Brad Childress Quotations

We've always spread it around. All the guys give you a little something different. And I think fresh legs are important.

The one thing that you know about Terrell is that he loves to play the game, so he's excited to get going. This is what these guys strive for. This is what they look forward to. To have it on the national stage, it's a Monday night football game and a rematch of the NFC championship game that he didn't play in. He will be ready to go.

When I look at that, I don't see that. Did he miss some throws that he should have made? Sure, and I'm sure he will tell you that as well. I don't see where that injury is doing something specifically to his throwing mechanics. I wish I could tell you I saw that.

Obviously, we'll be excited to have him, and we wanted him for a reason. He will give us not only good football play, but he'll give us great temperament and great toughness, I think, in the offensive line. That's somewhere you need to always have that.

Obviously, he had an expertise and a way about him. I don't think you can get strapped by the age thing. Bobby Knight was named a head coach at a very young age. Those guys were given a lot, tool-wise, and they've obviously took it and run with it.

If we could get five good football players I'd be elated. It doesn't make a difference in what order, offense or defense.

I don't know, 33, he may have had a lot of hard miles on him. Sometimes these coaching years are like dog years. It's all relative. I think the experiences through the course of that. He's a guy that has coached in and won the Super Bowl. You can't put a premium on that. That's what everybody in this league is playing for, that ring. I don't have one on my finger, he does have one on his finger. There is something to that.

I don't feel we're struggling to run the football. I think we've been in some games with different dynamics where you weren't comfortable standing there thinking, 'I'm going to run it between the tackles.' That probably wouldn't be a good thing to do if you're down 17 or 20 points.

If a daily, 'How you doing, Terrell?' is antagonistic or spiteful then I must be on the wrong planet.

If a daily, 'How you doing' or a 'What's up' is antagonistic or spiteful then I must be on the wrong planet.

He did a nice job. He was very good on pass protection. He did a nice job as the return guy.

He has that rare ability to call on other talents when one might not be available,

He's got gas left in the tank. He's a little bit banged up, as a lot of offensive linemen are at this time of the season. But you know he's going to be out there on Sunday. He's done a good job out there.

His resume is his tape. And his tape speaks for itself. He's a good football player, and I'm sure we'll get out to see his workout.

He's got a big body, a long reach and big hands. He shows flashes, then he'll take a step back. He'll do two or three good things, have two or three good days, but you just want that consistency.

The pain free (aspect) ends up being huge. His flexibility is better. You see him making a lot of reaching catches.

He was one of the most active guys we saw in that Kansas City game, ... He's flying around and playing like his hair is on fire.

He wants to make this team so bad, he talked to our defensive backs coach about being a defensive back.

It changes it for them. It doesn't change things for us.

I think that every defense has some element of it. Some people have more tied into it as a staple. This would be one team that is tied into it as a staple.

I think we're just playing the ultimate team game and so everybody has to be on board. Specifically, the quarterback has to be on board because that's kind of the straw that stirs the drink, if you will. You have to feel that, it has to be ringing through. I didn't quite get it.

I think there is a menu of things he does very well and I think there are things that he is coming along at. Really, it's an evolution with those guys. Brian Westbrook we had a small package for when he was a rookie. So, it's moving along and he is doing all right.

Jim Mora has an idea of what he can and cannot do... He has a firsthand knowledge of that, regardless of what he has seen on tape... He's seen him day-to-day for years. I think it goes back to them and how they want to play him. We'll play him the same way we usually do within the system.

I said in my opening comments... he's a franchise quarterback, and I don't believe a guy loses his position based on injury. So the first thing is, he doesn't need to be injured anymore. He's got to rehab. He's got control over that. I don't have control over that.

I will tell you that he always brings a standard to the practice field and the game field. He has always been extremely professional in those areas and obviously extremely productive. That is all you can ask for the guy to do. On the little bit he has played in the preseason, he is ready to go. He's been in big games before and he is going to his hometown, but I think you have a pretty good idea of what he will do.

It doesn't hurt. But it causes a splitting headache for the coaches.

That's the mindset. I don't know anything to the contrary.

You don't ever say never at this time of year.

