Joey Harrington Quotations

We knew they were a good defense. I knew they were going to make some plays. It was just a matter of us making some back. We made a couple early but then made too many mistakes.

We've been in too many of those games in the last couple of years that we have a lead, a chance to put them away and don't, especially against No. 4 (Favre),

We've been in too many games where we have the lead and a chance to put them away and don't, especially against No. 4. It's just one game. But let's face it. This is the Packers. This is the team that has won the division as long as I can remember. I know we're all tired of losing those close ones and looking up and seeing green and yellow on top of the division.

We made a lot of mistakes, and I compounded it.

Of course I want to make the decision harder on him, ... But the only way I can do that is by winning. If I throw for 300 yards and three touchdowns and we still lose, it won't matter. Winning is the only thing that matters.

On fourth down, you have to go to a guy who can make a play for you. On fourth-and-17, what are the chances -- 5 percent? You go to the guy who has a chance to make a play -- go up and get it.

Nobody played well. The problem when you're playing quarterback ... even if things go wrong around you, you're the last line of defense, and my mistakes compounded what was already happening yesterday. It was just an all-around bad day for everybody.

I have had good talks with all three of them. From the beginning I have always said I want to play where I am wanted and the money is secondary. We will continue to talk.

I didn't want to come out, ... As bad as it was, I wanted to finish what I started.

I don't know that it's because of the success Green Bay's had, but because of what we want to do as a team, and the kind of talent we think we have and us wanting to get off on the right foot in this division with two division games right off the bat,

I don't care about the record. Once you're out of the playoffs, records are irrelevant.

I don't care what system you are in, it is nice to have him. Marcus was terrific tonight. Very intense, played extremely well and had some good catches for us.

I dealt with some pressure last year with that whole billboard down in New York, ... I know it's a little bit different from the college level to the pro level, but I don't think many college players have seen the kind of scrutiny that came with that billboard. I know how I can perform. I put more pressure on myself than anybody else does.

I am tired of losing. I hate losing, and I am not going to take it anymore. I know the organization feels the same way, the city feels the same way.

I look forward to joining the Miami Dolphins whenever I am released or a trade is completed. The Dolphins are an ascending team with great coaching and I can't wait to get started.

I felt comfortable the last couple of weeks, ... I thought I made some good decisions, threw some good balls. I'd obviously like to get it in the end zone this week.

I feel terrible for the guy. I'm frustrated as a teammate and a friend. I just hope he's feeling better soon.

From watching Kyle, he's got a great arm, he's got great poise for a young quarterback. He's going to be a great player in this league. But things happen so quickly.

I enjoyed the visit, and I liked the Dolphins' coaches. They have a great organization. Other than that, I don't know what else to say.

If I tried to throw Dre' a slant, he'd probably try to lateral it to someone, while R.W. would just take off. But in the interest of being politically correct, I'll just say it is nice to have both of them as options.

He has that credibility, having won all those years in San Francisco. He demands focus, holds us all accountable. The guy sees everything on the field.

He doesn't leave any detail uncovered, so when you play a game, you feel confident and comfortable with any situation. He knows that winning teams just react on the field, instead of thinking, because of practicing things over and over and over.

He said, 'I'm trying to make too many big plays,' ... He was trying to make a big play each time he touched the ball, when really if he stuck with his blocks and what he knows how to do, good things will happen.

Hold up your end of the bargain. Get out there and bust (your tail) trying to do your best for your teammates. And when you hold up your end of the bargain and you are accountable to everybody else on the team, things fall into place.

The pace of the game flowing down has everything to do with you being comfortable. My first two years here, we were playing musical receivers, rotating guys in and out of the lineup, guys getting hurt. It was a tough couple years as far as trying to build any sort of comfortable relationship with any of the players out there.

The only thing it does affect is having him out here on the field, having him in the meeting room, and he was great. We worked well together.

I was a half step late. He was coming back to the post. It gave their guy a chance to get his hand in there.

I think this becomes a confidence game more than anything, ... I'm not worried about making a statement to anybody but ourselves. This team is ready to get some confidence, and I think that's the best way to put it. I talked at the beginning of the season about getting a few breaks, making a few plays, getting on a roll, and this is a perfect week to start that, especially after we played Chicago, where we took one in the jaw. It's time to bounce back.

I think Ted has brought an emphasis and given us a little more freedom to take some shots down the field.

Our offense isn't doing what it's supposed to be doing. A lot of different people not quite working together.

Sure. That's right. Because they don't come around that often.

I wish I had an answer, ... At times we can go out and play with the best teams in the league and at times we've imploded.

