HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (Opening statement) *Sunday, September 13, 2009 *
"It was a tough battle. We thought it would be a grind and it indeed was. Every time we face Jacksonville it's a tough, hard-nosed battle. I think our team certainly played tough, played hard, played with a lot of energy. We had some good things happen out there. Obviously the defense played well and certainly came up big at the end. We had some great performances. Reggie Wayne was certainly outstanding out there. Our punting game was good and solid. Covered well. Our kicking game was solid. But you know we have things we have to work on. That's a tough team. That's a hard team to battle and stop. Our team did a good job doing that."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on going for it on 4th down near end of game) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"At that time it was half a yard, maybe a yard or so. We knew we could put the game away if we got the first down in that situation. And we had quite a bit of the field to go if we didn't make it. Our defense had been playing pretty strong. We just felt that with the position we were in we certainly didn't want to try to kick a field goal from that distance. We wanted to go for it. Didn't make it. But our defense certainly shut them down."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on Reggie Wayne) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"The thing about it, and certainly you guys know since you've been watching him for that last several years, he's been playing Pro-Bowl caliber football for a long time. It's not anything new in terms of what he's able to do. He doesn't surprise us in that since. And he shouldn't surprise anybody in this room, because he's always been able to step up and play well and play well consistently."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on the kicking game) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"One of the things McAfee (Pat) has been doing very, very well in practice is that he can punt the ball in those corners. At that particular time he backed it up pretty good. We have a lot of faith in what we've been doing in our kicking game. So we wanted to see if we could get them down here and make them battle against our defense. We'd been playing well all night."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on Coach Caldwell winning his first game) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"It felt like an opening game. We certainly wanted to get Coach Caldwell his first win. It is my third head coach. For most of the guys anytime you have a new coach, all three that we have had, you always want to win for them. Always get that first win for them. It felt good to get that for Coach Caldwell."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on the failed 4th down late in the game) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"It was really disappointing. It has been a point of emphasis all offseason for us. 3rd and 1 has been somewhat of an Achilles for us last offseason. We kind of liked that it came down to that kind of opportunity. Not just 3rd and 1, but 4th and 1. Like I said, until we see the film, can't tell what happened on those plays. But as an offense though, everybody on offense, every player, quarterback, receiver, lineman, tight end, we feel that is a situation we want to be in. The head coach gives us the go ahead to go for it. We would like to end the game right there and not have to count on our defense to stop them. The defense did that. (Dwight) Freeney and those guys and (Robert) Mathis made the plays and put heat on (David) Garrard. The defense picked up the slack for the offense right there."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on the play of Reggie Wayne) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"He played great. Today he was the target fourteen times supposedly and caught ten balls. He knew I was going to be looking his way. Even on the play, the interception, 21 (Derek) Cox, the rookie, made a nice play. It was double coverage and they were playing man to man on the other receivers, single coverage, and doubling Reggie. You could tell they were respecting him and the rookie corner, they were going to give that guy some help. But, wow some great catches. I didn't see the one off Dallas (Clark) that deflected. The one down sideline that was a one handed catch was a huge play for us. I thought that was the real momentum builder. Then the touchdown, he is kind of waiting on the ball, the safety is coming over and he catches it knowing he is going to get hit. Great game by him."
QB-PEYTON MANNING (on the play of Pierre Garcon and Austin Collie) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"I thought he (Garcon) had a good look in his eye out there. He was talking to me, 'Hey here is what 27 (Rashean Mathis) is doing. Here is what I can do.' I like that kind of feedback. Collie has a good look in his eye. I don't think anything is overwhelming to him out there. Those guys got great experience on opening day and they will be huge up until Gonzalez gets back, which hopefully is soon."
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RB-JOSEPH ADDAI (on the score being closer than maybe it should have been) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"One thing that you learn about the NFL is that all games are close. You have to play until the end of the game. It really came down to who wanted it the most. Granted, it's still early, you know you're going to have some mistakes, and you know you'll want to fix some things. I think that is the good thing about football, you can go back tomorrow, look at the film and correct the things you want to do. At the same time, you have to win. It's always good to start off the season with the win and go to the next game with some confidence, but there is a lot that we need to fix."
