I meant to post some of Pat Shurmur's Wednesday press conference last night, but I ran out of time. There were some interesting notes in his Thursday press conference, but I still wanted to highlight some of what was said on Wednesday. There will be another post later regarding what he said Thursday and all of the good news regarding injuries.
On Wednesday, one of the big things Shurmur seemed to be leaning toward was that Joshua Cribbs would resume his kick and punt return duties against the Tennessee Titans. The Browns didn't end up needing him in the return game this past Sunday since they still came away with a win, but it'll be great to get him back in there before the bye week. Some more of Shurmur's comments are after the jump. [Read full Wednesday press conference here]
(On Greg Little running a lot of shorter routes)- "I think he’s running a full complement of routes. Some of the routes that you saw him catch, he showed up at the end of the game where you’re kind of working your way down the field and the routes tend to be just a little bit shorter, at least the position he was playing at the time. But, no he’s got his down the field throws."
(On the offense starting slow and trying to get Greg Little involved earlier in the game)- "When you look at starting slow, I think in our first 15 plays or first quarter, we tried to get the ball to everyone. Now, there’s times when the quarterback has to go with the second or third in the progression so yeah I think it’s important. We’ve got a lot of guys that need to get involved early and that’s something that we keep in mind and that’ll have something to do with starting faster, I’m sure."
(On Greg Little being described as raw as a receiver because he didn’t play his final year at North Carolina)- "I don’t know, he didn’t played much obviously last year, but I see him making steady improvements. Raw? I guess it can be defined a bunch of ways. I see guy that’s really eager on Sunday and finds a way to make plays and I see him improving each week. Not just running routes, but going through the process of being a pro which means how you approach your preparation, how you look after your body, how you keep yourself hydrated, how you rest. All that stuff that pros have to go through and guys only know what they know and he has been a guy who has been blessed with tremendous athletic ability. I don’t know but he may have been able to just get by on that skill. But at this level if you are going to be consistently you have to learn how to do the process. I think he is doing a good job that way."
(On Evan Moore need to improve his blocking to get more reps)- "No, Evan is a good player and we will put him out there. He was in the game, as I mentioned we targeted him. You can understand, you want to play two running backs, you only get five skilled players at a time and a quarterback and five linemen so you have to try to balance it. If we are doing the right things and gaining yards on our plays then we will get more plays and everybody will get there looks. Evan has done a good job. Evan has got us in the end zone. Evan has made big plays and it’s important we use him."
(On if he and Mike Holmgren have talked about the importance of winning at home)- "We talk about doing what it takes to win each game. I am sensitive and I do understand how important it is to win at home. It’s fun for our fans to be able to enjoy the experience, I get that. I was happy and I’ll tell you what, that moment when the crowd realized the Mo (Mohamed Massaquoi) caught the ball and both feet were in, that was a fun moment. Those are the things that you remember and hopefully we can recreate that."
(On if they script plays at the beginning of the game)- "Yes, we do. You script typically first and second down if you get to a situational third down or red zone, short yardage you go to those, but, yeah we do."
(On what their thinking is for that)- "We have an idea what coverage we are going to see. We want to write down and think through who we are going to get the ball to instead of just picking them. Any work you can get done in your office you try to do. That’s what we do here all day and night and then you adjust."
(On how Montario Hardesty came out of Sunday’s game health wise)- "Great, he looked really good and I think he felt invigorated. It’s like he told me, he said, ‘That’s the most football I have played in a while.’ It’s true. My first reaction is boy he is going to be sore, but he actually said that he felt good and he looked good today."
(On if there is any concern about not having enough carries for both back going forward)- "I think what we found with what happened on Sunday is Montario is further along than I thought he was and can handle more than I thought he could. You know that happens sometimes out of necessity. Unfortunately Peyton couldn’t go, but I do know that Peyton can carry a big load and I think that’s good. I have said it before and I really do believe it, if you are going to play consistently good football throughout the season you need them both. I think if you are going to play good offense in this league there are going to be times during the year when you are going to need one to step up a little bit more than the other. Now, Peyton is our back, but we learned a lot about Montario that I think we all should feel pretty good about."
(On if he would feel confident starting Dimitri Patterson if he had to)- "Absolutely, I feel good about, really, I talked about the secondary the last time we visited and no I feel confident that whoever’s in their playing, whether it be Dimitri of Buster (Skrine), those guys will step up and play."