Black and Blue Review
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“The effort was tremendous. It’s kind of speaks to who he is and his toughness, his mental toughness, his physical toughness. But also what he means to his teammates. Just the fact that every day he came back out, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, and the way his teammates rallied around him and worked with him. I think that was extraordinary. It is one of those moments that you as a coach like to see. It kind of shows that the guys are behind him as well.”
RE: Was the Newton run play on second play of the game to show Cleveland that Newton was healthy enough to run?
“I wouldn’t say it was designed as much as it was we knew he was healthy enough. The training staff and the doctors were very positive about it. Starting the beginning of this week, it was one of those things that we felt very comfortable about it. Cam felt very comfortable about it, and he was trying to tell me all week that he was fine.”
RE: Cleveland’s touchdown
“We blitzed on that. They caught us in the blitz. We were in the rotation, and what has to happen on that rotation is as the routes unfold, we have to rotate. We were late rotating.”
RE: Successful challenges today
“It was kind of nice to win a couple. At one point, it was like 25%. It’s kind of nice to win a couple in a row. Again, the people upstairs, the guys upstairs, the coaches get a chance to see the replays as well, and really give some good advice. At the end of the day, it was a good team effort as far as that part is concerned.”
RE: Second week that team threw/was more aggressive on last drive
“Yes, you have to be. Lessons learned. I’m not going to kid myself about that. We could have tried to run it but again, one of the things that we do best is when we keep that run/pass quarterback keep option alive. I think it creates more things and that is something we can do now and we are going to continue to do as we move forward.”
RE: Josh Norman interception – was he saying to slide?
“Actually part of me was yelling that there was somebody coming from behind. Seriously, I saw it. I saw the wide receiver coming and chasing him. It was just one of those things that again, Josh will learn from it and he is going to have to make sure he keeps that ball tucked and can’t let it swing the way he did. It’s a heck of a play. That’s what Josh is. He is long. He made a nice play on it. He has to learn that when he intercepts the ball he has to stay to the sidelines where he intercepts it, and he tucks it and takes it down the sideline. He doesn’t cut across the field because bad things happen.”
RE: Norman’s personal foul
“I didn’t think it was high but when I got a chance to see it on the replay the referee made a good call. I can’t debate it on that. At first I didn’t think Josh was that high but unfortunately I saw that.”
RE: The season so far
“Now it all comes down to one game and that is all we can ask for is to be in that situation. Like I said, in spite of the tough start and the things that have happened to us, I think we have shown some resilience and we have fought our way through it. I’m pleased with the fact that we have an opportunity. I look forward to that opportunity next Sunday to see how things go.”
“It was just a day-by-day thing. I never really felt that at one point it was like okay, it was ready, or it was never bad enough that I couldn’t ball, thank God for that. But, it was just a whole process. It was the guys as well as myself that had faith in Derek Anderson and like I said, going with the process and getting as much treatment as possible so that I could play today.”
RE: Can you put in perspective what you’ve been through the past 12 days?
“It was somewhat tiring, honestly, just to go through so much. But yet, I can remember family members and loved ones at the hospital and they would not turn it to ESPN. They would not turn to any news channels. I was like, do people know? Then when I saw the helicopter, it was like okay, it’s a big deal. But, for me to come out of an injury like that, or an accident like that, all praise goes to God and it just shows that he’s using me in a positive way and I’m using my influence in a positive way. I’m on a [pedestal] each and every day whether I want to or not. So, whether I do good things or bad things, people are going to be affected, and I just want to use mine in a positive light to encourage the next person. Whether a child, whether a male, female, what have you, that’s what we are on this earth for – to make people better.”
RE: On being 3-8-1 three weeks ago and the chance to win the division next week
“You just have to win the day. You can’t look back at what you’ve done. You can’t look forward at what’s up ahead. You just have to seize each and every moment. Carpe Diem. Make the most of each and every opportunity that you get. If we came out here, we laid an egg, and did that, all would have been for nothing without what the Falcons did with New Orleans.
RE: The touchdown pass to Jonathan Stewart
“I checked off to a play, went to the first progression, second progression, wasn’t there. I was hoping that (Jerricho) Cotchery would be available and they had a guy trapping him. So, (Jonathan) Stewart had a heads-up play, was leaking out and was just getting open. I always tease the running backs that the best ability in the world to have is availability. Stewart was available that particular time. He was supposed to check to block, but he trickled out and made a play and I’m just glad he caught it.”
RE: What happened on your interception?
“It’s like a double-fold thing. People will say you’re doing too much, but if the ball had been completed, it’s just making a play. That’s why I always just try to take what the defense gave me. I tried to lose one of the rushers that came free off the edge. If that was second down, maybe I should have thrown the ball away. But being that it was third, I was just trying to get the ball rolling for the offense because we were in that lull state. But, our defense responded great. They didn’t give up a touchdown.”
RE: What did you say to Johnny (Manziel) after the game?