I think everybody realizes the importance of playing for your teammates. When you get in those kind of games where everything just kind of seems to snowball out of control, it's important that you don't lose focus and start pointing fingers. ... When you hold up your end of the bargain and you're accountable to everybody else on the team, then things will fall into place.

It doesn't matter which receiver it is, ... It's always, 'I was open.'

It definitely adds a little something to it.

I think more than anything, I feel terrible for our defense, because we let them down today. I went up to them and apologized. There was nothing else to I could say except, 'I'm sorry.' They played hard, and they kept us in the ballgame all day, and offensively we let them down.

It is definitely in the back of all of our minds. You see the construction and people getting ready to have a mass of people come to Detroit. What better way to show off the city than having your own team there.

That would make Lions' president Matt Millen look like a genius. For once in his life.

I was proud to be with a lot of those guys in the huddle because they fought through it, and that shows character. It was an ugly season, and it wasn't what we had hoped for and not what we expected. But guys in that huddle kept playing, and I was proud of that.

We haven't sat and talked specifics at all. That'll happen down the road. We've acknowledged that that could be a possibility.

Wherever the decision goes, ... I believe this offense will be ready.

We're losing guys, but it doesn't change the fact we've still got to get better. It's going to be tougher with new guys in there, but we've got to do it.

We have been in too many of these games in the last couple years, where we had a chance to put a team away and didn't and too many of them have been against No. 4, ... I have one in mind from last year.

There have been times when the coaches didn't believe in me and times when the guys on the team didn't believe in me (but), I never lost faith in myself. I've been trying to get a job back.

There have been times the coaches have not believed in me, and there have been times the players didn't believe in me. But I never lost faith in myself.

When you get beat like this it doesn't matter what's happened previously or what's going to happen afterward, ... You feel awful right now. Tomorrow you go in and see what you can correct. Then you move on and respond - hopefully like we did against Buffalo in the preseason.

Unfortunately, I find myself just watching him sometimes when I should be carrying out a fake,

This team is ready to get some confidence and I think that's the best way to put it. I talked at the beginning of the season about getting a few breaks, making a few plays, getting on a roll. It's time to bounce back.

We didn't make any ground-breaking decisions in an hour and a half. We've been talking off and on for a while now. We've got a good relationship like that. So nothing was said today that hasn't been said already. We're just going to have to wait.

break my hand on a locker or kick the drywall.

Blunt. He was the same way everybody was. He came in. He said, 'We all got beat, and nobody in this locker room can point a finger at anybody else.' And that's what everybody in the room believed.

Everything went wrong, ... We made mistakes on things that we have been doing correctly all season. It turned into one of those games where we just couldn't do anything right.

There's five games left in the season. I don't know how far we're behind the Bears, but the reality is we're probably playing for pride now.

There's nothing that Roy doesn't do well. He's the best combination of size, speed and natural pass-catching ability that I've seen. He's not our fastest receiver, and he's not our biggest receiver. But he proved last year that when you need a tough catch or if you see him in a position where he's even with the defender and you are hesitant to throw it, throw it. Give him a chance and he'll catch it.

Tell me how I'd hear about it? ... Don't know. Don't want to know. Doesn't matter.

As far as taking shots when they are available ? if they are available in the first preseason game, if they're available on the first play of the game ? we're going to take them. It's an opportunistic thing as opposed to a focus. We have three healthy, big targets right now, and that helps.

That's what makes it one of the biggest openers we've had.

You've only got one game to watch on Monday,

This is still a young team and an impressionable team, so it has to be someone who is very strong in what they believe it. It has to be somebody who may force you do something, even though you may not like it.

They're very fast. They're very fast and very aggressive, so they're going to make some plays. But it's going to be our job to try and take advantage of that aggressiveness and maybe catch them a couple of times.

A lot of people wanted to make it out as a butting heads of a battle, and it's been nothing of the sort. He's been incredible and more helpful than I would have thought. I feel terrible for him.

They played it well. That's the play we had on.

They're a great defense for a reason. Our whole mind-set, our whole game plan was to pound it at them and keep pounding until they broke. We came up short.

As much potential as we have in our receiving corps, ... we still have a lot of growing to do.

A big part of me wants to stay and right what we started, but there's another part that wants to go somewhere else and get a fresh start. Two months ago, the consensus was I should have been on the first thing smoking coming out of town.

It's just one game. We all realize that.

It's just one game and we all realize that. But let's face it. It's the Packers. It's the team that has won the division longer than I care to remember. We're all tired of losing the close ones and looking up and seeing green and yellow on top of the division. It felt great to beat them.

