes. With his physical stature, the team would probably be better served if he started.”
So Martz obliged the player he calls the most unselfish athlete he’s ever encountered — and Martz started as a high school coach in Fresno, Calif.
“Marshall didn’t want Steven looking over his shoulder,” Martz said. “He wants to mentor him in the right way, help him as much as he can. Why? That’s what makes (Marshall) different than anyone else.”
Martz didn’t tell Jackson he had become the starter. He chose to let Jackson find out with the rest of the world and now says Jackson was shocked by it. There’s also a feeling among some Rams coaches that Jackson believes Martz doesn’t like him. Players who have seen Martz light blazing fires within some of the most softly stimulated athletes — the self-motivation-challenged — say it’s Martz’s way of telling Jackson he still has a lot to earn and even more to learn. Being announced in pregame introductions with the first-team offense isn’t necessarily reflected on the stats sheet. To a degree, it’s a selflessness test to see how Jackson responds. Faulk, maybe a first-ballot Hall of Famer, is holding the door, without being asked, to the entrance to the NFL’s red carpet.
“The one thing you try to observe with a first-round pick is their nature,” Martz said. “Steven Jackson, because of his success in college, you expect him to come in with an entourage. When he steps on the practice field, every camera, every microphone followed him. You don’t know them well enough yet,...-06-27-2005, 05:41 AM -
By Bill Coats
Of the Post-Dispatch
Monday, Nov. 01 2004
It's Election Day, and Mike Martz has made up his mind: His choice is ...
Trev Faulk, for the office of starting middle linebacker. Faulk received the
head coach's vote on the heels of a strong outing Oct. 24 against the Dolphins.
Faulk, who entered in the first quarter after rookie Brandon Chillar pulled a
hamstring, recorded six tackles - five solos - in the Rams' 31-14 loss leading
into their bye week.
"For him to do what did down at Miami was just incredible," Martz said. "So,
he's seized the starting role at (middle) backer at this point."
Third-year pro Robert Thomas is the incumbent, but a bad ankle kept him out of
the past two games. Chillar stepped in, went down, and Faulk got his chance.
Chillar remained on the sideline Monday during the team's first practice in a
week, but Thomas took part in the full-pads workout and didn't appear to be
hampered.
Martz indicated that Faulk earned the job on merit, not because of injuries.
"There's no question about that. It's his to lose," Martz said.
Joining the fray at middle linebacker in Miami was "definitely exciting," Faulk
said. "That's my position; that's what I do," he said. "(But) the coaches
determine whatever my role is. If it's on special teams, I'll do my best at
that. If I get to play linebacker, I'll do my best at that."
The promotion comes at an ideal time for Faulk personally: His cousin Kevin is
a running back for the New England Patriots (6-1), who will square off with the
Rams (4-3) at 3:15 p.m. Sunday at the Edward Jones Dome.
Trev Faulk, 23, was plucked from the Arizona Cardinals' practice-squad roster
last Dec. 31 but didn't get into a game with the Rams. He originally signed
with Denver as an undrafted rookie in 2002, after he left Louisiana State
following his junior season.
His first NFL game action was on special teams against Arizona this year in the
opener. He missed the next two games with a hamstring pull, then emerged an
effective performer on kick and punt coverage, collecting a total of eight
tackles at San Francisco and Seattle. Another hamstring injury kept him out vs.
Tampa Bay on Oct. 18, but he returned in a big way in Miami.
"For him to stay up on it mentally without taking reps was pretty incredible,"
Martz said. "And then he's physical, gets to the ball, excellent tackler - all
the things that you want a (middle) backer to be, he is. And he's probably the
best hitter we have on the team."
Martz also praised the 6-foot-3, 254-pound Faulk's instinct...-11-02-2004, 05:17 AM -
By Clark Judge
SportsLine.com Senior Writer
It's not how much time former All-Pro running back Marshall Faulk might miss this season that will determine where St. Louis finishes. It's how much he plays, with the Rams careful how they use a 31-year-old back sidelined with injuries parts of the past four seasons.
The Rams drafted Steven Jackson in Round 1 for a very good reason. (AP)
Here's the problem: Faulk is the Rams' best player, and the more he's on the field, the more problems the Rams pose for opponents. But the more he plays, the greater the risk of injury, and he missed a month-and-a-half last year with a broken hand and sore knee.
It's a sticky situation. St. Louis needs the guy for the stretch drive, especially with Seattle hot on its trail in the NFC West, but rookie Steven Jackson and Lamar Gordon give it two outstanding young backs who can give Faulk what he needs most -- a break.
