DaFace
06-15-2006, 06:41 PM
Q&A QB TRENT GREEN
Jun 15, 2006, 4:15:50 PM
Real Video - Trent Green - OTA - 300k
Q: Do you have any dangerous off-season hobbies like Steelers QB Ben Rothlisberger?
GREEN: “I’ve always been super cautious when it comes to that stuff, and I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I’ve never snow-skied, I’ve always said that I’ll wait until I’m done playing to snow ski, but now with my knee the way it is I’ll probably never snow ski. Maybe I will ride a snowmobile or something. I always water-skied up until ‘98 when I started for the Redskins and then once I become the starter I’m like, I won’t take the chance of falling on the board or something like that. So I’ve always kind of favored towards the side of caution just because your window of opportunity to play is not very long and it took me six years to get in that spot and I’m still thankful for the opportunity every day. But even when I’m done you won’t see me on a motorcycle.”
grenota615 Q: Something needed to be done to fix the defense, is that pendulum being swung a little too far in your opinion?
GREEN: “I don’t think so. I just think that Coach Edwards is a defensive coach, he’s put in a lot of time on the defensive side, he played on the defensive side and he made that statement right when he first got hired at his first press conference that was what he was going to put an emphasis on. We as an offense, whether it be (offensive coordinator) Mike Solari, (quarterbacks coach) Terry Shea, (running backs coach) James Saxon, (wide receivers coach) Charlie Joiner, whoever it may be, we’ve got to hold up our end of the bargain and realize that we are a veteran group and what we’ve accomplished in the past is great, but we’ve got to find a way to reproduce it again and things are going to be different. Just the way the whole game is managed, Coach Edwards has made it very clear that he’s going to manage the game differently than what we’ve done in the past and I think it’s clear out there when you see the style of defense we are playing, which causes frustration for us as an offense because we’ve been a big strike type of offense and the way our defense is playing, they are trying to eliminate those types of plays. They’re trying to eliminate the big play, so that makes it frustrating for us out here.
“The thing for us and the thing that I continue to try and stress to the offense is don’t get frustrated by this because they are working on things and we’re not game planning our defense. We’re installing our offense and putting the things in. The other day we were working on max protection against all out blitzes, so we had two receiver routes. Well, they’re playing cover two and dropped seven guys in coverage. Two receivers against seven guys in coverage, you’re just not going to have much success. I’m just trying to stress to the offensive guys not to get frustrated, realize we’re putting in our playbook in a pattern the Coach Solari wants to do it and wants to install it. When we get in to training camp and when we get into pre-season games and we can game plan and start working those things, that’s when it’s really going to unfold for us or that’s the intention. The main thing is not to get too frustrated because they’re working on a lot of things, and yeah, there is a lot of emphasis on that side of the ball, but offensively I feel pretty good about where we are.”
Q: When you hear Herm Edwards say things like “we might not be as aggressively as we have been offensively, we’re going to run the ball more, we’re going to run more clock.” What goes through your head when you hear those things?
GREEN: “If we’re winning that’s great. I don’t have a problem with that. I’ve had many meetings with Coach Edwards and talked with him about what his game plan is and what his management style is in terms of game management. I feel good about it. I don’t have a problem with it at all. We talked about the way we were a big play offense and the way we really threw the ball around and those kinds of things. We’re still going to have those capabilities and the thing is that we have run the ball extremely well here. It’s funny when you go around the country and everyone talks about our running game and emphasis on the run. But when you look at what we’ve done from a passing standpoint, we’ve really got great balance over the last four or five years. I think those things are going to continue. There’s still going to be that balance. It’s just certain parts of the game; he is going to manage differently than we have done in the past. The way you manage those games differently is if your defense is better. We have those conversations. If our defense is better, there’s not going to be a need for us to try and score and keep building a lead not knowing what was going to happen in the second half, or the fourth quarter of games. I’m on the same page as him. If our defense gets better and we can hold opponents and keep the score down, we don’t need to score as much. I’ve made that point the last couple of years in training camp when asked about our offense trying to repeat the yardage and the point totals that we put up in previous years. If you guys remember, I said that I hoped we didn’t have to do those types of things, but that’s just the way our team was these last few years. If we’re eighth or ninth in scoring and eighth or ninth in total offense, but we’re winning more games and our defense is higher, that means we don’t have to score as many points and we’re working the clock and getting first downs, so I’m completely fine with that.”
