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Rams Q-and-A: Warner can relate to Bulger's struggles
STLTODAY.COM SPORTS
Wednesday, Sep. 20 2006
Former Rams quarterback Kurt Warner can relate to Marc Bulger’s early-season struggles.
After leaving St. Louis, Warner had to adjust to new systems in New York and Arizona. So he understands the transition Bulger must make to new Rams coach Scott Linehan and his offensive system.
Warner offered these assessments of the Rams during his conference call with the St. Louis media:
On the challenge of learning a new system:
“It is always difficult to learn a new system and really learn the ins and outs of it. It’s one thing to kind of know what you are supposed to do, but it’s another thing to get to the point where it is second nature where you can react and respond and see what’s going on and be to the point where you just play football -– especially when the philosophy is so much different than what they experienced before.
“Sometimes it takes a full season. I remember when I was in New York, that whole season I never really felt 100 percent comfortable with what were doing and really felt like I could play football in a comfortable type fashion. It was always kind of a struggle, always second-guessing and thinking about things more than I had to before. It makes you play the game differently and sometimes it is frustrating.”
On the Rams’ struggle to score points:
“When you look at the playmakers they’ve got, the talent they’ve got on the offensive side of the ball . . . it’s always interesting when a team like that can’t score, but we’re very familiar with that. We’ve had a lot of talent on offense last year, too, and moved the ball, just had trouble putting the ball in the end zone. You understand how much more difficult it gets down in the red zone.
“Just with my limited understanding of their offense, they are a ball-control offense where they take the ball down . . . they are going to have a lot of opportunities, probably within the 20-yard line, maybe inside the 10-yard line. But the thing that is hard about it, you come to understand when you’re trying to throw the ball inside the 10-yard line, it gets a lot more difficult. In the old offense, you would get a couple touchdowns a game on 30-, 35-yard pass plays or run plays.
“That’s what we experienced last year. We moved the ball between the 20s, but we never got a lot of big touchdowns so we always had our backs against the wall on short fields trying to spread teams out and throw the ball, which makes it very, very difficult. That’s what happens when you have a ball-control-type offense.”
On whether he has talked with Bulger about his situation:
“We actually talk quite a bit. I actually talked to him just last week. He did tell me he is working through it. It is a work in progress, but he is working to get to that point where it is second nature to him. After being where he was with Mike (Martz) and that type of philosophy, that type of offense, this is definitely an adjustment, which is no surprise to anybody. He wants to get to the point where he can play the way Marc Bulger plays and not have to think and second-guess and worry about certain things and play with the talents and gifts that he’s got. That is what he is working through now.
“It is a different philosophy. He said he likes the philosophy. He likes the fact they are trying to run the ball and it’s not all the pressure on him to throw 50 times a game. He is still looking to get into that comfort zone where he thinks he can play at the level he is capable of.”
On gaining the responsibility to call audibles on the line of scrimmage:
“I think it is a very difficult (transition). When I played in St. Louis, and not doing it, you kind of build a confidence that it doesn’t matter what is going on on the field, but you can see it and you can respond to it. When it is throwing 'hot' or 'sight adjust' or beating it with a throw, whatever it might be, you build up a confidence there. And then when you get to the point when that stops and you’re asked to get the team into the perfect play, you start second-guessing yourself, you start thinking about it more.
“When you are in an audible system, you’re watching the safeties, you’re trying to get any kind of a key to say, hey, I need to get out of this play. You’re continually on your heels, thinking OK, what are they going to do? How can I get us into the best play instead of saying forget it, we’re going to run this play and make it work. It is a transition. We do more of it here. It is frustrating, because sometimes defense doesn’t show you anything until the snap of the ball. But as soon as the snap of the ball, they rotate a certain way, you’re running a play, you’re telling yourself, man, I should have got out of that, I should have gotten into something else, this isn’t a good play. It can be a frustrating situation.”
On what he thinks of the new Rams defense:
“I think they are very athletic, adding (Will) Witherspoon, adding La’Roi (Glover) in there. Corey Chavous, plus the guys they have, Leonard Little, those guys. They are very athletic. We match up well against them, but I think they are going to do some different things, things that we haven’t seen, things they didn’t do in the past. That’s something we’re gong to have to continue to study and figure out a way to attack it. They are a very aggressive, attacking defense, and we just have to make sure we can get some big plays into that aggressiveness and not allow them to create big plays on their side.”
