Joe Vitt Quotations

There is no question. It's a point of pride for the players, for the coaches, for our families. When a man's butt hits the ground, a man better get back up again. We were kicked down last week, and we've got to rise.

There are some things that Dexter does better than him; there are some things he does better than Coakley. He's been in the system two years, he's played quite a bit and he'll be prepared.

Whenever you let a good football team like the Colts get on a run, it's tough to put your finger in the dike.

When these guys came in today we didn't put candles in the room and have organ music playing and violins, and the grim reaper around the corner. It is what it is. Hey, we lost the game through our own mistakes, through needless penalties.

Let me tell you something, that's a guy right there that we have to take care of. I think they've got to give him more touches. He's a great screen runner. He's been on all our minds all week long.

My main arteries are great. The doctor says I look great, so here I am.

I don't want to assume anything yet, I think that's a hypothetical situation. But I will say this: Jamie Martin was born and raised in this system and knows the system as good as anybody.

He says he feels a lot better than a year ago with a similar injury.

He's a young kid that was a little leery. He just had surgery and had to get that thing punched a few times, and he did it. Good for him.

He's a fighter. He's fighting right now for his life, and he's not going to give up. He's going to go down kicking. Our thoughts and prayers are with him right now.

He's a great supporter of our players, the organization - really a good guy. He's a fighter. He's fighting for his life. Our thoughts and prayers are with him right now.

He's a special guy, now we've got to see how he plays after a week's worth of preparation and somebody getting ready for him.

He's going to be held accountable. I believe this in my heart: to holler, scream and demean and all those things does anybody no good. He knows he was wrong, he doesn't want to be wrong and he'll work hard to get better.

He's been very, very productive for us. He's a versatile guy that can rush the passer, and for his size he can play the run fairly well. He's a pleasant surprise.

He was a great player in our league, and he's really been married to this organization his whole adult life. He's a great supporter of our players, of the organization.

I thought he'd go today, but he just can't.

Our goal was to be 4-4 at the bye, so that was our first attainable goal that we set out to accomplish. The emotion that the guys played with, and the passion and the character, is just unbelievable. ..I?m glad this one is behind us. We have a bye to get healthy on it?s on to Seattle.

Our coaches up in the press box said they thought it was a fumble. But those things happen. That would have been a big play for us.

People have been attacking us (on the ground) with that package all year long. It started in San Francisco. My only explanation is they probably want to try to keep Coakley and Claiborne off the field.

Looking back at this game, I think I have to point the figure at myself. I hurt our team today, I really did.

Marc is a warrior ... but it's still swollen up.

I think right now we're not getting lanes in the running game that are clean, that he can see. But he's done well. I wish we would have blocked better on the offensive line.

I think he's one of those special backs, the more you feed him the ball the stronger he gets, the more confidence he gets. In that fourth quarter he was wearing people down.

I think he's looking forward to this next journey, which all football coaches go through. It's that time of the year, and as a football coach you always have to say your next job is going to be your best job.

I think he's bleeding for us right now.

I think he had 12 plays. Goal line, and at the end of the game when they were running the clock out.

I think he gets better every day, he really does. He gets more comfortable. He's a special guy. We're going to see how he plays after a week's worth of preparation and somebody getting ready for him. The Redskins' defense has had a whole week to get ready for him now, what he can do, what he can't do. So, we'll see.

I think last night emotionally we came out of that tunnel smoking. We went up there to win a football game and then some bad things started to happen to us.

I thought he had good pocket presence and good zip on the ball and was fairly accurate. I think those things do take time to get back in sync, and it's something we'll continue to work on.

I think they're going to hand every guy off that (team) bus a ball. I really do. They have that running game going now.

I think they're both professionals, they thought they could go and they worked hard in practice and showed in practice they could go, and they went. They'll be better for it.

That was the key going in. We knew we were going to bleed. That's a good (Colts) attack. That's probably as good as you're going to find in the National Football League with their skilled receivers, the running back and the quarterback. So the ability not to give up the big play was huge.

Mike came in this morning like he did (Wednesday). He scripted the practice, he set the format for practice, the schedule times. He reviewed Wednesday's (practice) film, met with the offense, and went over the corrections of Wednesday's film.

We played good run defense in the first three games, but I think that was a little skewed. We were playing a lot of eight-man fronts. We started to go against some good passing attacks, like the Giants, like Seattle.

Well, we really had a need. He knows the system and we have to go with three quarterbacks.

We came out of the blocks smoking. Then Marc got hurt, (we) had a few turnovers, let them have a couple of third-down conversions.

