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Transcript: Rams Coach Scott Linehan

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SEPTEMBER 10, 2008

Were you surprised at all with your team's opening day performance?

Yeah.  I guess that is a one word answer, but we expected to play much better.  We had a lot of really good practices and felt our preseason was real solid and we just did not perform.  We better get our act going here.

A lot of teams can be dominating and imposing at home, are the Giants the kind of team on the road?

Well they have shown that.  We have not played them in a while so from their vantage point they are the ones that have the right formula.  They play great on the road and they just have a knack of just tuning it out and getting the job done.  That is what everybody strives to be as a football team, you want to have that kind of mental toughness from your team and Tom (Coughlin) does as good a job as anybody I have ever seen as far as getting his team ready to play in adverse situations.

What went into the reasoning for cutting Madison Hedgecock when he was with the Rams and are you surprised how well he fit in here?

No I am not surprised; Madison is a heck of a player.  I have a lot of respect for him.  It was a real hard cut for us.  We had some special teams issues we were dealing with, we had some tight end issues, and we ended up having to go with a guy that had a little bit of value as a tight end, kind of an in-between player, and that is what happens.  Fullbacks, I don't know how many teams carry more than one, it is hard to do.  If you are able you want to carry a guy like Madison because he is a heck of a player and he did a great job for us.  It was a real tough decision and obviously one that worked out for him and for the Giants.

Did you deliver the news to him yourself that he was cut and how did he take it?

I told him.  I tell all the players in person and he was real disappointed.  He was respectful and very professional.  Madison is a great kid and I was jealous of him watching the Super Bowl, but I was also happy for him.

Where is your offensive line at right now in terms of health and performance?

We had one guy get a strained hamstring in the game with Jacob Bell, but he is getting that back to 100 percent and so everybody else is out there.  I think their performance was okay, it wasn't great.  We had some issues, pre-snap penalties and some things that helped cause a lot of our lack of success on offense, but they had a very good offseason and a very good preseason and I expect them to be much, much better than they were a year ago.
What kind of identity do you want your offense to have?  Is it more of a run-first identity than what the Rams have done in the past?

An identity that protects the football, but scores with it.  There were Steel Curtains and all this other stuff, but that was then and this is now.  Two years ago when I first got this job we finished in the top five in most categories on offense.  Our quarterback went to the Pro Bowl and our running back went to the Pro Bowl and our split end went to the Pro Bowl.  We lost two last second field goals to Seattle or we would have won our division and we were in really good shape.  That was really a good mix for us.  We had an excellent running game, our back had nearly 2,400 yards of total offense, our quarterback threw for 4,000 yards, and we had a 1,300 yard receiver, actually had two 1,000 yard receivers that year.  To me, that is the formula.  We got away from that last year through a number of reasons, but we would like to get back to something like that.  Really what the Giants are doing, our opponent, is perfect.  Play great defense, better special teams week-in and week-out than your opponent, and then have an offense that takes the run if it is there and takes the pass if it is there and have a quarterback that plays at a high level.  I think that is what we would like to be.

What have you noticed on the film that is different about the Giants this year than last year?

The one thing is that they are still on their winning streak.  I don't know how many games in a row they have won.  I know they won four on the road to win the world championship and they open up against a tough opponent and got that win.  It is not winning, I think they have a couple new faces they have had to adjust for on their defense and are certainly doing a great job of that.  I don't know the exact stats of the game, but Washington I know didn't do a whole lot on offense except for the one drive before the half.  They did that without Osi (Umenyiora) and (Michael) Strahan so that, to me, is a sign of a great team, a team that loses a key player, maybe one of their best players on defense, and just puts the next guy in and doesn't miss a beat.  I see a lot more of the same to be honest with you.

How is Brian Leonard doing?  He was inactive last week, is there any reason for that?

He is doing well.  He got injured in the third preseason game for us.  His shoulder subluxed so he was not able to have any contact for the two weeks after that and because of that he missed a lot of special teams work.  We just wanted to rest that shoulder one more week and there is obviously a great chance he will be up for this game.  He is doing great and did very well for us his rookie year.  He started four or five games last year because Steven Jackson was hurt.  He was pretty good at tailback, pretty good for a guy that was really drafted as a fullback.  We love his versatility and we think he is going to be one of those mainstays for us for years to come.

What is Leonard Little's status?

He did not practice today.  Everything is day-to-day.  He tweaked or strained his hamstring in the game early and was not able to go back in.  Right now we are just evaluating him day-to-day.

Has Torry Holt lost a step at all or is he the same guy he has always been?

I think Torry is the same guy.  He is going for eight Pro Bowls; I think last year was his seventh.  He is one of the few guys that has been consistent throughout his career of being able to be productive.  I think ever since his rookie year he has had 1,000 yard receiving year every year.  He never really slows down as far as I am concerned.  He did not have a real productive day last week and neither did anybody else, but I expect him to really step up and have a big game for us, hopefully Sunday. 

Is there any particular reason why your offense has been better at home than on the road the past year or so?

I don't know.  I have to do a study on that one and I might be able to help you.  I think it is just that you go on the road and... you guys are covering a team that bucks the system, they go out on the road and go after people when I think that generally people have a little less production when they do play on the road, but that is not the case with the Giants.  We are trying to become a much better road team and we didn't open up very good last week, but we have to put that one behind us and get ready for this one.