HEAD COACH-TONY DUNGY (General Comments)
As I usually say, when you have a game and you win, things aren't as good on the tape when you review it and things aren't as bad when you lose. I thought we had some very good effort. I thought we out hit Seattle. That was the biggest positive to come out of it. We picked up our intensity a little bit from last week. We still have some things we need to work on and things we could get sharper at. There were a lot of positives to build on. Our young guys stepped up and played well. The running backs were pressed into duty. I thought Brian (Allen) and Montrell (Lowe) both played well. They ran hard and protected the ball. Defensively, obviously getting the turnovers was something we stressed. We finally got an interception from a defensive back. That was good to see. We punted pretty well inside the twenty. We backed them (Seattle) up several times. I thought we had good effort in our coverage unit. We just have to pick our return game up. There are still things to work on. We have a few days this coming week with ten days off. We'll have a good fundamental week of practice and see if we can pick it up a little bit against Denver.
HEAD COACH-TONY DUNGY (on punt returns during Seahawks game)
"Guys know that they only have a few opportunities and they want to take every ball and be impressive. They feel that they have to break a return to stay there. They know we're going to alternate returners. Part of being a good return man is knowing what are returnable balls and showing good judgement. Robert (Redd) and I talked about that on the sideline. He was anxious just to show what he could do and he felt he might have limited opportunities. In the future, a couple of those balls you'd like to fair caught."
HEAD COACH-TONY DUNGY (on the blocking on returns)
"We're spotty. We had some good jobs, but what it's coming down to is we'll get eight or ten guys do a good job and while one guy is free and we get that guy blocked next time, someone else isn't. We just have to be a little more consistent with our blockers on all the returns."
HEAD COACH-TONY DUNGY (on whether or not one play and make or break a player's chance of making the roster)
"I'm never really a big fan of that. If guys are doing what they need to do in practice and are doing what you expect to see and then their play shows that. If they only get one opportunity and they continue to do in the game what they did in practice, then that confirms things. One fumbled punt return or one big play is not going to turn the tide."
HEAD COACH-TONY DUNGY (on OT-Adam Meadows playing the left side)
"He has not played on the left side in quite a while. I think he has a natural left tackle body, but playing over there is completely different. It's like driving on the other side of the road when you are in Great Britain. It sounds like it should be easy, but it isn't always so. He's going to be fine with it. It's just a matter of getting comfortable."
HEAD COACH-TONY DUNGY (on the play of LB-Gary Brackett)
"Gary did well for his first start. He made few mistakes, but there are some things he'll get better at. I thought he was poised and showed some of the ability to run, find the ball and hit that he shown in practice. He'll get better and better as he continues to play."
HEAD COACH-TONY DUNGY (on LB-Keyon Whiteside)
"Keyon will a little bit of a disadvantage because he's had to play two positions now. He hasn't had as many reps as Gary (Brackett). He didn't play as sharply, but I think that's to be expected playing two positions as a rookie. He did a good job. He flies around and runs and finds the ball."
HEAD COACH-TONY DUNGY (on the way his defense has played the first two games)
I thought we played pretty physically the first two games. We got a lot of team speed. That comes into play. Hopefully we can keep it going. It's what I expect." RB-EDGERRIN JAMES (on the offensive's cohesiveness)
"On offense, everything has to be working in sync. It is not like defense where you can make one play right then and there. On offense, everything has to be clicking."
RB-EDGERRIN JAMES (on the potential for a fun, explosive offense)
"It is fun when you are able to get out there and make plays. You know that when you get out there, you are going to be able to move the ball. When you have the people in place to move the ball up and down the field with no problem, that is fun."
RB-EDGERRIN JAMES (on the learning curve of inexperienced offensive linemen)
"The one thing that you can not make up for is experience. Experience is something that you cannot force someone to have. You have to get the reps. There are certain things that you do not know and that coaches cannot teach you. You may have all of the tools, but it is a matter of learning yourself by being out on the field."
DE-CHAD BRATZKE (on the performance of the defense in the pre-season game against Seattle)
"There were several factors for why we played so well on defense. Having not yet looked at the film, I would have to say that the one thing that stands out in my mind is the overall effort of everyone getting to the football. When you get a lot of people around the ball, only good things can happen."
DE-CHAD BRATZKE (on the defense getting experience in the second year under Coach Dungy's system)
"Once you are in a system for at least a year, you think a lot faster and you can react a lot faster. Last year, at times, we may have been a step behind. This year, the guys can react a lot faster to the situation that we are put in."
DB-MIKE DOSS (on the defense creating turnovers)
"Coach wanted to get the defense going real early. We talked about that all week. We had a lot of fun out there in front of our hometown fans."
DB-MIKE DOSS (on his jarring hit in Saturday's pre-season game)
"It is all part of the game. On special teams, I want to contribute any way that I can. I got freed up and had a chance to make a play. I stepped up to it and got a tackle."
RB-BRIAN ALLEN (on the last time he carried the ball 20 times in a game)
"It has been a long time. I would have to say in college, at Stanford. I had a good game and I just want to improve upon that."
RB-BRIAN ALLEN (on his performance)
"I'm going to give credit where credit is due. The offensive line played very well. Our defense made a lot of huge plays. It was a very good game."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on RB-Brian Allen)
"I just watched the film on my own, and I thought that Brian played better than I initially had thought. He made some exceptional runs. He was sharp as far as knowing what to do. He ran good routes, blocked well and he really hit the holes hard. Even when there wasn't anything there, he tried to get one or two yards out of it. I'm really proud of Brian."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on the defense creating turnovers)
"It is huge. It is a big change in momentum. It is a big change in tempo. You have to be careful that you don't lean on them and expect it every time. When they (the defense) get the ball, you want to complete it and get a touchdown, not just three points. I think that you are going to see a lot more of that this year, which is going to help."