You don't do anything without those guys in front. Everyone wants the receiver or the running back or the quarterback, but you have to make sure you're paying attention. You better take care of your lines.

We're dealing with the other situation. It will play itself out.

You always worry about kids going home to their hometowns. You don't know how they'll react. But we try to make it easy for them, and create the atmosphere that it's a business trip.

We have a system that we are attacking the defensive scheme with. I think you would shortchange yourself if you weren't attacking that scheme. We're fully cognizant with what he can and cannot do. I don't know if there's much he can't do.

The quarterback has to be on board because that's kind of the straw that stirs the drink. I didn't quite get it.

We don't have a specific time targeted. He is taking reps out there and is in all the game plan meetings. That opportunity will knock at some time and he needs to be ready when it does.

Those are great battles at the backup tight end positions. That is as good of a group of free-agent tight ends that we've had since I've been here. They all bring a little something different to the table. They're all extremely smart and don't make errors. Most of them are good special-teams players.

We will continue to investigate our options in free agency and look forward to next month's draft to build the best roster we can.

We just have to see how it all plays out.

We had a good visit, and we had some good talks. My impression is that they are quality people, and I'll leave it that.

What better way to beat that defense than to practice against it?

Brad Johnson was asking me for one as well. He got one yesterday. Plenty of time.

Even though he has been part of this West Coast Offense, all of them go different ways. It kind of splinters off, and you head your own direction. So, some of the things that Detroit was doing, we are not doing the same way here. He has to learn the way you are doing it and how you are reading it and how you are looking at it and our verbiage.

Billy has gotten incrementally better. He's done a good job in practice. He's gotten a couple of good opportunities around the ball. He was in the right place and the quarterback decided to get it to him. So, when you produce for your quarterback, a lot of times, you get that extra look.

Everything became about being a $10 million-a-year quarterback.

As I mentioned, I never had a conversation with him about this football team. It was always about what he needed financially and money. I never heard team, I always heard me and I and 'I need 10 million dollars. I'm a 10 million-dollar-a-year quarterback.

I've said this all the way along: competition makes good football teams.

Terrell is a very talented player, but if there's one thing I know about football is that it's about the team, the team, the team, the team, the team, the team.

Schematically, because all he has really done was getting handed the football, he's still learning the pass game. When we displace him, that is not natural to him. (But) he's one of those guys where if you show him something, he's got it.

Quite frankly, I don't think he wanted to be here anymore.

That's why we drafted him. Time will tell what he does. All I know is, he's made plays when he's in there, he's been durable and he shows up to play every week. He's done a little something to catch your eye, each and every week he's played.

You see it with all the guys that are in their first time with this offense. You can't be thinking a lot. You want to just be reacting, heading down your path and seeing what the defense is giving you, as opposed to thinking about what steps you have to take and what your landmark is and how you're involved in the protection.

You need to know who you are, know what you do, what you do well, and don't try to be somebody else,

This is the plum job out there, without a doubt, hands down. Nine out of 10 people will tell you that. The ownership here showed me how committed they are.

At a fast rate, he's putting what he learns into play. Every play he learns something new. ... All of the physical attributes are there. He has speed and quickness. He has good hands. He can put what's in the classroom on the field. He can make you miss. So, yeah, he's got the whole package. When it starts to slow down for him a little bit, then you'll see all of his God-given athletic ability come out.

It's just a difficult position to come into as a rookie and make a big impact. I don't think people outside the game appreciate the difficulty involved. I mean, you can talk about the speed of the game, and how different it is, but there are a lot of other things that contribute to the problems players have at the position. It's a very steep learning curve, and it takes some guys a year or two to overcome it. It's a very short list of guys who come in and make an immediate difference at the position.

It really is driven by the fact that other guys are doing a bit more special-teams wise,

It presents a separate set of problems, in terms of protecting them with running backs. There are mismatches, and communication with the offensive line is important so that everyone recognizes those different looks.

It just became a deal where I didn't feel like it was the team, I felt like it was 'me. I went through a big 'me' situation last year with a guy who was all about 'me.

That's the easy way to explain it. But it was different things at different times. We talked about pre-snap penalties last week, and they continue. In my mind, that's just focus and concentration. It does not make a difference whether you are young or old. That's just focus.