“I’m a fan of his just like a lot of people are. But, there’s a lot of things he has to learn and it’s just a learning curve. I’m hoping that he was all right. Only thing I can say is, I was saddened to see the crowds’ response to when he was getting hurt. I just think it was classless at that time. Anytime when a person is hurt, you don’t celebrate. I’ve had that done in my career and it takes the integrity out of the game. I told him I was pulling for him and I hope in the offseason we can link up. But, for the crowd to respond in that type of way, we’re better than that. That’s not who we are.”
“It’s all about opportunity. I just try to catch everything that comes to me. It doesn’t matter if they throw one or 100. I’ve been taking on a bigger blocking role this year. Every little part counts.”
Re: Win-and-in situation
“It’s familiar territory. My whole career I’ve been in the playoffs, and it’s playoff football. These last couple games and the month of December leading into January and into the championship months, it’s playoff football. This team is really resilient. We know we could’ve won more game than our record says, but you know, we win when it counts.”
“You play 15 games, and now you’ve just got to play one. You put in four months of work, and now it just came down to one weekend. But hey, we’re in it, and we’re going to put in our best week of work that we can and expect to go down there and play well and beat a good team on the road.”
“It’s a lot better than being out and going into a game with no chance. It’s a great opportunity for us and everybody’s excited. It’s exciting knowing everybody’s focused in on this. We’ve already moved past this game, and we’ve got some work to do.”
“We lost a couple, I remember for a fact when we played Philly, I could’ve grabbed two of them. I think I’ve just been working on that. Coach (John) Matsko has been doing a real good job with the O-line recovering fumbles, even in practice when it’s a fumble getting on the ball. I practice it every day, so I went out there, and I got on it. It’s just second nature. That’s one of the key parts of the game. If they get the ball right there, they’re in the red zone, so that was a crucial point in the game.”
RE: Cam Newton’s performance
“For the condition he’s in right now, the guy’s a warrior. He could’ve made any excuse not to play; he’s got a bad back, ankle, the whole nine. A lot of guys are banged up, but overall the guys are fighting, and I felt like he did that this afternoon.”
“The whole game plan changed when [Brian] Hoyer came in. We didn’t have to keep contain as well as you would with Manziel. We went aggressive.”
RE: His jarring sack on Hoyer
“I didn’t know what type of hit it was going to be, but I just know he curled up, and it was a good hit for me. It got the crowd excited, and it got our whole bench excited.”
“Our locker room is a good locker room. It’s always fun. Winning makes it better. I think the reason we were able to come out of that (two-month funk) was because of this locker room. The guys stayed together. The guys always knew that if we played well we were going to win. I think we just had to tweak a couple things and by the time December rolled around, we were a team that was ready to roll. We got hot at the right time. We’ve just got to keep rolling now.”
“I was blessed to catch it. God and his angels allowed me to catch it. The devils and the demons were allowed to steal my joy. But you know what, it’s all good because at the end of the day, we got the ‘W’ and that’s all that matters.”
RE: Learn anything from the mistake?
“I will be much smarter about the situation going in traffic next time. We will have it high and tight and know that no one’s going to rip it away like that again. So definitely going to be better next time.”
RE: Helmet-to-helmet call
“I think they got that wrong, all the way. If you see it on film, oh my goodness, I didn’t leave with no kind of helmet. He caught the ball, and I don’t know if fumbling with it, I just came through and jarred him with my shoulder.”
RE: Win-and-in situation
“Blessings, they come in bunches, huh? Atlanta did what they had to do, and Carolina did what we had to do, so I guess you’re going to get a matchup for the South down in the South.”
RE: A rematch with Falcons WR Julio Jones
“Julio, that’s the manimal. That’s a man-animal. He is at the top right now. He is classified as an ultimate competitor. I would put him up there with the likes of Calvin Johnson, if not at the top. We know we have a huge challenge in that guy, in what he brings and how he imposes his will on defenders.”
“There was a third-and-one that got reviewed to Josh (Gordon). I threw a quick slant. I don’t know if you guys saw that. My foot kind of slipped about three, four, five inches and I ended up falling down. Got up and just kind of felt just a little tight in my hamstring. And then I was trying to go down on that next play, I got up and after the hit, felt fine. Shoulders feel good, head feels good, just took a hit. I was ready to hop back in, ready to go and just took off and felt like I was cramping. I kept walking more and more I just felt like something that I hadn’t experienced before and felt like I needed to get checked out.”
“I remember thinking pre-snap this is a great look for this route. I wasn’t sure if someone was going to drop back and then they pressured and then I realized they had no one covering that area of the field. Usually, we throw a hot, like a little five-yard route, and it was definitely a hot. They overloaded the pressure over there as I dropped back and saw there was no one replacing where the safety should be. I just kind of just lofted it over. We knew Luke Kuechly studies our patterns, and in this case it helped us because he took the underneath guy. Oddly enough, on the series where we kicked the field goal when I scrambled and it was little bit short, Jordan came over and was like, ‘Hey if I get that route again, I am going to be wide open.'”