Q: One of the things (former offensive coordinator) Al Saunders used to say was unpredictability was what made the offense so good. Do you thing that might change a little bit?
GREEN: “Some of that will change just because of his management style. When you have a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter, you probably won’t see a whole lot of fake reverse passes and quick screens and stuff like that. Until we get into the season, I don’t see that being his style. I see him trying to manage it a little differently. And that’s just two different personalities, two different styles of running things. There’s not a right or a wrong, and like I said, the last few years we’ve really had to do that, we’ve had to score more points just to help ourselves out. If it can all balance itself out, I’m great with that.”
Q: Coach has emphasized giving you rest right now like you did last year, how do you think that benefited you last year?
GREEN: “I think it helped out a lot. If you remember last year I had some tendentious in my shoulder and didn’t throw that much in the off-season. I don’t have any problems now. He just came to me and said ‘listen, some of the veteran guys, we are going to take care of, I’m going to hold you back on some of the throws. When we get to training camp I’m are going to take care of you. I know in the past you’ve taken all the reps’, which I have, I have taken all the reps. He said, ‘We’re going to monitor it, we’ve got some young guys that we want to get some looks at, but we also know that it’s a long season and hopefully there is a long postseason. So we want you will be healthy throughout the year.’ I’m fine with that and we just have a good communication right now. He said, ‘if you don’t feel you are getting enough reps and if you don’t get the amount of throws that you think you need or the timing that you need, just let me know and we’ll add more to it.’ As long as that communication line is there I think it has worked well.”
Q: You mentioned defensive improvement. Do you think that this is finally the year that those improvements actually take place?
GREEN: “I sure hope so. I like the speed that we have on defense. Like I said, his big thing on defense is not giving up the big play and everybody hears about the ‘Tampa Two’ and obviously he has a history with that. Keep things in front of you, rally to it, and make tackles. But you have to mix in the blitz, you have to mix in different man coverage and zone coverage, but we’re going to emphasize the ‘Tampa Two’, which he obviously has a background with coach (Tony) Dungy and that defense. So I just think that with the players we have it fits really well and players have responded to it. I think with Coach Edwards, obviously you’ve seen over the days that you’ve been here, that he’s on that defensive side hooting and hollering. And what it really is that he’s trying to change the attitude. You have to change the attitude of the 29th or 30th-ranked defense or whatever that may be. It starts mentally as much as it does physically. And I think mentally with the support he’s given those guys and with the emotion he’s putting in its good. Did you hear him today during the two-minute drill? That whole sideline is yelling. You’ve got defensive lineman who have barely talked in the past over there screaming and yelling at the linebackers and d-line to get up field and cause pressure. There’s just a whole different emotion level on defense and you need that on defense. I think he’s brought that and it’s carried over to the other defensive coaches. I definitely see improvement out here now, but I guess we’ll see once the season starts. I definitely like the progress we’ve made so far.”
Q: Is DT John Browning one of the defensive linemen talking?
GREEN: “No, John’s still not one of the guy’s talking. You may get a half-smile out of him, but you’re not going to get a lot of words out of John.”
Q: You don’t take the defense yelling personally, do you?
GREEN: “No, not at all. I’ve heard a few guys maybe say ‘hey, where is the impartial head coach who isn’t rooting for one side or the other?” I don’t know if it’s because of my experience level or what, but I have fun with it and I’m sure you guys have seen me go up to him and we have a few jabs at one another to try and spark up the competitive juices and coach having playing in the league, you get some jabs going. I think it can only be a good thing to get those spirits going and that competition in practice. All that can do is help you play better.”
