Mike Sherman Quotations

The only concern I have is how is he playing right now, and he's playing pretty good. So, I feel good about that.

We're not going to make it look pretty and say, 'Well, we've been here before,' ... We have 14 games to play and we can't panic. But I don't think you can tell them the glass is half full when it's not.

What happens when adversity strikes? And it will, and we'll have to work through those issues. It won't always be the good times in the preseason when everyone's patting you on the back.

There are definitely spots available to be had by certain players. That 53rd, 52nd, 51st, 50th spots are still wide open.

Like I said earlier in the week, I'm going to keep that part of it close to the vest. Obviously, after the first ball game, it's all out there anyway for (the next) 15 weeks.

Since I've been in the league, it's something you've always had to spend a lot of time on as an offensive coach, ... If you're not ready, it certainly can surprise you.

No, you don't expect the mistakes to come from the guys that you've always been able to depend on. Sometimes it gets to the point where guys are pressing a little bit too hard. That may be the case in regard to Favre.

Obviously, there was an extenuating circumstance with a bad snap. But we got the ball down. Obviously, it's not perfectly down, but the ball did get down and you'd like to think he'd be able to push it through.

Obviously that's three too many penalties. We have to weigh the production of what (Whitticker) is doing compared to what he's giving up. Three pretty important penalties, so I have to consider that. Not to make excuses for a rookie, but he is doing some pretty good things. He knows his assignments, is a pretty physical player. I think he will continue to get better. That doesn't mean we're going to stay with him if this persists.

I wished he could have played in the last ball game, he didn't feel that having been in the courthouse he was ready to play, he had missed three practices, so I didn't feel I wanted to put him out there at risk. But I felt in the first three games, he had opportunities to carry the football.

I don't know what visual sign I gave Bob necessarily or anybody in regard to that, ... That was one of many things that you deal with. That was no more, no less, but it was pressing at that time.

I don't know. We've practiced a lot of crowd noise since I've been here and it doesn't seem to be as big an (issue as it was),

I can just deal with the options that are available to me, and these are the options. Do I like them? Not necessarily.

Certainly, the best way to fix something is to be totally honest with it. I don't think you can tell (the team) the glass is half full when it's not. It's not half full.

Certainly, last year walking off that field after the Atlanta game was one of the low points of my coaching career. It was nice to win this football game. That simple.

Bubba Franks hurt his hip and was not able to return to the game. The extent of that injury I cannot comment on this point. I really don't know.

Bubba always finds a way to get on the field, ... Hopefully this is one of those ways this time.

But certainly, the best way to fix something is to be totally honest with it. I don't think you can tell (the players) the glass is half full when it's not. It's not half full.

But after the game, he still had some tension there in his shoulder area, so we thought the best thing for him was just to go back there and spend the night in case something did happen.

I didn't have a whole lot of choices. The doctors have held them back, so my choices have been limited. So what do I do from here? Well, we get them on (the field), we continue to condition them, we try to get them in the game on Thursday night against Tennessee, try to get them ready. I can just deal with the options that are available to me, and these are the options. Do I like them? Not necessarily.

I didn't have a whole lot of choices. The doctors have held (Hunt and Jackson) back, so my choices have been limited,

I don't think we're close to hurting each other necessarily. It's a physical game and ... I would like them at this point of the season to be physical because you're determining an attitude. ... I don't want anything cheap, but I want guys to be physical on both sides.

He's coming off a very, very severe injury. He's farther ahead physically, as far as playing through it, than I thought he would be, ... You consider it was less than a year ago that he was laying on the field at Lambeau, and we were wondering whether he can play again. There's a lot of things involved there.

He's coming along very well. ... I think we would be pushing the envelope, however, if we put him out there this week. He's made a very, very fast recovery. The surgery was a success. But, there's movements that you do in a football game that you can't mimic in a workout. So, we need to give this thing one more week.

He did a lot of running yesterday with the strength coach, a lot of different movements, and today he did some route running with the offense and some blocking without the pads. He did all the functions of a tight end.

He looks like he has the ability to run between the tackles pretty well. I've seen him bounce the ball outside with some speed. I don't think he had many opportunities to be successful in the game. I think from what I've seen I've been encouraged by him.

He looked OK. I'll make a further evaluation on him on Wednesday when we put the pads on.

We took shots down the field, but they have to be open shots, ... When they're playing your vertical routes, it gets tough. You can't force balls. When you force balls, you have interceptions. We sent vertical guys down field. Missing a player like Walker, there will always be a what-if. But we still should have been able to win this game.

We took shots downfield but you can't force balls. It's very difficult missing a player like Javon, and we should still have been able to take shots down-field.

We're obviously concerned because he's a valuable part of our offense, ... We will not know on his status for this weekend until later in the week.

He said he was fine. I said, 'I can tell something is wrong here. What's wrong?' He wouldn't tell me, ... It took me about 10 minutes to get it out of him. Finally, he told me.

He seems to understand that this is a big year for him. And I think he wants to do something about that.

There is a package where if (the Buccaneers) were in a certain personnel group (Carroll) could start. There is a package where if they're in another personnel group that Thomas would start.

