Tim Ruskell Team 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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

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 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.

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.