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Martz: 'We have to fix some things'
BY JEFF GORDON
STLtoday.com Sports
09/20/2004
Rams coach Mike Martz still expects big things from his football team.
But after that 34-17 loss in Atlanta, Martz said there will be plenty of work to do at Rams Park.
"We have some things to clean up," Martz said. "That stuff doesn't happen overnight. But we're going to end up being a real good team.
"But we have to fix some things, no question about it."
Here are some other highlights of his Q & A session with reporters:
On what went wrong in Atlanta:
"They got us on our heels on all three phases of the game, and on the road, this team needs to learn to fight back. I thought that we did that, getting the game back to a 17-17 position. Then we did not make a play on a reverse and a couple of other things happened offensively. We did not finish this thing the way you would like to see us do it. There are some lessons to be learned from this.
"There were a lot of mistakes in this game, more mistakes than we would have thought. I think our players did prepare well. Again, in that environment, we just didn't see it on the field.
"This is one of the few times in my career that we practiced very well and did not play well. A lot of it has to do with getting down early and not responding well as a football team."
"Coming out of our own end zone, we have a penalty on a kickoff return that's unnecessary. We get into a little bit of a panic offensively, you know, and put ourselves in a hole.
"A young team like this, particularly on defense, a lot of the young players have not had that kind of adversity. When you get down like that, you cannot panic . . . you just have to stay focused, know how to respond. You teach them to respond. That's where we are with this.
"What's happened has happened. Now you have to go back and make the corrections. We understand what we need to do this week to get it done. Now the process begins."
On why the game went south:
"We were in position to make a play and didn't do it. We had some penalties . . . this was problematic throughout the game, whether it was a facemask penalty or false start or all those things. We just can't have those, particularly at critical times. We made mistakes at critical times that you just can't make.
"When the game is that close and there is a play that's there to be made, you have to make that play. In those three phases of the game, when we had to make a play, we couldn't. They need to learn from that. There are a lot of things that need to be straightened out."
On the struggles against the run:
"A lot of those two-back runs were at the end of the game, where obviously we let down. Before that, they were averaging about three yards a rush. The two-back runs against the defense was below what you would want as a football team."
On failing to establish the run:
"Initially, we kind of stammered around there a little bit. When you look at our first few possessions, just the penalties down the field, the false starts. . . . You can't start first-and-20, first-and-15 all the time, second and 10. We have not done that the last three or four weeks. We were pretty good with that. That's all focus.
"We get down there on third and inches and there is a nice play to be made there, there really is. We've got to make sure we execute. We're in position to have a real good play and we didn't get it done."
On Steven Jackson's taunting penalty after a kickoff return:
"I guess he just did it without thinking. He was upset. You just have to have better control of your emotions, you just do. Obviously we addressed that."
On the risk of using Jackson in that role:
"He won't hurt anybody. He should be OK. I wouldn't expect him to hurt anybody. He also hurt that defensive lineman two weeks ago, but I told him to take it easy on the guys when he's carrying the ball."
On the need to improve the kickoff returns:
"We're addressing that. We were close on a couple of those, really close. We've got a lot of new guys back there. With Steven returning kicks, he's not done it for a while. He's such a good open-field runner, he sees things so well, that we're going to get good field position out of it.
"Again, we can't have a penalty on a good return, have an opportunity to start on the 25 or 30 and get backed up."
"The ideal guy would be a guy like Tony Horne, who can take it the distance any time. That's what you would like to have. We don't have that right now. Steven is fearless, he absolutely is. But the more involved he gets in the offense the less chance we'll use him on kickoff return."
On why Tommy Polley didn't play:
"It's a fractured rib, it's not a bruised rib. It's pretty painful. As he mends and gets better, he will continue to get more and more involved in the defense."
On whether rookie Dwight Anderson has a chance to replace Kevin Garrett at cornerback:
"No, no. In our quarter and our dime packages, we've got a lot of corners involved. We rotate them in and out. Garrett is so extensively involved in special teams. We've been very impressed with Dwight, we just didn't put him there as a desperation move. We like him. We'll believe he'll be a good player."
On the need to force turnovers (they have no takeaways after two games):
"It's a concern. That will come, I think. We work on it. We're all disappointed that we don't have some, but we just keep working on it. We keep working on the strip drill all the time. The picks will come as people start throwing the ball downfield."