STLTODAY.COM SPORTS
Wednesday, Sep. 20 2006
Former Rams quarterback Kurt Warner can relate to Marc Bulger’s early-season struggles.
After leaving St. Louis, Warner had to adjust to new systems in New York and Arizona. So he understands the transition Bulger must make to new Rams coach Scott Linehan and his offensive system.
Warner offered these assessments of the Rams during his conference call with the St. Louis media:
On the challenge of learning a new system:
“It is always difficult to learn a new system and really learn the ins and outs of it. It’s one thing to kind of know what you are supposed to do, but it’s another thing to get to the point where it is second nature where you can react and respond and see what’s going on and be to the point where you just play football -– especially when the philosophy is so much different than what they experienced before.
“Sometimes it takes a full season. I remember when I was in New York, that whole season I never really felt 100 percent comfortable with what were doing and really felt like I could play football in a comfortable type fashion. It was always kind of a struggle, always second-guessing and thinking about things more than I had to before. It makes you play the game differently and sometimes it is frustrating.”
On the Rams’ struggle to score points:
“When you look at the playmakers they’ve got, the talent they’ve got on the offensive side of the ball . . . it’s always interesting when a team like that can’t score, but we’re very familiar with that. We’ve had a lot of talent on offense last year, too, and moved the ball, just had trouble putting the ball in the end zone. You understand how much more difficult it gets down in the red zone.
“Just with my limited understanding of their offense, they are a ball-control offense where they take the ball down . . . they are going to have a lot of opportunities, probably within the 20-yard line, maybe inside the 10-yard line. But the thing that is hard about it, you come to understand when you’re trying to throw the ball inside the 10-yard line, it gets a lot more difficult. In the old offense, you would get a couple touchdowns a game on 30-, 35-yard pass plays or run plays.
“That’s what we experienced last year. We moved the ball between the 20s, but we never got a lot of big touchdowns so we always had our backs against the wall on short fields trying to spread teams out and throw the ball, which makes it very, very difficult. That’s what happens when you have a ball-control-type offense.”
On whether he has talked with Bulger about his situation:
“We actually talk quite a bit. I actually talked to him just last week. He did tell me he is working through it. It is a work in progress, but he is working to get to that point where it is second nature to him. After being where he was with Mike (Martz) and that type of philosophy, that type of offense, this is definitely an adjustment, which is no surprise to anybody. He wants to get to the point where he can play the way Marc Bulger plays and not have to think and second-guess and worry about certain things and play with the talents and gifts that he’s got. That is what he is working through now.
“It is a different philosophy. He said he likes the philosophy. He likes the fact they are trying to run the ball and it’s not all the pressure on him to throw 50 times a game. He is still looking to get into that comfort zone where he thinks he can play at the level he is capable of.”
On gaining the responsibility to call audibles on the line of scrimmage:
“I think it is a very difficult (transition). When I played in St. Louis, and not doing it, you kind of build a confidence that it doesn’t matter what is going on on the field, but you can see it and you can respond to it. When it is throwing 'hot' or 'sight adjust' or beating it with a throw, whatever it might be, you build up a confidence there. And then when you get to the point when that stops and you’re asked to get the team into the perfect play, you start second-guessing yourself, you start thinking about it more.
“When you are in an audible system, you’re watching the safeties, you’re trying to get any kind of a key to say, hey, I need to get out of this play. You’re continually on your heels, thinking OK, what are they going to do? How can I get us into the best play instead of saying forget it, we’re going to run this play and make it work. It is a transition. We do more of it here. It is frustrating, because sometimes defense doesn’t show you anything until the snap of the ball. But as soon as the snap of the ball, they rotate a certain way, you’re running a play, you’re telling yourself, man, I should have got out of that, I should have gotten into something else, this isn’t a good play. It can be a frustrating situation.”
On what he thinks of the new Rams defense:
“I think they are very athletic, adding (Will) Witherspoon, adding La’Roi (Glover) in there. Corey Chavous, plus the guys they have, Leonard Little, those guys. They are very athletic. We match up well against them, but I think they are going to do some different things, things that we haven’t seen, things they didn’t do in the past. That’s something we’re gong to have to continue to study and figure out a way to attack it. They are a very aggressive, attacking defense, and we just have to make sure we can get some big plays into that aggressiveness and not allow them to create big plays on their side.”
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