RB-JOSEPH ADDAI (on having two shots to seal the win and not being able to get it done) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"That was one of the things we'll work on. We need to go back and see what wrong in those situations. You have to give thanks to the defense because they really handled the game right. It really came down to a team win, but I think everybody has something to work on."
RB-JOSEPH ADDAI (on it being nice to get Coach Caldwell his first NFL victory) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"Yes. You have somebody like Coach Caldwell and you want to go out there and play hard for him and you want to go out there and win games for him. It's good for him and good for the team. Everybody loves (former head coach Tony) Dungy, but Caldwell is just the same. You want to go out there and play hard for him and do what's right."
RB-JOSEPH ADDAI (on if he thought the run game was better this season after one game) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"First game, I think it went pretty well. You still had your mistakes, and you still have some things you need to work on, but I think we'll have a little bit more confidence."
RB-JOSEPH ADDAI (on RB-Donald Brown) Sunday,
"Since I've been playing football he is one of the smartest guys I've ever been around. He asks a lot of questions, when he's out, he's watching me, when he's out there playing he back to me and asks me about the things he's seeing and how I'd go about it. Just to have somebody like that under you, it really makes the team go. You have fresh legs on both ends. I think Donald will bring a lot to the table."
RB-JOSEPH ADDAI (on what happened on his fumble) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"I take full blame for that one. I really don't know. I'll have to go back and see it. I just lost the ball. The biggest thing is just keeping your composure, and I think that's what we did. (I) fumbled, I don't think any running back likes that. You don't want to go into the game fumbling. It's a part of the game, but the good thing is you can always comeback and redeem yourself."
WR-REGGIE WAYNE (on feeling the pressure after Gonzalez got injured) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"It does. That is not what you want to see, especially the first week. Gonzo has worked so hard to get in this position he is in. For that to happen, it's tough on everybody. Everybody has a little bit more pressure. Definitely a lot more pressure on me. Got to step it up."
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WR-REGGIE WAYNE (on the defense) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"They did a great job. Just watching them with the fire in their eyes. When we didn't get the 4th down play at the end of the game, they ran on the field with so much confidence. Everybody was like 'that is alright, we got it.' Whenever you see them talking like that, they are fired up. They have been fired up all week and just excited to play. Everybody's out there flying around to the ball and trying to make things happen. Did a great job. They pretty much won the game for us."
WR-REGGIE WAYNE (on his performance) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"Yeah, you want to be involved as much as possible. I don't think I'm going to have this kind of day every week. I would hope so. We just take whatever they give me. That way if they call my number, I just want to make something happen. I am sure next week it could be someone else. Got to keep the ball bouncing that way."
WR-REGGIE WAYNE (on the performance by the offense) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"Me personally, I feel like we should have had twenty something points easily. We had an interception, we had a fumble. We had a chance to seal the game winner. Our defense did a good job. Their punter shanked a punt and we had the ball on our side of the fifty (yard line) and we go three and out. That is not what we want. So we had some opportunities. Like I said, the defense did a good job of staying in there and giving us a chance to win the game."
WR-REGGIE WAYNE (on Coach Caldwell getting his first victory) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"I saw a coach that was very happy. Whether we won by thirty or one, a W (win) is a W. I am sure if we win by thirty it looks a lot better, but for him to get his first W as a head coach, everybody was excited for him. He was excited. Mr. Irsay was excited. We just wanted to go out there and do everything we could for him to be a successful coach and today was a step in the right direction."
C-JEFF SATURDAY (on the score being closer than maybe it should have been) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"We're real glad for the win, division opponent, tough team like Jacksonville, they always play us close. They brought everything they could and we brought everything we could and we just happened to come out on top. I'm real happy for the win and getting that division jump."
C-JEFF SATURDAY (on it being better than the start last year) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"No doubt. I'm real proud of the way the defense played. They stepped up and played fantastic football. I felt like offensively we did a pretty good job. The turnovers and the two short-yardage plays at the end of the game really put a bad taste in your mouth. Other than that, we put sustained drives together and that's what you want to do. We just have to punch it in and get some points."
C-JEFF SATURDAY (on being happy to get Jim Caldwell his first NFL win) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"I'm happy for Jim. He's a good fantastic football coach, and he's going to be around for a long time and win a lot of football games. (It's) bigger than who the coach is or where everybody is, it's a division opponent. You want to get out on your division opponents, you want to jump on them and making them 0-1 and us 1-0 gives us a big lead in the division."
