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"You just never know. You see teams that come together and gel and play well, year-to-year, week-to-week. Sometimes that changes. But they certainly are playing well."
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HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on three of the first four games being on the road)
"We certainly don't use that as an excuse. One of the things, I think, we've been experiencing is just so much inconsistency. Typically, we've been able to put back-to-back quarters together where we've played extremely well and string them along game after game after game, but we've been rather sporadic. I think that probably has as much to do with it as anything. Maybe one side of the ball is clicking, the other side is not. I think the inconsistent play probably has as much to do with it as anything else. Home and away for us, we've certainly been able to play well on the road, and we've been able to play well at home. That's what we have to get back to."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if inconsistent play is byproduct of injuries)
"I don't think that ever comes into play, to be honest with you. We never use that. We never focus on that line of thinking. Whoever is there is expected to play and play well. Like I said, we always embrace those challenges, and typically we come out on the right side of the ledger. Right now, we have to be able to just make certain that we get some solid, consistent play all across the board."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if he knows what kind of team he has yet)
"Certainly we know where we are after the first quarter. I mean we're a .500 team, but I don't believe that's who we are. I think that you find that teams throughout the year just continue to develop, and we have to be one of those teams that continually improves. We have the opportunity to do so. We just have to come back out and go right back to work and see if we can put it all together. Because I think you can see in spurts, obviously, we've done some things this game in particular, where the offense certainly answered most challenges, came down the field, a 96-yard drive, some very, very difficult things to accomplish and were able to do it. Our special teams, I thought had some spurts. I think (the) defense, even, once you got past the first half, in the second half we played a little bit more like we are accustomed to playing. But we still couldn't just shut the door. I think overall, we just have to continue to get better, continue to improve and become the team we know we can be."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on what is missing defensively)
"It's not just one thing. It starts in the middle. When I mean middle, I'm talking about the run defense – that's where it starts, particularly against the teams that we play week-in and week-out. Teams are going to try to run the ball on us. Teams typically try to hold the ball on us, for the most part. The last couple of weeks, we've been pretty solid in that area. Like I said, every week it's a brand new challenge, and it won't be any different this week, as well."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if he stands by his decision to call a timeout during Jacksonville's last drive of the game)
"Yes. What we look at is this; first of all, you never know if you're ever going to get the ball back in those situations. But the big thing we try to look at is if we can get the ball back for our offense, particularly on the road, don't necessarily want to go into overtime, if we can win it in regulation we want to give it a shot. So, the timeout in that situation ended up being probably about what we thought it would be. We wanted to make certain that we had a third-down situation where if they didn't make it they had to punt the ball, and it was there. We had opportunities there on that last drive to get that ball back, but didn't do it. You always reflect, you always think back, you always look at yourself first, in terms of what you would do differently and all that kind of stuff to try to learn from it, but we're pretty aggressive in those areas."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on DB-DaJuan Morgan)
"He's learning. He's just getting a feel for the system overall and trying to get himself to where he's playing well and playing well consistently. It was kind of an abrupt opportunity for him to hop in there when DB-Melvin (Bullitt) went down, but I think you'll see him work at it this week and see if we can make certain that we get him a little bit better, but he's improving."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if you can see a difference in a guy when he's playing against the team that drafted him)
"Not a whole lot. I think these guys are professional. They look at the opportunities they have each and every week, regardless of who they are playing, they know it's going to be tough, but I think that's how they approach it. I don't think there's any special sort of regimen that he goes through in preparation for this game, as opposed to any other game."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if a game against a team that a player used to play for means more to that player)
"Sometimes, maybe, on a personal basis, but you don't see it in their preparation."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on status of injured players)
"I'm not real sure yet. They check-in today at 10 (a.m.), but they get evaluated during the course of the day, so we'll have a little bit better idea here in the next 24 hours or so."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on –how close Brandon King was to playing Sunday)
"It wasn't a pre-game decision in that regard. We had an idea of when he was going to be available to us, but I think he is coming along well enough that somewhere along the line he will be ready to go."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – Brandon King being an option as opposed to DaJuan Morgan)
"That's a possibility."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on –if defensive performance has been disappointing given its in second year in system)
"You just never know. You certainly can't take anything for granted in this league because of the fact that teams are so competitive, they are so good year in and year out. I don't think that is any different for us. We didn't take anything for granted in that regard and we still see that we have a lot of work to do. We are not playing like we are quite capable consistently, but I do think if we can bring it all together, obviously we'll be fine."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on –if a byproduct of another team's running game is keeping the offense off the field)
"That's correct. It certainly does. Obviously, I am not saying that is the only situation that occurs, but it is one of the main things. Controlling the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball and if a team does have an opportunity to control the line of scrimmage on you, they can keep the ball away a little longer. Now, our time of possession yesterday, I think we had it 31 and we had it 29, so I think it somewhat balanced out there somewhere along the line. But that first half was really where it was certainly a bit lopsided."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on –if there is concern with running back depth)
"We'll have somebody back there lined up and ready to go, that's for certain. But right now it's one of those things where we have to anticipate that there are going to be some issues at certain spots and we just have to fight through. We have to battle through them and make the best. We still have to win, regardless."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – Mike Hart's performance)
"I think Mike did a nice job in there. He spelled Joe (Addai) a bit. I thought Joe ran efficiently and Mike was able to give him a break from time to time."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – if there is now more urgency after starting 0-2 in the division and 2-2 overall)
"I still think that after the first quarter, we are going into the second quarter of the season now and so that's where our focus is. We are going to make certain that we get ready for this next game against Kansas City, but there is still a ways to go. I think that if you look at the overall picture, like we do after the first four games, and you'll see that after tonight that there will be maybe six teams that are above .500 in the AFC. Obviously that still gives us the opportunity that we are still in the picture. One or two wins here or there early certainly make a big difference."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – how long does the team let losses linger, especially a close one)
"When you lose a real close one like this one right down to the wire when you really feel that you got some things going there at the end, if you don't watch it, they can linger a little while. So you have got to get through it. You have to take a look at it, make your corrections, move on with it and find a way to get better for the next one."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – lack of a pass rush the last two weeks)
"I think some things are cyclical in that regard. I do think that you find teams also that are certainly paying a lot of attention to those two guys to make certain that they don't get free access up the field. But for the most part I think also that is a byproduct of teams that are able to 'stay in phase,' not in long yardage situations because of the fact that they are running it and getting decent chunks along the way. It kind of keeps them out of those real true, put your ears back, pass-rush downs. I think that is part of the whole problem in that regard. We just have to shore it up and we can get back to a situation where teams have to pass, we know they have to pass and it is a little different at that point."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – if Melvin Bullitt will have an MRI today)
"I am not certain of what procedure, but he will certainly be evaluated."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – how Kyle DeVan held up yesterday)
"Kyle is a fighter. He has been in there and certainly knows how to function in that realm and he did a nice job in there. He fought, and it wasn't perfect, but he held his own."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on –if he has any update on Devin Moore's situation)
"I do not. None of the guys that are injured, I do not have a real good sense of that at this point."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – Fili Moala's development so far)
"He keeps coming. He keeps coming along and making plays. He's, I think a guy that you saw flying around making tackles yesterday, and as long as he stays on that same path he will just keep getting better."
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