He was limited in some capacity. But, what he did do, he looked good at. (We're) hopeful that he'll be able to play on Sunday and give us what we need.

has 99 percent of all the feeling back. He has a little tingling in one of his shoulders. But he's got most of everything, his faculties back where they need to be. It's just when you watch him walk, he's very stiff and not very mobile and understandably so.

I think it's a great group of guys,

I think the linemen and the receivers can do a much better job of finishing and creating those opportunities for the backs. Then again, it's also the backs as well. Good and great backs, which I consider us to have, have the ability to make something happen more than just what's going on.

I thought Aaron did better today, I thought he managed the game well. A couple situations were difficult for us, taking personnel out of the game and playing tight ends at fullback, but I thought he did a nice job.

Our leaders and our best players need to play their game and play to their level and help us here. There's no question about that,

I won't blame the game on that fan. We had our chances and we didn't take advantage of them.

I was fairly encouraged for the first time this year - there's no thrill in losing and there's no moral victories by any stretch of the imagination in the National Football League - but I saw some things out of the team. I thought they battled, I thought they competed, they fought and did the things that winners are supposed to do from an effort standpoint.

I still haven't come to grips with the fact that he would be unavailable - because he's always been there, ... But we're not going to put him out there and put him at risk if that's going to be the case.

I might invite him over to my house for dinner tonight, ... He certainly still has some ways to go, but I was proud of the fact he made a good play there and gave us a chance to win the game.

You'll play hurt in Green Bay, son, and you will ask for butter on your cheeseburgers, and you will like it.

Well, certainly it's limiting. How limiting? They've all run the run plays that we are calling. We've had to limit it going into this thing anyway in case this in fact did happen, so we prepared that way. But it does limit you some. I'd be misleading you to say it didn't.

Yeah, I thought Joey Thomas should have sat on the route a little better than he did. He drifted at the top of the route. He should have sat on that a little bit, played for a field goal, that was their best option and we kind of drifted at the top of the route and gave them that one.

We have a long way to go. The penalty situation is inexcusable, and that comes back to me, as I told the players, but I put it on them right now because we have to get that worked out. That will not work this season if we have that many penalties. Playing stupid like that does not bode well.

We just didn't make the necessary plays to win this ball game, ... or make the necessary calls to win this ball game.

You know, he started the season like gangbusters, had the big interception in the first game against Tampa, he's laying some pretty heavy hits on people, he's really being an aggressive safety and making the plays that he's capable of making and yeah, he looks good,

We haven't played as well this year, that bodes out more than anything. One minute you have a really good team here and you have really good results. We haven't quite achieved that here as of late.

Those are two of the elder statesmen on the team who have been through the good times and through the struggles. So they have a little bit of a bond there.

We'll ease them in as fast as we possibly can.

Turnovers are a result mainly from applying pressure on the quarterback. Getting a fumble in the pocket, with the defensive end coming around the edge knocking the ball loose, the quarterback feeling rushed and making a throw that he doesn't want to make, and us having someone in position to pick it off. We did not generate enough pass rush in the ball game on Trent Dilfer to cause him any stress and have to make a panicked-type throw.

We want to add a fifth receiver if we can. I don't think our philosophy - mine or Ted's - is to just to go out and get somebody to get somebody. But if we can get someone who can come in and help us, (we will).

Without the services of Davenport, we have to be able to count on our other two backs as well. Tony Fisher has been a role player for us in the past and has been an excellent player for us, particularly on third down, and has converted many of those on draws, screens and catches he has made.

Finally, he told me he was having some pains in his upper chest, shoulder area, pains very similar to the ones I was aware of the last time, ... They ran tests, and they're going to run some more tests on him tomorrow. I believe he'll be OK.

We've been meeting with him around the clock for the most part. He seems to be very adaptable and has picked up quite a few things. We put him out there on the field this evening and he seemed to handle things quite well. ... I didn't see him make any mental errors out there.

We've been meeting with both of those players around the clock for the most part and getting them ready to go.

Throwing them out there after waiting so long would be foolhardy on our part.

We will not know his status for this weekend until later in the week. But as of right now, he will not run (Monday), obviously, and probably won't practice on Wednesday, but that still is uncertain.

We saw what happened upstairs and they said (Favre) got leg-whipped. It wasn't intentional, I believe. We kind of knew what the injury was. He swore to me on the sideline that it was fine, but it stiffened up on him as the game went along. I was glad that he was able to go in and get the team into the end zone. That was important to him and to the offense.

To be honest with you, he's reluctant to go to the hospital to begin with. The symptoms were exactly the same as (last year). And we made him go to the hospital, which is ludicrous for him not to go. He gets there, they run some tests, the tests are negative. He wanted to come back here, so he signed himself out of the hospital. They weren't done doing the tests.

Both David and Donald Lee, ... Did a very good job.

Even though he doesn't carry the ball very much we do ball drills with him every day,

Concerned isn't the word. Aggravated probably is. I'm disappointed that our second offence was not more productive.

Diggs had three practices in six weeks and I just didn't feel confident to put him on the field. I know he may disagree with that, but I just felt nervous putting him out there not having been through a preseason with him.

