Q: 18 missed tackles?
A: We had a number of missed tackles in the football game. Yeah. We didn't tackle well. You've just got to emphasize it. We worked on it today. That was one of our focuses today. It's something that in the month of December you must focus and concentrate on and hopefully we got our message across. I think the players see it.
Q: Is it odd at this point in the season to have to go back to basics?
A: It kind of tells you as a coach to get back to the fundamentals and really go back to the basics and emphasize it even more because this is the time where you really need those fundamentals.
Q: Did you let these guys know that you were angry with them like last year against New Orleans?
A: I don't think I had to. We were all embarrassed by our performance. We can't explain why that happened. I know this group is determined. They've had a good focus all week. They've been very focused in the meetings and on the practice field, so I expect them to do something about it.
Q: Did you see any quit?
A: No. I did not see that. I just thought you don't win a game if you miss a lot of football tackles.
Q: So much has been made about the pass rush. Is there anything this week that you can try to get them going?
A: Stop the run. That will help a whole hell of a lot. That will help the pass rush tremendously.
Q: How do you explain what's happened with JPP and his numbers?
A: I have a different approach. Everybody likes to look at his numbers, but when you look at the tape JPP is really playing well. We're used to him having wild plays and this and that, but he's still playing very good football. No, he doesn't have the numbers. Would I love him to have the numbers? No doubt about it. But I think he is playing good football. He just doesn't have the wild numbers.
Q: At some point do you need the numbers? Doesn't that tell a little bit of the story of a pass rush?
A: I think it tells some of the story. I don't think it tells all of the story. I think the story is we've got to do a good job in stopping the run game and that will help our numbers and we've been emphasizing the run game more so than we've been emphasizing anything else this week.
Q: Is that because that's been a little bit more of a problem, stopping the run?
A: I think that we have to get people in situations we want them into; not let them dictate the circumstance.
Q: Tuck said that perhaps the guys on the defensive line are worried about distractions and not just focusing on beating the guy in front of them. Would you agree with that?
A: He answered that question, so I don't know what outside distractions he's talking about.
Q: Are there times when your defensive linemen are just not beating their guys?
A: Sometimes they're winning. A lot of times the ball is coming out pretty quick. We keep times on when the ball comes out. People have taken a different approach to us this year. There's not as much five-step… That ball is coming out. We've been beating some people pretty clean at times, but we just haven't had the… I think we've publicized our sacks so much that people have taken a different approach in how they pass protect and how they get the ball out against us.
*Q: How adept is Flacco at getting the ball out quickly? *
A: He can do it. I can recall my first year in the preseason they had a no-huddle quick game attack that really was effective and so it's in his repertoire. Will they use that this game or not? That's the chess match. We'll see.
Q: How did you see Antrel Rolle earn the credibility to be a leader on this team?
A: He was a top priority free agent when he came in and with Antrel, he does a lot of his talking by what he displays on the field. He does a lot of it by action. When he really speaks up and says something, guys take notice because he normally doesn't spout off a whole lot. I think his work ethic and what he does on the practice field; he very seldom ever misses a practice. We've talked about that during the course of this season. I think that earned him the respect from his teammates and his coaches and everybody that's involved with him that if he says something it's pretty credible.
Q: Are offenses doing anything differently regarding JPP now as opposed to a year ago?
A: You'll see two, three people… They don't turn him loose like they used to, like one guy blocks him and we don't know who he is. You'll see a couple of guys come over there and pop him and look for him. So yeah. They've taken a different approach to how they… But you can see the quarterbacks also. I think the ball comes out much quicker this year in our opponents' pass game than I've seen in a number of years just by the way offenses are approaching us.
Q: Does he ever get singled at all?
A: Oh yeah. He gets singled sometimes.
Q: Do you think that quick release is league-wide or is just against you specifically?
A: I can't say it's league wide. I know that the times that we normally keep and the times that we have right now, people attack us a little bit differently.
Q: How often would you say JPP gets singled?
A: I couldn't put a number on it, but he gets singled every now and then.
Q: Does that mean when he does get the extra attention that somebody else should benefit?
A: It normally does. They have different approaches to how they protect us. Sometimes it's two, two, two, one. Sometimes it's two, one, chip, two. So people have different approaches in how they do it. I can remember last week in the ball game they came out and they were like in an empty formation. Gonzalez chipped the end and the tackle hit the end and then it seems like he was going to stay in and help and then he released late and the back did the same thing. So the guard and the center took the one technique. There's different ways and then as soon as Gonzalez released, the ball came out. So there's different ways that offenses scheme and do some things like that.
Q: When your guys play good offenses, how much is it mentally on these guys? Where do you think they are mentally?
A: I think they're frustrated a little bit mentally because of how people have taken the approach against them. I think it weighs heavily on them because they are a very proud and productive unit and so when you get a sack, it's not an easy thing. They work their hind end off to get there. They've got to see the snap count, go through somebody and then get there and then when the ball is gone and if they hit the quarterback, then it's a roughing the passer. So when the ball is gone they're like, 'I didn't get it.' And so sometimes we set five and try to single up sometimes and then the ball came out and so I think that frustrates them a little bit and it kind of weighs on them sometimes. I do believe this about them, though: they're a proud unit. I think they will have success in the next couple of weeks and I think you'll see their numbers go up.
Q: Do you get the feeling that Osi is thinking about the prospect of the finality of winning a Super Bowl with this team?
A: I hope it is. I hope it's on all of our minds. We want to win another Super Bowl this year. I think every guy on our football team believes that we can do that. So I'm not speaking for just him. I think that every guy on our football team believes that we can go and win and have success, but we just need to take care of business on Sunday.
