Tim Ruskell Quotations

The people who step across the line and get the job done deserve the credit. They enjoy playing with each other, they have each other's back, and they've really bought into the team concept. You drive down a road and see a road crew, two of them are working and the rest are leaning on their shovels? I lean on a shovel.

We're so proud of what he's done. He really unified this group and became the quarterback of this group and the leader of this defense in a short period of time. My hat's off to him.

We're going to take it slow and see how Ken goes. There's still more testing. We would never want to do anything that would harm him as we go forward.

We're just so proud of what he's accomplished. Not his numbers -- I mean, the sacks are great and everything -- but the character that he brings to our locker room, the discipline and the preparation and the work ethic. And that permeates throughout the locker room -- certainly along the defensive line -- and it adds to what this team has done.

We knew when we picked him that he was going to come here, and everybody was going to want him to succeed. We had that kind of consensus. We had a hunch on him as well.

We're still in the checking-it-out stage. We want to get through a scrimmage, maybe a game or two and then assess it. ... It's too early. You can't make any definitive judgments.

We're higher than I would like. But with a transition, you're going to get this. People who aren't fitting are not going to be here.

Most people would see that their glasses were broken and do the interview without them. But Tony felt it was important to see who he was talking to, so he kept the glasses on.

Mike's a father figure for these guys. The guy's consistent, he doesn't change, and he's got a big heart.

No one was too sensitive, and we could say what we needed to say and bounce things off each other,

No, but I hear about it. People will tell us that Mel said your pick stunk.

If we know players don't treat the cafeteria people the way they treat the coaches, that's important to find out.

I don't believe that. He just hasn't gotten any opportunities. He's still got that after-the-catch ability.

But as far as copying the blueprint, your team is your team. You have strengths, you have weaknesses. You have to figure out what your identity is as a team, make sure that stays the same, and then build strong around it.

Given all this information on Warren and what is true and what is not true. Ultimately, we said this guy loves playing football, he is an impact player, he wants to play in this state, and he will raise the level of our defense.

From a philosophical standpoint, I think the whole league is paying attention to that. They get the players to buy into the system, and no one is bigger than the team. It's a team concept all the way. We all strive for that -- maybe some more than others.

Fortunately, this draft in particular is deep in those.

He is a selfless player who understands what it takes to win in this league.

He is a complete professional in every sense of the word. He never misses a meeting. He's never late to a meeting. He's completely unselfish. He pumps up his teammates. He sets a standard for everyone else to follow.

There is a formula and there is a way to get to that point. You don't know how quickly it's going to happen.

We took a gamble at bringing Peter in. The extent of his injury was probably more than we thought it was. He was a borderline. But we did know eventually he would be OK.

We told him we would not talk with him again until after the draft, if that's necessary.

We lost the game, so I don't have a great impression of the game. The teams were playing hard. As far as historically where it ranks, I don't know.

We lost our two starting receivers to injuries at various times. If we didn't have Joe, we would have had a skid. We wouldn't have had our 11 in a row and we wouldn't be here.

He chose not to do that. We were able to grow together. Has he helped me? There is no question.

It certainly had an effect on us. But some teams are so enamored by the numbers -- the height and the speed -- that maybe he was there (high on teams' draft boards) and then came off after the workout.

It could be midnight and we're still arguing about a fifth-rounder. It's a labor of love. We all have passion for it and wouldn't trade it for anything in the world.

I think the nation saw the resilience of this team, the character, the teamwork. We're not a collection of stars. We don't blow you away. We're really better than the sum of our parts. These guys play hard, they fly around, they give you everything they have.

I was a likely target, ... It was really no big deal.

I think they have five or six plays that he could reasonably go out there and do. We'll see him on the returns. He's obviously in the crash-course mode.

Rod didn't want the 6-6 defensive tackles, ... He wanted the undersized guy who could leverage. He really believed in that, that if you can win the battle of pads, you can get off and make plays.

Some guys were not on the same page, ... Some players were working harder than other players. Some guys were committed to winning, some guys weren't. It was a little dysfunctional in the group.

It felt good early on, it really did. And we just built on it in training camp and into the season.

I think people do a better job in the second round because the pressure's off.

That was one of the most unbelievable things I have ever experienced -- what Joe was going through and the level he played at in those games.

We just can't say it. We have to do it.

You knew that he was a fit because of what he brings in terms of after the catch. Nate always looks to make a short play long and always maximizes his game. It was worth what we had to go through; and yes, there were some periods of not knowing, but the goal was always to bring him into the fold.

Those guys are exceptional, there's no question about it.

What you see with Tony is what you get. He doesn't just talk it and not do it. He talks it and does it. He's a great man. High moral character. High value system and he instills that in his team and the people that work with him.

We still have to look. We were looking even before Jeb went down.

We'll talk again. I know their people real well. They're going to stay in touch and we'll see where it goes.

There are many ways for guys to lead. Conduct. Toughness. How hard you hit. Different people can be that guy.

We consider trading down when the guys that we projected would be there, aren't there. They're all gone and we have to go to our next group, our next grade level. That's when we'll make the calls. Those guys are gone, let's go to our next group. The value is less because we graded them less. Let's see if we can get some takers and get another pick later on.