That is a whole different mindset, because you are out there so much more. (As a starter) he has to be very good in the run area, in the pass area with the long- and short-range stuff. He has to be better at reading coverage. He is showing an ability to do that and get to the spots that he needs to (be in).

It's important that you understand, if a daily 'hi' is antagonistic or spiteful then I must be on the wrong planet. I've always treated people with dignity and respect.

It's a Monday night football game and a rematch of the NFC championship game that he didn't play in. He will be ready to go.

It's a 'Monday Night Football' game and a rematch of the NFC Championship Game that he didn't play in. He'll be ready to go.

It's hard for him most of the time by the time he gets in there we've got - I don't want to say a patchwork offense, but he's usually out there with a bunch of different guys who haven't played together, younger guys,

I've got other places I've got to watch. That's why I've got that tape that I can go back in and watch right now.

They both are extremely elusive. They are able to make you miss and they can catch the football.

They've got that backed-against-the-wall mentality. You can get about anything from them. You could get a bring-the-house-type of operation, or anything.

I know where his heart is in no uncertain terms. He's looked me in the eye and told me that.

I'm not telling you that there are not some dinosaurs coaching in this league, because there is plenty of them - and maybe they do it a little bit differently. I just think the communication with today's athlete ... it's important that you have young guys that are able to talk to those guys.

I just think we got off to a rocky start. But that happens sometimes when emotions run high. But he's doing a great job with the rehab and I'm happy to hear that. Nothing else happens unless the knee gets rehabbed.

I just think that it's something you continue to work at. Really, you end up getting judged on the whole body of work, not just the five games.

I remember a great, great comment by (Denver safety) John Lynch after we played them last year. On defense, all you ever try to do is to make the other team one-dimensional, and he said, 'They already were one-dimensional.' You know what? It was a like a charge hit home. And we started to run the ball more.

I know Bill will probably have a 'get right' meeting with him, tell him what his expectations are, what his rules are. And I think it will go from there.

I hire them and I have to trust them. Andy did that. Barry (Alvarez at Wisconsin) did that. (The coordinators) have taken the ball and run with it. They're good leaders. But to be a good leader, you have to have good followers.

I have to deal with everybody that is here in a team setting and so when he is here in a team setting, we will deal with it.

In the pass game, he is picking up incrementally enough where you can get him in there. Does he have the whole load yet? No, that takes awhile. It took Brian Westbrook a while and Brian came out of a passing system.

It ends up getting skewed when you play from behind.

By their nature, they're kind of one-sided and not Q-and-A sessions.

He's three months out of a major surgery. Before we do anything, we're going to get him back to health. All my talk with the trainers is about getting him back to the level of play he was at in 2004.

He's feeling a little better. We will see to what extent he can get out there and move around.

He's the guy that's telling everybody which direction to go. That's huge to have a center that's a smart guy, that's a physical player in there, directing both sides of that offensive line.

He's like a piece of gristle. He's got a great squirt in the hole. Playing behind 6-7 guys, he's hard to find back there.

He's a phenomenal player between the white lines. He'll probably be much the same as when he came to us in Philadelphia. He'll probably be a good citizen and a very good player. He'll be a model ... this year.

I called about the last five or six games of the season. It goes back and forth. If you are stuck in a rut and somebody is seeing something you don't see, usually there is a give-and-take of information.

You can't throw it to them. It's kind of a fundamental thing.

You can only coach the guys that show up and that's something, again, that decision is going to get made somewhere else. Whether they want to let somebody go and bring somebody in that kind of tickles our fancy a little bit. But you work with the guys that are here and I am OK with the guys that are here. And whatever happens with Buck, we wish him the best. We want him to be here, but if he's not, we keep marching.

These guys jumped out. It's one of those deals where you snooze, you lose.

This is a huge check-down offense. That's where the high completion percentage always comes in - check it high and drop it down - and he's just doing that very well with that right now.

All I know is that I thought Culpepper was a close second to McNabb when we drafted Donovan No. 2 overall (in 1999). I believe that Culpepper is a franchise quarterback.