I truly believe Kevin is the key to us. You look at the end of last year. When Kevin was running the ball like he was, things just opened up. If things go as planned, teams won't be able to play us like they have the last couple of years.

I truly believe (Jones) is the key to this offense. If you look at just the straight numbers over the last five games when Kevin was leading the NFL in rushing, it opened up everything for our passing game.

It's not something you can rush into. I would expect him to do his homework and cover his bases and make sure everything's in line before he pulls the trigger on something because it's a pretty big decision.

It's always nice to be on top, but that doesn't change our thinking. We still have to go out and win some games.

It's like the second I stepped into Detroit. I'm trying to do everything I can to win football games. Worrying about that stuff isn't going to help anything.

It's great to end that five-game losing streak. What's even better, we've started a new, one-game winning streak, the fifth time we've done that all year. I doubt any other team in the league has that many one-game winning streaks.

Dan's going to have to prepare like he's the guy now. He's been doing a great job in training camp, but now he's one snap away from being our quarterback.

The offense has to pick it up. I don't know when we're going to take that step, ... I thought we took a step two weeks ago. Sooner or later, it's going to fall into place.

It's nice playing in front of the best linebacker in the history of the game, isn't it?

It's something that has kind of been nagging through camp a little bit and a little bit on Monday night, ... And now's the time to rest it.

Everybody on this team should be playing for pride. Everybody on this team should be playing because they're professionals. If you can't get up for that and need the motivation to be the spoiler, so be it.

It'll be fun again, ... That's part of football. That competition makes the team better.

It's tough because there are times when I just want to rip someone's throat out, but I've taken the approach of trying to steadily build something. The thing is -- and I've been criticized for it -- I've tended to take the positive out of every situation. I've insisted on it. They've called me 'Joey Blue Skies' and said that I'm not seeing what's actually going on here. Well, I am seeing what's really going on here: We're a young team trying to build something, and when it starts to work -- not if, but when -- we'll be a great football team.

It was just a miscommunication on our part. What I saw in the pocket was different than what he saw down the field, and that stuff happens. ... I was never mad at him, and he was never mad at me.

It was a fluke deal. It was fixed. No sense in looking over your shoulder. Nothing but broken bones over there.

At this time last year my head was swimming. There were times I had no idea what the play I was calling needed. It's hard to be accurate when you don't know where you're throwing. I feel better now, especially with the guys I have around me.

I'm not going to stop throwing it. You can't ever lose confidence in the guys in your huddle.

I'm not gonna quit. They will have to drag me out of here. I know I'm still a good football player.

I'm absolutely committed to helping this team win, and if it means that I've got to back up Jeff, then so be it, ... I'll be ready if, God forbid, anything happens. ... This is not going to be the end of me.

I'm tired of moral victories, ... I'm tired of coming close. We put a drive together at the end, and we didn't score.

I like that, ... I actually never thought of that, coming in not having to worry about stepping into somebody's shadow. That's kind of nice.

I have no idea what is going to happen. What happens in the next couple of months will obviously dictate whether they want me back or not.

I have no idea what's going to happen. It may not be in my hands, and the decision may be in my hands. ... I've never been through it before. Every off-season I've been confident that they want me back here, and so I don't know how this works.

I had to look for the guy who's going to make a play for you. He went up and got it. That's the kind of stuff that gives you confidence in another guy.

I have talked to quite a few teams that have shown interest in me, and I am narrowing my list of teams to a few and then probably will visit them in the next week.

I hope so. I know this team is sick at what happened the last time we played, and we are ready to go make it right.

I have to get the feeling I'm wanted, that's issue No. 1. I came here with a goal and a purpose to be part of a team that would be special to Detroit, one that people would look at and say, 'I'm glad to be here.' That hasn't happened yet.

I realize the cutthroat nature of this business and the produce-now mentality, and we haven't done it.

Charles is the speed guy, the smaller of the three if you can call him that,

He told us, ... that there are a lot of kids growing up who wish they were in the position we're in, as far as having fun playing football. He said, 'Just remember what it was like to be in that position, and to dream about being where you are right now.'

I certainly appreciate all that the Ford family and Matt Millen did for me. I learned so much in Detroit and I will always value those relationships and that experience. At the same time, I am eager to get to work with my new team, whether that happens in a day, a week or a month.

I could easily go with Harrington. Easily. ... I think the quarterback's very possible. More than people think. Let me put it this way. If we took a poll of everybody involved in our draft strategy right now, Harrington would be here. But it's a bigger picture than that.

I can see where this is going. Let's back off a second on taking shots down the field. When shots are available. Remember, this is still the same offense.