Brian Westbrook was quizzed today about what needs to happen to get this team going. He also was questioned quite a few times about what wrong with the offense and what needs to be done to fix it.
RB Brian Westbrook Press Conference
11-7-07
On what changes need to be made for this team to succeed:
“I think probably the biggest thing is errors; mental errors, physical errors. We have to continue to play together as a team. I think everybody is fighting, but we’re not a good enough team to overcome the mental and physical errors that we have.”
On how much the team’s current situation jeopardizes the team’s ability to stay together:
“The way of the NFL is that when you lose, guys lose their jobs—coaches, players, and other things like that. They try to change the situation; that’s the way of the NFL. I think we have a good nucleus here, a good group of guys here who can get the job done. Unfortunately, we haven’t played up to our potential quite yet. We have to find a way to do that.”
On whether QB Donovan McNabb takes an unfair amount of criticism:
“Yes. The tough part about being a quarterback is that a lot of times you’re going to get a lot of the praise when the guys are doing well. A lot of the situation is that you did a great job and you’re going to get a lot of praise, some undue, but you’re still going to get a lot of praise. When things are going badly, you’re going to get a lot of people talking badly about you as well. In Donovan’s situation, everything that goes wrong on this team is not Donovan’s fault. Everything from the fumbles, to the interceptions, to the sacks, those are not all Donovan’s fault, not all of them, not totally. Because it’s a team sport, one man can’t make a football team. He has some blame on some of those things, running backs have some blame, tight ends, wide receivers, offensive line has some blame, as well. Because he’s a marquee guy and he’s almost the face of the organization, he takes a lot of the blame for things.”
On how this team changed from last year to this year:
“Every year is different. Every year stands on its own merits. The unfortunate part is that we haven’t played a full, good game in a while. We have to find a way to get better. Last season we had the offensive line playing great football all season long, healthy, things like that. Wide receivers were catching balls, running backs were running hard, quarterbacks were doing their job, as well. This season, we’re having some mistakes in different areas. Really, it’s across the board—running backs, quarterbacks, line, receivers, and tight ends. For us, we’re not a good enough team to overcome those mistakes right now.”
On how big of a step the team must take to get better:
“I think we have a little ways to go. I think that we can do a lot better at the things that we’ve been doing. I honestly do believe that, in that first half of the game, minus those two mistakes where they scored two touchdowns going into our endzone, they get the ball right there on our 20 or 30-yard line, it was a tight ballgame. It was 7-14, and they got that last pick at the end and it was 7-21 going into halftime. We had an opportunity, we were still in the game, even though we had two turnovers. At the same time, a good football team doesn’t make those mistakes. For a team that’s struggling like we are, playing against a good football team like Dallas is, we can’t have those types of mistakes, because they’re not going to make too many mistakes and let us back in the football game.”
On whether speculation about a change at the QB position would be distracting:
“These guys on this team, and the way the NFL works is that there’s going to be speculation almost every year. Whether the coach is going to be here, the running backs, the quarterbacks, and that’s the way the NFL goes. I think the team that we have here focuses on trying to win ballgames. You want to go out and play hard every game, no matter who the quarterback is, who the coach is, who the running back is, you go out there and try to represent yourself well. You go out there and put your best foot forward every game, and that’s what everybody is focused on doing.”
On whether players rally behind McNabb when he is criticized:
“I think, as a player, you know the situation. You know that there are some situations where I didn’t do a great job blocking, and I have to step up and do a better job blocking and stop a guy from blitzing and Donovan has to throw quickly. Or, different situations we have to run the ball a little better and take the pressure off of him. When you hear that criticism of him, and you’re hearing it from different sources that may not know the total picture, it’s disappointing. I tell Donovan all the time that everything the media and the papers are trying to say, that it’s all your fault, is not true. I have Donovan’s back, I’ve seen Donovan do great things, and I know he still has that in him. I believe in him, the same way that, if I went out and didn’t have such a good game, he would believe in me. I believe in the things that Donovan can do, and I will continue to support him in his ups and downs.”
On whether he expected the team would have to help McNabb out in the early stages of the season because of his injury:
“Going into the season, I felt as though we would have to help him. I think this team is more efficient when we do have a running game, when we do spread the ball out, when we do get a lot of people involved. That’s no matter if he was healthy or not. When you’re coming off of an injury, you’re not expected to do all of the same things you were capable of doing before. I thought we would have to help him. I think we still need to do a better job of helping him back there.”
On whether he feels now like he did after the game against Indianapolis last season:
“Coming back from Indy last year, we were disappointed. We actually played okay that game, but we just got outscored. This year is a little bit different, because we’re not exactly in the same place we were with that team. Offensively and defensively, we’re not where we want to be right now. We have to find a better way of producing on offense and stopping people on defense.”
On how they were able to turn it around after the Indianapolis game last year:
“I would like to say guys pulled together, pulled a little bit more, gave a little bit more, and dedicated themselves a little bit more to try to make this team better. That’s what we’ve been asking the guys to do this year; to give a little bit more of yourself, to try to pick up the slack where other people are falling short.”
On whether the team is not as good as they originally thought it was in training camp:
“I believe wholeheartedly in this team. I believe in the guys that we have, that they can get the job done. It comes down to playmakers making plays in the game. If your playmakers do not make those plays, offense, defense and special teams, you can’t win. As one of the playmakers, I have to step up and make more plays. The receivers have to step up and make more plays, the offensive line has to do a better job of blocking, the tight ends have to make more plays, and our quarterback has to play well also. So, all of us, across the board, offense and defense—and I talk primarily about the offense, because I play offense—everybody has to do a better job. It starts with your leaders and your playmakers.”
On whether he thinks players have gotten too comfortable:
“When you go through a losing season like this, everything is open for change. Starting positions and everything, really. I hope guys aren’t too comfortable. The thing is, if you’re not putting a good product on that tape, then next year, next game, you might not be back out there. You have to try to go out every game and produce, no matter who you play or what your team record is.”
On whether he feels like other teams are focusing on him when they run screen plays:
“We’ve had a lot of success in our passing game through the screen. Teams definitely have to pay attention to those plays. Now [teams are] starting to spy some linemen, play a little bit closer with the linebackers, so we have to try to find a different way to get our screen game going again. Really good teams score maybe two or three touchdowns per year on screens, and we have to get our numbers up a little bit in the screen game.”
On whether he would be disappointed if the team went into a rebuilding mode next year:
“I don’t really think about that too much right now. It’s one of those things that, maybe in the offseason I will think about it. My main focus right now is to try to get this team back on track, try to get us back to .500, try to get us to 4-5 after this game, and try to help this team get back to where we need to be, where I feel comfortable with where we can be. I let all things that are going to happen next year, or in the offseason, I let those be until after the season.”