Neither is the equal of Faulk -- few backs are -- but both are good enough they could start for some NFL teams. So how do you use them? More specific, how don't you use Marshall Faulk? I'm not sure, but I know who is.
Mike Martz, come on down.
"You have to be careful with him," the Rams' head coach said of his prized back. "There's just so much wear and tear. It's a fine line. He's always felt the pressure of having to stay in, even when he was pretty well banged up. But now he has the luxury (of decent backups), so he doesn't have to go more than a couple plays in a row.
"He's always had to carry the load, so I think this is a relief to him, to be honest with you."
Now you and I both know Marshall Faulk will go more than a couple of plays in a row. Faulk not only is a terrific player; he's a consummate professional, determined to stay in the huddle until or unless the contest is out of reach. But blowouts are less frequent each year, with 10 of the Rams' 17 games last season decided by 10 or fewer points.
Martz will leave Faulk's availability up to the man who knows best -- Marshall Faulk. If he wants to stay on the field, Martz will let him.
But it's a balancing act that bears watching. Players are loath to leave the field, with quarterback Steve Young atypically cursing his head coach when he was pulled in the third quarter of a 40-8 loss in 1994. Young wanted a chance to save the day, but George Seifert wanted to win the season, and there was little chance if Young was hurt.
So, he spared Young, the team won its next 10 and later captured Super Bowl XXIX.
"Marshall is smart," Martz said. "He knows if there's something where he needs to come out for awhile, he will come out. He's not concerned with stats. He just wants to win. He understands his value to us, and we really will let him dictate that (his availability)...-09-01-2004, 12:40 PM -
Did anyone enjoy watching Faulk skip and cut away from defenders, wow it was like we had turned back time!!!LOVED IT
I would love Martz to untise this, get him more involved in the game plan, with Bruce injured may be use him as a Slot reciever, we all know he has great soft hands or coming out of the back field....Ok I know he had that fumble but I just enjoyed those carries and touchdown!!!!
he still has great talent and experienced!!
steve:clanram:-09-28-2005, 11:01 AM -
By Jeff Reynolds
Pro Football Weekly
Many things in life are about being in the right place at the right time: Bill Belichick in New England, John Elway in Denver, Marshall Faulk in St. Louis. Finding the appropriate fit at the start has all the bearing in the world on who shows up at the finish line.
"It really comes down to having the right people," Rams coach Mike Martz said of assembling a great team, specifically an offense. "That's what the NFL is. It sounds simple, but that is what you spend all of your days doing, getting the right players and the right coaches."
The lone sign hanging in the Rams' locker room at the Edward Jones Dome offers insight into what Martz asks of his club. It reads: "Give of yourself completely, ask nothing in return and excellence will be yours."
In order to reach Mount Olympus, Martz believes he needs players to see themselves as much more.
"Everyone is caught up in plays and system," said Raiders coach Norv Turner, another disciple of former Rams and Cowboys coordinator Ernie Zampese. "The No. 1 thing you need to do as a coach is evaluation of the players you have – find out the things they do best and create situations for them to do it. We learned from Ernie: Do everything you can to get your people to produce at the highest level."
Before Kurt Warner, for any number of reasons, went from two-time league MVP to ex-Ram, he was generating ideas and dissecting defenses. He imparted that knowledge to Martz, who used Warner's eyes to create a less predictable system. Warner could see exactly how players would react to certain personnel, formation changes, shifts and adjustments. Before coaches could decipher what a defense was doing, Warner had taken possible adjustments to Martz.
"Kurt knew instantly, and you see it with [current Rams starting quarterback Marc Bulger], the strength and weakness of a defense, what our protection should be and where the ball should go," Martz said. "Not to the point of being programmed or that those things were predetermined. Even if he hadn't walked through it, he knew how to deal with it. When a quarterback gets to that level, that's when you get creative. Things get fun fast. Now you call plays you've never practiced. We were on the sideline, saying, 'OK, let's give him a two-route, take a seven-step and look for this and this.'"
The eureka moment for Bulger came last season at Seattle in the midst of a furious comeback Oct. 10.
"He's getting to where Kurt was intellectually," Martz said of Bulger. "The thing Marc has, now, to go along with that, is a quick, dynamic delivery. He's the most accurate guy I've ever been around."
Both Warner and Bulger survived the process Martz termed "stripping...-07-01-2005, 12:06 PM
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