C-JEFF SATURDAY (on not getting a first down on the 4th-and-1 in the fourth quarter) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"I don't know. We'll have to go back and look at on film. You have to be able to close teams out in the NFL when you have that type of situation, and we didn't get it done. We got it early in the game. I don't know what was different on that 4th-and-1. I don't know if it went outside and had to cut back inside, I'm not sure, but they did a good play, and we have to be better if we want to put teams away."
RB-DONALD BROWN (on not getting a first down on the 4th-and-1 in the fourth quarter) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"It was. I take total blame for that. I should have got that 4th-and-1, and it's my fault. The offensive line did a good job. I just didn't get it done. I was one carrying the ball, and I didn't get it done. End of story."
RB-DONALD BROWN (on he and Coach Caldwell both getting their first wins) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"It was huge. It was beneficial in so many ways. It was a divisional game, Coach Caldwell's first win and just to get your first win in the season is crucial."
RB-DONALD BROWN (on not getting a first down on the 4th-and-1 in the fourth quarter) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"I was confident going out there. You work so hard in training camp. This is the fun part. We'll watch the tape, learn from our mistakes and don't make them again."
DE-ROBERT MATHIS (on creating a reputation for the Colts defense) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"You always want to let everybody know that we're here, too. We play defense in Indianapolis. It was just a good morale victory and we'll take it."
DE-ROBERT MATHIS (on opening the season with a win) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"It's like Coach Larry Coyer said, 'It's round one of 16 rounds.' So we've just got to take it one week at a time."
DE-ROBERT MATHIS (on Jacksonville) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"We wanted to try to make him (David Garrard) beat us by throwing instead of them running. They can tear you up real good if they run the ball effectively. That's Jacksonville football. They're going to run the ball. That's the bottom line."
LB-GARY BRACKETT (on stopping Jacksonville on the final possession) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"It always feels good, being out there (and) closing the game off. They needed 30 yards. Excellent field goal kicker (Josh Scobee). We know he can make pretty much a 57, 60-yarder, so it was on us to stop them and we got it done."
LB-GARY BRACKETT (on winning with defense) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"It feels good. I would argue over the years that the defense kind of was in there as well, but this year we wanted to go out there and set our identity. I think we did a great job in the run game. Obviously, we gave up a few runs, but I think all in all we played a lot better in the run and that's (the way) we want to keep it going for the rest of the season."
LB-GARY BRACKETT (on the run defense) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"I'm pleased, but I know we can do better. We let a couple of runs get out and that's just about executing. I think I like where we are week one."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on the defensive stand at the end) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"The defensive line, and everybody on the unit, we get after people's quarterbacks, we get after their running backs. We have a nonstop attitude and it was no different today. We did a good job."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on the defense in general for 2009) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"We came out here, put a lot of heat on the quarterback, put a lot of pressure on their run. We played team ball, and we're hoping we can continue this for 16, and more, weeks. It's just the first game, only round one. You're not going to get too high, but at the end of the day, we feel pretty good."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on winning in Head Coach Jim Caldwell's first game) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"You can't get the second and third wins until you get the first one. Jim has been around for a long time. Thank God we went out and got him his first win in (his first game as an NFL head coach). He's perfect. He's undefeated."
DB-JERRAUD POWERS (on the defense in general) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"We have a strong secondary, in my opinion. We have a lot of depth, a lot of guys who can play. We had some guys coming off injuries and a couple guys banged up. But the motto of our defense and our team is 'the next guy up.' We're just going to keep trying to get better each week."
DB-JERRAUD POWERS (on rookie jitters) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"(I had) a lot of jitters in warm-ups. Coming through that tunnel, I had to calm myself down and make sure I played everything smooth."
DB-JERRAUD POWERS (on the defensive stand at the end of the game) Sunday, September 13, 2009
"Before the last series, Gary (Brackett) was telling us this is the situation we want in order to go out and prove we're one of the top defenses in the league. We need to make statements early. We need to prove to people we can make stops. We know everybody looks at our team as an offensive team. We have a great offense. But after Gary said what he said, before we went out, we sort of thrived off of it. We knew we had to make a stop in order to win. We came up big."