We knew that his teammates at USC rallied around him. His coach, Pete Carroll, went on and on about his intangibles. He sets the tempo for a defense. He's very confident.

We're not just going to be focused on that, even on Day 2 if he's a good special-teams player and not a return guy. But I would think that we would come away with somebody who does one or both.

(The Panthers) weren't ready for some of that stuff, which threw them off. And that's how you win big games. Mike's called it great all year long; he's quite a game manager, and he's been a joy to watch this season.

We've just signed one of the best running backs in the history of the National Football League, basically in essence, to a lifetime deal.

We'd already had undersized inside players. For any other team, it would have been. For us, it was, 'OK, another 6-footer.'

You can just look at the card and almost define the player without reading the report. It cuts through the jargon a little quicker.

Tony would run our coaches out of there to get back to their families when it was getting too late in the night.

We just made a run for the Super Bowl, so everybody's feeling good about themselves. Obviously our players become more attractive to other teams. So they get some ideas in their head. We'd love to have them all back, but that's hard to do. We're in a good spot in terms of where our talks are with all of our players.

You factor in his durability quotient and it makes the decision pretty easy.

We are still working free agency. I think last year our most productive period was about from now even on past the draft. It's still ongoing. There won't be as many big-name people come down, but there's a lot of good need-type, value-type people still out there.

We had some divisiveness in the locker room, so we had to shake up what was in the shoebox. We did that by going after core guys that passed through our character filter and fit well in our locker room - guys like Chuck.

And you bring the walls down. We've been in situations, both he and I, where you can't get anything done and you get agendas. When we finally cleared the fog in Tampa, that really opened the light ... Not so much that Rich showed me; we saw it together... how successful that can be when the coach and general manager and ownership are all working together for the same goal.

There was a little bit of divisiveness in the locker room that was preventing our team from coming together.

There's still a few battles left. Those players know where those battles are, and they're all going to try to have the game of their life.

There's not a lot of truthfulness going on.

It was unfortunate because he was having a nice camp and we were talking about a situation where he would be able to help us as a designated rusher. He was doing that well.

It was almost like fate, ... Like it was meant to be.

Sometimes you feel like you are getting a canned answer. The coaches love these players in many cases and want good things to happen to them and are going to protect their group.

Pressure him and make him throw. And when he runs, you must punish him. He has to feel it. Michael can only take so much of that, like anyone.

Stuff still gets out. (The media) are able to predict, almost to the T, the first 15 picks (of the first round). But you try your best to keep it in-house.

As a scout you have to look at the hands so the guy doesn't come off the field when it's a passing situation.

That's great. I think they are proud of that. Everybody who goes onto the field contributes something in some way, and you saw that again today.

This is fun. The town is excited. That can only be a good thing.

As we go through the season, I think that's what he's going to try to do.

It was the game where those guys that were new to the team all made contributions. Yet, no one got singled out after the game. It was about this was great team defense -- our best team defensive game.

It was a roster-maintenance move. Kris was on the bubble for us. They had inquired about him several times. We're always looking for defensive linemen. ... Obviously, it's not a world-beater trade.

It's unfortunate. The league will take care of it now, I think.

That is a nice corner list that they have. The safeties are more than I am used to in terms of the pure numbers of guys that we think can play.

The big blowout deals are probably a thing of the past for this period. You still have the understanding that there may be some teams and some cap casualties that come along the way, but you really focus now on the draft in terms of what needs you have left.

That is what we are going to do. Maybe we won't get them all but we want to keep our core together.

It's amazing to be back. I've been very fortunate.

I've known Rich a long time, and we'll always be friends. You would wish that everyone in their working career would have that kind of working relationship and a friendship, because it just makes it work.

Not being together for a long time, that's not good for a defense. The longer you are together as a group, the better you are going to be. We can't fake that. That's just going to take time. How long, I don't know. But I know this, they are working hard at getting everybody on the same page and not making mistakes. That's how you get that started.

Not every visit is going to be film room, practice. Some of the visits are going to be interviews and getting the detective work done.

I want the guy to be everything, ... I want him to do the little things. Catching the football. Pass protecting for the quarterback. Being a good receiver out of the backfield because then the defense can't focus on, 'We've got to stop him running.'

It takes a little bit of pressure off. I look at him as insurance.

If you get your guys all committed on one goal, you've got a shot. You can be better than the sum of your parts.

I know it works -- it's tried and true, not only in football but in business.

Certainly, there was a lot to do. We were right in the middle of the free-agent deals. We had 16 guys looking. ...But we all rolled up our sleeves.

He's a guy who gets off the ball. They're looking more for a 3-4 type of defensive lineman.

I don't see any difference in him. He's back to where he was. He's the same guy.

You can't have a harder situation in your life than what his family went through,

The key ingredient is bringing guys in who have character, to build team chemistry, so that everyone is moving in the same direction, ... The other thing I thought was important was to open up the lines of communication and improve the morale in the building.

This is my job. I've got some friends on the Atlanta team, and they will always be friends when that's appropriate. So really, the emotion part comes with the players and coaches. You have to be emotional to win the game and they know it.

The important thing to take from this is we very much want to keep Steve a Seahawk and our goal is to ultimately re-sign him. This is the best avenue for achieving that.

You've gotta draft well. You have to bring the right people in.