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[accordion_item title=”Panthers Head Coach Ron Rivera”]Q: What happened on the punt blocks?
“Both of them were individual breakdowns, very disappointing. Individuals got beat up and under. An individual turned the wrong way. Those are individual breakdowns that will be corrected.”
Q: What did you tell the guys after this game?
“I told the guys we have four games left to go. We are going to play all four games. I expect to win all four games, and we will go on from that.”
Q: Do you start to look to the future now?
“I think the bottom line is, we still have to play to win, and that’s what we’re going to do. We’re going to play to win. We’re going to play who we think gives us the best chance. If we think a younger guy might give us a better chance, we will play him, and we will play him a lot. I’m not throwing this season away by any stretch of the imagination. I’m going to play this season to finish up on a strong note, finish up winning and who knows. There’s still an outside chance, as remote as it is, it’s still there. And it will also tell us a lot about who we are. It will talk about our character as a football team and our character as individuals.”
[accordion_item title=”Panthers QB Cam Newton”]Q: Going two months without a win, how hard is it to keep coming to work?
“It’s not hard at all. It’s just a matter of time until we get the ship going. I know that’s probably not the answer that I would like to say right now, but the truth of the matter is we’re just a couple plays away. A couple plays here and there, and we’re looking at a different situation. But through it all, I can’t worry about what the situation is at hand. I am a professional quarterback, a professional football player at that, and I have to come in each and every day with a clear mind to try to get better because I have yet to play a great game, in my opinion.”
Q: What’s your level of frustration with this team?
“I’m not frustrated — I just want to win. I don’t think anyone looks forward to losing. You play this game for one reason and for one reason only, and that is to win a football game. So as far as being frustrated, I’m not frustrated at all. I’m just yearning for a win.”
Q: Do you think that the team is not a very good team?
“I think that we have to be better. No matter what type of caliber team that we are, the answers are in that locker room. You want to cut this person, take this person away, add this person, add that person. The answers are in that locker room, from myself, from Greg, from Charles Johnson to Luke Kuechly, and the list goes on.”
[accordion_item title=”Panthers TE Greg Olsen”]Q: It’s been two months since you guys have had a win. Obviously it’s frustrating, but what is this experience like?
“It sucks. There’s really no other way to put it. It’s really disappointing. It’s frustrating. It’s every adjective you can come with. It’s that. Right now, we’re not very good. We’re not playing very well, and you lose in this league when you play poorly. It’s pretty simple.”
[accordion_item title=”Panthers LS J.J. Jansen”]
Q: Was there a communication issue between you and Mario Addison on the first punt block?
“Not to my knowledge. Not between Mario and I. I have to look exactly where it came from. I was on the right front side with Jason Williams and I’m not 100 percent sure exactly where the rusher came from.”
Q: Not trying to point fingers exactly, but did you feel like you blocked the person you were responsible for?
“We get punts blocked as a team. Without looking at it, I am not going to say it was me or another person.”
Q: Do you feel like you got the snap where Brad Nortman wanted it?
“Yeah, I feel like I was snapping very well today. Brad was really happy with it. Obviously with the conditions, we try to manage that the best we can.”
[accordion_item title=”Panthers P Brad Nortman”]
Q: How did you see the blocked punts develop in front of you?
“Honestly, I don’t really see it until the very last second. I’m just focused on catching the ball, holding it and kicking it. I don’t even see them coming.”
Q: After the second one, did it almost feel like shell-shock?
“I was surprised, and I was frustrated, of course. I’m not sure it was shell-shock. There’s still a lot of game to play after that, so I think we just did our best to try and get back into the regular swing of things and know that we have more punts coming up. We had to lock back in and make it as normal as possible to try to do our jobs.”
[accordion_item title=”Panthers CB Josh Norman “]Q: What happened with the taunting penalty?
“I don’t know. First and foremost, I apologize to the team for it, the players on the field. But one thing I don’t apologize for is the aggressiveness, the hard-fought effort to make a play.”
[accordion_item title=”Vikings CB Captain Munnerlyn”]Q: Greg Jennings said it never feels that cold when you’re winning?
“You know me, I’m a cold guy. I have about three or four shirts on, but once I got playing I didn’t really feel it. I had a smile on my face, and it felt good to beat my old team.”
Q: How good does it feel? Elaborate on beating your old team.
“It feels really good. I know when I fly back to Charlotte I can talk trash for the rest of the year.”
Q: How much trash were you talking out there today?
“I wasn’t saying too much to those guys, I was trying to focus on doing my job and limit those big-time receivers to the amount of yards they had. I wasn’t talking too much. I was just trying to execute. There were some guys trying to get me out of my game by talking a little bit, but I was just trying to go out there and execute.”
Q: Did you say anything to Josh Norman?
“No, I didn’t talk to him.”
Q: After what he said last week does it feel good to come out with a one-sided win?
“Definitely. He’s the guy that kept on grabbing the whole time, personal fouls kind of thing, so I’ll let that be and I’ll let Josh be Josh and Josh is playing good football right now.”
Q: Is it frustrating to see a team like Carolina only a half game out of the playoffs and you guys dominate them, and it’s going to be harder for you guys?
“Oh yeah, it’s definitely frustrating. I was making a joke to some of my old teammates about that I was saying, ‘Man, the picture is you guys are still in it.’ That is crazy to me that they’re still in it while we’re sitting here fighting for our lives. I told them they’re lucky we’re not in their division.”
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