Diggs had three practices in six weeks, and I just didn't feel confident to put him on the field. Not so much from a mental standpoint as much from a physical standpoint that he wasn't ready to play football.

Flanagan has what they call a muscle hernia. Probably won't have a chance to play this weekend. He's seeing a doctor in Philadelphia today.

There's really no place to go, because you can't get in there anyway,

The wind was not a factor on any of the missed kicks. I know the ball was spinning as they put it down on the first one. The second one, I don't know.

I've read in the media that people were frustrated with the length of time it took Brett to come to this decision. Last I checked, he hasn't missed any pre-season practices or games yet in the 2006 season.

It was very scary. It looks like he's going to be OK.

It was tough to watch any part of that game. We didn't execute in any phase.

Probably in the next month or so. I'm not that sure.

Our doctors would not have allowed it, ... We'll have to evaluate him on Wednesday.

This guy is not someone who is easy to get down. I knew we would be in position but he gets contact plus 2, 3 yards. I was very pleased how we gang-tackled him and not allow his second effort to move the pile.

They're the catalyst to the defense because they're so active, so disruptive. There aren't a whole lot of holes there. They've certainly drafted well and had good guys in backup roles. That's the biggest difference between this year and a couple years ago when they played with the same four guys.

They used to play pretty much with the same four guys. But they've drafted well there, so their rotation now allows them to play at a high level consistently, and it's really benefiting them.

They're 3-0 but we helped them become 3-0. We had a missed field goal, a missed extra point and four turnovers. There were numerous things that went wrong for us.

They missed the call, ... It's bad enough you have to deal with the mistakes you make; we have to live with our mistakes. Now, we have to live with somebody else's mistakes. That makes it tough.

This is the healthiest we've been on the offensive line. We've really survived this preseason without injury, and that's been a first for us.

They're improved, but they're still coming at costly times. I think we cut them in half, but still, penalties are still costly. They're not doing it intentionally, but it's not acceptable, either.

It's just a matter of him getting used to what we're doing. I'm not sure we're there quite yet. I'm going to talk with the defensive coaches in my meeting this afternoon with them and just see where we feel he is. He's a guy that hasn't really gone through preseason and has not been in the scheme per se, as a player physically worked into the scheme. So, obviously, we have a little concern there.

It's not like there's options. The options are decided in the offseason and in the draft and in the preseason and so forth. Now, we have our team set, and we have to be able to fix it from within, coaches and players alike. I firmly believe we can do it. (But) I'm not going to say it's easy.

For him to want to stay at the game over going to the doctor's was ludicrous, ... But, he wanted to be at the game and be a part of it so much.

Then, to get him back on the field, it would have been a little bit of a rush and probably not in his best interests. So, we felt like this, as an organization, was the best way to go, ... I know his parents were pleased with that decision. He just wants to get well and I think this time allows him the opportunity to do that.

It's been addressed. If (Little) has a problem with any situation, he needs to come and talk to me about it. Our coaches evaluate every practice, every game. We don't (air gripes) that way. We haven't done it in the past; we're not going to do it now. So, I don't anticipate that to happen again.

That intensity to win transfers to his coaches and players. I don't think that has ever wavered at all.

Everybody's competing and working for the job. We're going to go through this week, and we have a game coming up to make further evaluations.

It seemed like we were always stuck with a long field. As you move back in zones, the odds of scoring get worse and worse. But that was our own doing.

They've got guys in backup roles on that line there that would be starting for other teams,

There was a miscommunication, from what I understand, on that touchdown. I have to look at the tape. It looked like we were out of position to make that play.

There was a miscommunication, from what I understand, on that touchdown, ... I have to look at the tape. It looked like we were out of position to make that play.

The thing is the guys battled. They didn't stop. I think the team as a group are fairly resilient, fairly together. I don't see them cracking in spite of any of the adversity we face.

Not playing him a lot allows this injury to heal even more.

That's disturbing, to say the least - our inability to affect two-deep zone coverage in the run game. We've never had that problem before. Certainly that was a problem in the game (Sunday), and will continue to be a problem until we effectively attack two-deep coverage in the run game.

I'm disappointed I'm not the coach of the Green Bay Packers anymore. It's been difficult letting go of something you've embraced so passionately the last six years.

I'm very concerned about special-teams coverage. Two weeks in a row we gave up a kickoff return. I'm very concerned, particularly when we came out of the San Diego game (Aug. 11) and felt very confident. Overly confident, I guess, as you may look at it right now.

I'm waiting for him to come off the plane, and he comes off in a wheelchair. I'm in the tank, and he's picking me up, telling me, 'Hey, Coach. Don't worry about me, I'm going to be fine. I'll be coming back from this thing faster than anybody ever has,' ... This guy does have a single-minded focus on things of this nature. When he puts his mind to something, he usually gets it. So, I can see him coming back from this, very much.

I'm not the only one hurting in (the locker room) when I talk to the team. Those guys are very, very disappointed. They realized what was at stake today in regard to the division, we had a chance to get evened up in the division with our NFC record, and the Reggie White scenario was huge for us. There was plenty of motivation.