Post-Game Presser: Shurmur on First Game, and Players' Thoughts

After the game against the Green Bay Packers, Cleveland Browns head coach Pat Shurmur and several members of the team spoke with the media. I have highlighted a few of the quotes after the jump. If you'd like to read the press conference and interviews in their entirety, follow these links:

Pat Shurmur press conference (8/13/11)
Player quotes following the game (8/13/11)

HEAD COACH PAT SHURMUR

(Opening statement)- "...There were a lot of game situations in there that we had a chance to work through.  From a two-minute drill at the end of the half where we were just trying to work the ball down the field to a four-minute drill at the end; we had some clock management situations to work through.  We had a challenge.  In the preseason you’re working through all those mechanics. ... There were some flashes of things there that I think we can build on.  The players come back to work on Monday and we will get back to the business of training camp for a couple of days and then start to prepare for Detroit.  All in all, it was a night where we got to see some things from our players.  As coaches, we got a chance to communicate and I’ve got a long list of things that we’ll end up working on and talking about.  It’s nice to see these players have success."

(On if McCoy made all the reads he had to make)- "I thought so.  The first play sticks out.  Just like your first play he pushed up in the pocket and he came to the sideline and he tried to flip it over to Owen (Marecic).  My first response was, ‘Oh geez, that’s backwards.’  I didn’t want to make it too obvious, but he came right back and said, ‘Coach, I should of just ran with it.’  He knows what he’s looking at.  As we get more and more comfortable with one another, as he gets more and more comfortable with his players and the system, I hope he will progress next week."

(On if McCoy exceeded his expectations)- "Well, he let us on two scoring drives.  That is the mark of a good quarterback: getting your team in the end zone.  I don’t know if that exceeded it, but I think that’s a real good start."

(On Titus Brown)- "No I saw him.  He ran really fast with the ball in his hands.  Now I have to listen to all the noise about him playing offense (joking).  No, but that was a great play.  Really when you look at things statistically, it’s an even game except for that play and then you end up winning at least by a touchdown.  Those are the types of things that you need to do.  You need to score on defense, you need to score on special teams and we found a way to do it.  He is a fun guy to be around.  You all know him, but life is fun for him and he works very hard and he is a big, physical linebacker.  I was kind of watching because if he would have got tracked down, it would have been worse. Then his buddies would’ve got on him pretty good."

QB COLT MCCOY

(On his lateral pass to FB Owen Marecic)- "I should have just run it.  Owen is my fifth read in the progression.  They took away all the front side.  Ben (Watson) was match up and I had a little lane to get four or five yards.  If I could have that one back, that’s what I would do, just take off and run.  I think I caught Owen off guard a little bit.  He’s out there by himself but usually that doesn’t go there.  They did a nice job covering our routes.  So I if I had that one back I would have just run it for the yards."

(On being in sync with the receivers)- "I thought the guys did a really nice job creating separation.  On the touchdown to Josh (Cribbs), he did a nice job of holding space.  He kind of moved the safety a bit in the two-high look.  One of my favorite plays of the night is Robo.  We run a little play-action deep slant.  Normally, you hit that ball in the first window but they rolled the safety down and Robo converted over the top and I hit him in the second window.  It was a nice job by him of staying alive."

(On the play by TE Benjamin Watson on the second touchdown drive)- "I mentioned earlier that any time the team plays the man-to-man tonight, whether it is two high safeties or one high safety, you’ve got to find a way to get your tight ends the ball.  On top of that, it gets those linebackers pretty tired.  They’ve got to run with those guys (tight ends).  We see it every day in practice, (Scott) Fujita and D’Qwell (Jackson) are dead dog tired after practice because the tight ends are running everywhere.  I felt like I had some matchups early, getting into the game and seeing what they (Green Bay) were doing. 

The first pass to Ben (Watson) was the third read in the progression.  I’m alerted from the snap.  I was trying to get the ball to (Joshua) Cribbs outside but the corner sat hard so I reset and found him (Watson) in the window.  On the next play, we just ran a vertical game and Ben beat his guy off the line.  I just had to move the safety with my eyes and he (Watson) made a nice catch.  Those are just things that, as we move forward, all of us have to be on the same page to grow.  Tonight, we started off pretty well."

RB PEYTON HILLIS

(On the emphasis on passing tonight)- "The thing about it is, if throwing is working, why not throw some more?  Colt (McCoy) came out today and really responded.  I am very proud of him and our younger receivers.  It is a work in progress, but it looks like the passing game is coming along.

LB TITUS BROWN

(On the touchdown not being the only play he made)- "It was a great call by Coach Jauron. He always puts us in the best position to make plays and we just went out and instituted them. (LB Brian) Smith came in and around and knocked the ball out; I was just there to scoop it. So, really he gets all the glory and I just ran it in."

TE BENJAMIN WATSON

(On his 37-yard reception)- "My wife is going to ask me tonight what I was doing trying to jump over that guy.  I am glad that I made the play and came out of it without any injuries."