We came out of the blocks smoking. Then Marc got hurt, we had a couple of turnovers and we gave them some third-down conversions. When you let a good team like the Colts get on a run, it's hard to put a finger in the dike. Obviously a 17-point lead isn't enough against the Colts.

We have another day of practice. We're going to look at Fitz tomorrow. Fitz is a little sore.

We'll find out. We rested him and we'll continue to evaluate it.

We pounded him pretty good. To his credit he hung on to the ball and he withstood the pounding, and at the end of the game when he had to make a play and they had to keep possession, he made it.

This was a great win for our football team. The emotion that the guys played with, and the passion, and the character, is just unbelievable. Every player and every coach on our staff got a game ball. What else can you say?

When you know the season's coming to an end, you know what the date is, it's depressing. There are going to be a lot of us next week in a state of depression. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth, but it gives us a chance to take it out on Dallas on Sunday night.

We've got three weeks left. We've got to move on.

We had as much success as anybody has had against them. We had some good pressure.

Don't worry about me, I'm fine. We looked like grumpy old men. I tell you, it was a sore sight.

I've been to this complex, I've been to the dome, I've been on the bus to go to the airport, I've been to the airport and to the visiting hotel. Believe me, nobody mistakes me for Tom Cruise.

The team is his concern. His health is our No. 1 concern.

Do you want a drum roll? Yes. I think he gets better every day, he really does.

That's what presidents do, they identify who is and who isn't. We hold our players responsible and accountable and I'm being held accountable, too.

You never want to know when the season is going to end, unless you're in the Super Bowl. You go through a period of depression for a while. You miss the guys. You miss the practices. You miss the meetings. We're in this game because we love it. So this is our Super Bowl, and this is our playoff game coming up. It's the last game of the year. We want to play and do as good as we can and take it from there.

This is not a dink and dunk offense when he drops back. He has a strong arm and good vision.

This is something this week that we're going to have to address. You've got to keep your best players on the field.

There were a lot of guys battling. If I had coached the game better, I'd have put ourselves in better position to win.

This is the last week, with nothing to play for and we worked a lot of extra hours to try to scheme Dallas a little bit. Our players bought into it. I am very proud of them. We talked earlier in the week. You are putting your resume out there. We are playing the last game of the season, national televised game, we didn't know whether Dallas would be playing for a playoff spot or not.

Absolutely. I thought Jamie really played well. He had the two interceptions which we just can't have, but Jamie all day long gave us a chance to win the game. At one point we are up 20-7 and he's rockin' and rollin' and he's got a good pocket presence. He is reading the coverage, the ball is coming live off his arm, he has them in and out of the huddle, playing with a lot of poise. He'll be our starter. I'm really proud of him but he has to cut back on the interceptions.

It was our playoff game. We played hard-nosed physical football in front of a nationally televised audience against a good team, and I think it's a glimpse of what we could be.

It was clean. Mark's trying to make a play. Mark's trying to make a tackle.

It is what it is. We're moving on.

That's the best way to do it. Catch the ball and get up the field.

So back then, in August, it was decided that we'd get to the bye, and we'd just go in there, and look at all the arteries.

I'm going to lay down and bleed a little bit, wake up and go back to work somewhere.

If Marc can get healthy, Marc's got the job. This is Marc's job.

I'm worried about Sunday. He's not playing Sunday.

In the National Football League, there are a lot of teams that the safeties are the leading tacklers on their football team and that is why we call them safeties. They have got to be good tacklers and at times, we can tackle and do tackle. Other times, it is just bad. That is just like someone trying to be a journalist and you have to teach them how to write. They are supposed to know how to write. If you are a defensive football player you are supposed to know how to tackle and if you can't, you are in the wrong profession.

By this afternoon, I was going to go see Christiaan Barnard in South Africa for a heart transplant. It's unbelievable.

He's a heck of a player, a heck of a leader. We're going to miss him. It's a shame, it really is.

He's not out of the picture, but we're going to go with Fitz until Marc is ready to go.

You could've heard a robin burp up in the balcony in the first quarter. Man, it was quiet ... dead silence. And our guys came back and competed and hung in there for four quarters. It was gratifying for our whole team.

The guys played with a lot of passion. They practiced well the last four weeks and had nothing to show for it. I'm proud that they got this win.

You work hard. Work's going to win, and wishing won't. We've got to be more detailed. We have to be more disciplined. We can't make the mistakes that we're making.

And it just so happens that I was put into the position of interim head coach, and everybody knows about it.

All the moves we've made, we think are going to give us the best chance to win our next game. We brought up some of the young kids that worked hard and they deserve a chance.