Q: You sat out last year because you were hurt, it is hard to sit out right now when you’re not hurt?
GREEN: “It’s easier to deal with because I know I’m fine. Where as last year there was a rehab process going through that and it was driving me crazy because I was limited by physical things that were going on. Right now it’s basically because we discussed it as a training staff and a medical staff and coaching staff. There’s not much reason to go. I told them I want to play a few more years and they said that the smartest thing to do is to take of you now and not only help you this year, but help down the road. They obviously know my knee situation that I haven’t had any problems with in my five years here and they want to keep that healthy and keep all that going. It’s much easier to deal with because I know there is not anything causing it other then the choices of everybody to rest.”
Q: How is WR Samie Parker developing?
GREEN: “I think he’s doing real well. Samie’s just going to get more and more opportunities. If you look at what he’s done his first couple of years, when he’s had opportunities and he’s stayed healthy, that’s when he’s played really well. For Samie, it’s going to be staying healthy. If he can stay healthy and get 16 games in, I think his numbers are going to be great. He does a great job catching the ball over the middle and for a guy who is not really big, he is fearless, he will go into traffic and catch the ball, he’s got speed on the outside to make big catches and stretch the field. He’s proven to be clutch; he’s come up with some huge 3rd down catches over the last couple of years. He’s got all the qualities to be there, instead of playing three games, sit out a couple, play six games, that kind of thing. He has got to find a way to stay healthy, but I think he’s progressing nicely and we’re looking for a big year from him.”
Q: Have you two done anything this off-season to help develop extra chemistry and support?
GREEN: “Nothing more than the normal.”
Q: What were your reps like today?
GREEN: “This week I split the 7-on-7 with QB Damon (Huard), I split the team periods with Damon, and I took all the run drills. One day I did all the one-on-one and Damon did all the run drills. The next day he did all the one-on-ones and I did all the running drills. So we just flip-flop and switch it day to day. It’s a normal rotation.”
Jun 15, 2006, 4:15:50 PM
Real Video - Trent Green - OTA - 300k
Q: Do you have any dangerous off-season hobbies like Steelers QB Ben Rothlisberger?
GREEN: “I’ve always been super cautious when it comes to that stuff, and I don’t know if that’s good or bad. I’ve never snow-skied, I’ve always said that I’ll wait until I’m done playing to snow ski, but now with my knee the way it is I’ll probably never snow ski. Maybe I will ride a snowmobile or something. I always water-skied up until ‘98 when I started for the Redskins and then once I become the starter I’m like, I won’t take the chance of falling on the board or something like that. So I’ve always kind of favored towards the side of caution just because your window of opportunity to play is not very long and it took me six years to get in that spot and I’m still thankful for the opportunity every day. But even when I’m done you won’t see me on a motorcycle.”
grenota615 Q: Something needed to be done to fix the defense, is that pendulum being swung a little too far in your opinion?
GREEN: “I don’t think so. I just think that Coach Edwards is a defensive coach, he’s put in a lot of time on the defensive side, he played on the defensive side and he made that statement right when he first got hired at his first press conference that was what he was going to put an emphasis on. We as an offense, whether it be (offensive coordinator) Mike Solari, (quarterbacks coach) Terry Shea, (running backs coach) James Saxon, (wide receivers coach) Charlie Joiner, whoever it may be, we’ve got to hold up our end of the bargain and realize that we are a veteran group and what we’ve accomplished in the past is great, but we’ve got to find a way to reproduce it again and things are going to be different. Just the way the whole game is managed, Coach Edwards has made it very clear that he’s going to manage the game differently than what we’ve done in the past and I think it’s clear out there when you see the style of defense we are playing, which causes frustration for us as an offense because we’ve been a big strike type of offense and the way our defense is playing, they are trying to eliminate those types of plays. They’re trying to eliminate the big play, so that makes it frustrating for us out here.
