Ron Rivera Guys Quotations

He's a young man who will come in and spot our other two guys in pass-rush situations. He is athletic and comes off the end very hard, has speed and quickness, was productive, played in a big-time program, so he is used to this kind of football. We think he is going to fit us very well and give us flexibility.

Guys are going to miss tackles and maybe it isn't just one individual as much as just the complete effort. You've got to make sure you've got all 11 guys running to the football, so if somebody does miss a tackle the guy doesn't gain the extra yards afterwards.

Guys weren't in their gaps because they were trying to do more than they needed to or they flat-out got cut off, and that can't happen. It doesn't matter who the running back is, it doesn't matter who the offensive line is, you just can't give up the yardage in key situations.

Some of the guys we counted on stepping up or needing to step up really didn't show up, and that was disappointing. We can't have that kind of drop-off between the first group and second group.

We missed tackles, it's part of the game sometimes. You have to give credit to the running back, but in the same respect, I think some of the guys that missed tackles are some of our better players and we've most certainly got to improve on that.

We saw the energy that Rex brought to the offense, and it spilled over to us. Him coming in was a lift, and the team seemed to feed off that energy. Any time you can get a lead and add to that lead, you can really cut the guys loose.

That's not a particular problem because in our defense a lot of the linebackers are interchangeable. The outside guys can play either spot.

Anytime you don't play well, you wonder if something is wrong. But at the same time, you also have to say, 'We've played well eight weeks in a row.' Every now and then, you're going to have a letdown. You just can't let it become a big thing. We tried to make sure guys understood those things do happen and that we needed them back, needed a great effort, and that's exactly what they gave.

These guys feel the same type of fervor. They can't wait until we get started for next season. ... I think there are a lot of pluses we can take from this. I believe that guys do have a defiant attitude because of what happened, and we'll be better for it.