BY JEFF GORDON
STLtoday.com Sports
09/20/2004
Rams coach Mike Martz still expects big things from his football team.
But after that 34-17 loss in Atlanta, Martz said there will be plenty of work to do at Rams Park.
"We have some things to clean up," Martz said. "That stuff doesn't happen overnight. But we're going to end up being a real good team.
"But we have to fix some things, no question about it."
Here are some other highlights of his Q & A session with reporters:
On what went wrong in Atlanta:
"They got us on our heels on all three phases of the game, and on the road, this team needs to learn to fight back. I thought that we did that, getting the game back to a 17-17 position. Then we did not make a play on a reverse and a couple of other things happened offensively. We did not finish this thing the way you would like to see us do it. There are some lessons to be learned from this.
"There were a lot of mistakes in this game, more mistakes than we would have thought. I think our players did prepare well. Again, in that environment, we just didn't see it on the field.
"This is one of the few times in my career that we practiced very well and did not play well. A lot of it has to do with getting down early and not responding well as a football team."
"Coming out of our own end zone, we have a penalty on a kickoff return that's unnecessary. We get into a little bit of a panic offensively, you know, and put ourselves in a hole.
"A young team like this, particularly on defense, a lot of the young players have not had that kind of adversity. When you get down like that, you cannot panic . . . you just have to stay focused, know how to respond. You teach them to respond. That's where we are with this.
"What's happened has happened. Now you have to go back and make the corrections. We understand what we need to do this week to get it done. Now the process begins."
On why the game went south:
"We were in position to make a play and didn't do it. We had some penalties . . . this was problematic throughout the game, whether it was a facemask penalty or false start or all those things. We just can't have those, particularly at critical times. We made mistakes at critical times that you just can't make.
"When the game is that close and there is a play that's there to be made, you have to make that play. In those three phases of the game, when we had to make a play, we couldn't. They need to learn from that. There are a lot of things that need to be straightened out."
On the struggles against the run:
"A lot of those two-back runs were at the end of the game, where obviously we let down. Before that, they were averaging about three yards a rush. The two-back runs against the defense was below what you would want as a football team."
On failing to establish the run:
"Initially, we kind of stammered around there a little bit. When you look at our first few possessions, just the penalties down the field, the false starts. . . . You can't start first-and-20, first-and-15 all the time, second and 10. We have not done that the last three or four weeks. We were pretty good with that. That's all focus.
"We get down there on third and inches and there is a nice play to be made there, there really is. We've got to make sure we execute. We're in position to have a real good play and we didn't get it done."
On Steven Jackson's taunting penalty after a kickoff return:
"I guess he just did it without thinking. He was upset. You just have to have better control of your emotions, you just do. Obviously we addressed that."
On the risk of using Jackson in that role:
"He won't hurt anybody. He should be OK. I wouldn't expect him to hurt anybody. He also hurt that defensive lineman two weeks ago, but I told him to take it easy on the guys when he's carrying the ball."
On the need to improve the kickoff returns:
"We're addressing that. We were close on a couple of those, really close. We've got a lot of new guys back there. With Steven returning kicks, he's not done it for a while. He's such a good open-field runner, he sees things so well, that we're going to get good field position out of it.
"Again, we can't have a penalty on a good return, have an opportunity to start on the 25 or 30 and get backed up."
"The ideal guy would be a guy like Tony Horne, who can take it the distance any time. That's what you would like to have. We don't have that right now. Steven is fearless, he absolutely is. But the more involved he gets in the offense the less chance we'll use him on kickoff return."
On why Tommy Polley didn't play:
"It's a fractured rib, it's not a bruised rib. It's pretty painful. As he mends and gets better, he will continue to get more and more involved in the defense."
On whether rookie Dwight Anderson has a chance to replace Kevin Garrett at cornerback:
"No, no. In our quarter and our dime packages, we've got a lot of corners involved. We rotate them in and out. Garrett is so extensively involved in special teams. We've been very impressed with Dwight, we just didn't put him there as a desperation move. We like him. We'll believe he'll be a good player."
On the need to force turnovers (they have no takeaways after two games):
"It's a concern. That will come, I think. We work on it. We're all disappointed that we don't have some, but we just keep working on it. We keep working on the strip drill all the time. The picks will come as people start throwing the ball downfield."
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