“The thing for us and the thing that I continue to try and stress to the offense is don’t get frustrated by this because they are working on things and we’re not game planning our defense. We’re installing our offense and putting the things in. The other day we were working on max protection against all out blitzes, so we had two receiver routes. Well, they’re playing cover two and dropped seven guys in coverage. Two receivers against seven guys in coverage, you’re just not going to have much success. I’m just trying to stress to the offensive guys not to get frustrated, realize we’re putting in our playbook in a pattern the Coach Solari wants to do it and wants to install it. When we get in to training camp and when we get into pre-season games and we can game plan and start working those things, that’s when it’s really going to unfold for us or that’s the intention. The main thing is not to get too frustrated because they’re working on a lot of things, and yeah, there is a lot of emphasis on that side of the ball, but offensively I feel pretty good about where we are.”
Q: When you hear Herm Edwards say things like “we might not be as aggressively as we have been offensively, we’re going to run the ball more, we’re going to run more clock.” What goes through your head when you hear those things?
GREEN: “If we’re winning that’s great. I don’t have a problem with that. I’ve had many meetings with Coach Edwards and talked with him about what his game plan is and what his management style is in terms of game management. I feel good about it. I don’t have a problem with it at all. We talked about the way we were a big play offense and the way we really threw the ball around and those kinds of things. We’re still going to have those capabilities and the thing is that we have run the ball extremely well here. It’s funny when you go around the country and everyone talks about our running game and emphasis on the run. But when you look at what we’ve done from a passing standpoint, we’ve really got great balance over the last four or five years. I think those things are going to continue. There’s still going to be that balance. It’s just certain parts of the game; he is going to manage differently than we have done in the past. The way you manage those games differently is if your defense is better. We have those conversations. If our defense is better, there’s not going to be a need for us to try and score and keep building a lead not knowing what was going to happen in the second half, or the fourth quarter of games. I’m on the same page as him. If our defense gets better and we can hold opponents and keep the score down, we don’t need to score as much. I’ve made that point the last couple of years in training camp when asked about our offense trying to repeat the yardage and the point totals that we put up in previous years. If you guys remember, I said that I hoped we didn’t have to do those types of things, but that’s just the way our team was these last few years. If we’re eighth or ninth in scoring and eighth or ninth in total offense, but we’re winning more games and our defense is higher, that means we don’t have to score as many points and we’re working the clock and getting first downs, so I’m completely fine with that.”
Q: One of the things (former offensive coordinator) Al Saunders used to say was unpredictability was what made the offense so good. Do you thing that might change a little bit?
GREEN: “Some of that will change just because of his management style. When you have a 17-point lead in the fourth quarter, you probably won’t see a whole lot of fake reverse passes and quick screens and stuff like that. Until we get into the season, I don’t see that being his style. I see him trying to manage it a little differently. And that’s just two different personalities, two different styles of running things. There’s not a right or a wrong, and like I said, the last few years we’ve really had to do that, we’ve had to score more points just to help ourselves out. If it can all balance itself out, I’m great with that.”
Q: Coach has emphasized giving you rest right now like you did last year, how do you think that benefited you last year?
GREEN: “I think it helped out a lot. If you remember last year I had some tendentious in my shoulder and didn’t throw that much in the off-season. I don’t have any problems now. He just came to me and said ‘listen, some of the veteran guys, we are going to take care of, I’m going to hold you back on some of the throws. When we get to training camp I’m are going to take care of you. I know in the past you’ve taken all the reps’, which I have, I have taken all the reps. He said, ‘We’re going to monitor it, we’ve got some young guys that we want to get some looks at, but we also know that it’s a long season and hopefully there is a long postseason. So we want you will be healthy throughout the year.’ I’m fine with that and we just have a good communication right now. He said, ‘if you don’t feel you are getting enough reps and if you don’t get the amount of throws that you think you need or the timing that you need, just let me know and we’ll add more to it.’ As long as that communication line is there I think it has worked well.”
Q: You mentioned defensive improvement. Do you think that this is finally the year that those improvements actually take place?
GREEN: “I sure hope so. I like the speed that we have on defense. Like I said, his big thing on defense is not giving up the big play and everybody hears about the ‘Tampa Two’ and obviously he has a history with that. Keep things in front of you, rally to it, and make tackles. But you have to mix in the blitz, you have to mix in different man coverage and zone coverage, but we’re going to emphasize the ‘Tampa Two’, which he obviously has a background with coach (Tony) Dungy and that defense. So I just think that with the players we have it fits really well and players have responded to it. I think with Coach Edwards, obviously you’ve seen over the days that you’ve been here, that he’s on that defensive side hooting and hollering. And what it really is that he’s trying to change the attitude. You have to change the attitude of the 29th or 30th-ranked defense or whatever that may be. It starts mentally as much as it does physically. And I think mentally with the support he’s given those guys and with the emotion he’s putting in its good. Did you hear him today during the two-minute drill? That whole sideline is yelling. You’ve got defensive lineman who have barely talked in the past over there screaming and yelling at the linebackers and d-line to get up field and cause pressure. There’s just a whole different emotion level on defense and you need that on defense. I think he’s brought that and it’s carried over to the other defensive coaches. I definitely see improvement out here now, but I guess we’ll see once the season starts. I definitely like the progress we’ve made so far.”
Q: Is DT John Browning one of the defensive linemen talking?
GREEN: “No, John’s still not one of the guy’s talking. You may get a half-smile out of him, but you’re not going to get a lot of words out of John.”
Q: You don’t take the defense yelling personally, do you?
GREEN: “No, not at all. I’ve heard a few guys maybe say ‘hey, where is the impartial head coach who isn’t rooting for one side or the other?” I don’t know if it’s because of my experience level or what, but I have fun with it and I’m sure you guys have seen me go up to him and we have a few jabs at one another to try and spark up the competitive juices and coach having playing in the league, you get some jabs going. I think it can only be a good thing to get those spirits going and that competition in practice. All that can do is help you play better.”
Q: You sat out last year because you were hurt, it is hard to sit out right now when you’re not hurt?
GREEN: “It’s easier to deal with because I know I’m fine. Where as last year there was a rehab process going through that and it was driving me crazy because I was limited by physical things that were going on. Right now it’s basically because we discussed it as a training staff and a medical staff and coaching staff. There’s not much reason to go. I told them I want to play a few more years and they said that the smartest thing to do is to take of you now and not only help you this year, but help down the road. They obviously know my knee situation that I haven’t had any problems with in my five years here and they want to keep that healthy and keep all that going. It’s much easier to deal with because I know there is not anything causing it other then the choices of everybody to rest.”
Q: How is WR Samie Parker developing?
GREEN: “I think he’s doing real well. Samie’s just going to get more and more opportunities. If you look at what he’s done his first couple of years, when he’s had opportunities and he’s stayed healthy, that’s when he’s played really well. For Samie, it’s going to be staying healthy. If he can stay healthy and get 16 games in, I think his numbers are going to be great. He does a great job catching the ball over the middle and for a guy who is not really big, he is fearless, he will go into traffic and catch the ball, he’s got speed on the outside to make big catches and stretch the field. He’s proven to be clutch; he’s come up with some huge 3rd down catches over the last couple of years. He’s got all the qualities to be there, instead of playing three games, sit out a couple, play six games, that kind of thing. He has got to find a way to stay healthy, but I think he’s progressing nicely and we’re looking for a big year from him.”
Q: Have you two done anything this off-season to help develop extra chemistry and support?
GREEN: “Nothing more than the normal.”
Q: What were your reps like today?
GREEN: “This week I split the 7-on-7 with QB Damon (Huard), I split the team periods with Damon, and I took all the run drills. One day I did all the one-on-one and Damon did all the run drills. The next day he did all the one-on-ones and I did all the running drills. So we just flip-flop and switch it day to day. It’s a normal rotation.”