Mark Brunell Quotations

When you've got a great defense like we do, you don't have to be flashy, you don't always have to score touchdowns in the red zone, ... You'd like to, but you just have to play smart with the football and don't turn it over. And if you do that, you've got a great advantage.

We're being smarter with the football now. Our defense has played well all year, but the biggest difference is we're running the ball. That makes everything much easier.

We've got a very good working relationship. But at the same time, we've got a pretty good friendship that goes beyond anything that we do here at Redskins Park.

We're gonna focus on Seattle. You don't try to win because you know you're going on the road for a tough swing.

Let's face it, those guys hold if they can get away with it and it's hard to hold a defensive end when you can't grab onto him.

Most teams will not give you the plays downfield, ... particularly when you've got a guy like Santana, who has made big plays. You've got to be patient, and you've got to take what's available to you with the underneath stuff. So it's about being patient, but sometimes that's really hard to do, because you want to get that ball downfield.

No one gave us a chance. I'm not sure there was anybody in our locker room that gave us a chance (either).

Maybe I've made that mistake enough not to do it again.

Obviously, it's been a long time since he's been in the playoffs, but he is used to winning in the playoffs.

If we don't win this one, we're done.

If we had any players that were trying to get all the attention and trying to be the focus we wouldn't stand for it. It wouldn't be allowed. We wouldn't want any part of it.

If we didn't score I wasn't coming back, ... I was going to find an apartment in Dallas and I was going to live there the rest of my life.

I am sick that we lost the game. There is only one team after this is all over that isn't frustrated.

I am sick that we lost the game. Particularly with the numbers that we have had or haven't had these last two games, it has been difficult.

I am psyched, ... I'm looking forward to it. It's a great opportunity to get back in there. It's obviously a big challenge, playing the Cowboys at their place Monday night.

Chris is always in the right place at the right time, ... He's a good check down if things aren't open down the field. He's just a smart player that has the ability to be in the right place. I certainly look for him, and most of the time it's going to be a linebacker on him, and for the most part he's going to win those.

He got the ball and made something happen. That's what the great ones do.

He gives 110 percent. What impresses me the most about Clinton is when he doesn't have the ball. It's when he's protecting the passer, when he's blocking for a receiver downfield. He's always going. It's very impressive. He's not the biggest guy (5-11, 205), yet he plays like a big guy. He can do everything.

He'd been to the playoffs before. I was asked last week what I thought this season has felt like for Coach Gibbs. I would think it must seem very familiar to a man with all those playoff wins. He's a great coach who understands how to get his team to play.

I think it's going to be a defining moment for this team, for this season. If we can get this one against a very good football team, then we'll be back on track. And if not, then we're going to be in a hole and we'll have to fight our way out of it.

I thought Clinton was going to get hit in the mouth for a 7-yard loss.

I think we're all in this thing together, and everything starts at the top with Coach Gibbs. He gets up and talks to us about how important character is, not only as a football player, but as a person. He's a great example, a great role model for all of us and we're real fortunate to have him.

Just a sprain. Nothing really serious. Just kind of what we thought going in.

Our season is riding on this game. The guys have worked real hard all year to get to this place. From where we were at 5-6, it's pretty remarkable. All of that being said and as great as these last four games have been, if we don't get this one, it would be tough to end the season that way. We have to realize how critical this is.

Rock is just a great guy, ... Nobody works harder, nobody has a better attitude. These things just happen. I'm not going to be the only one to say these things happen. It's unfortunate. We'll bounce back and we'll rally around each other. It's very frustrating. We're doing some good things. If we do our own part and we're smarter with the ball, we'll be okay.

Patrick is a great guy and a very good player. He's a good friend, and I think he's going to have a great year. The backup's role is to always be ready. That's the purpose of preseason, to get ready for the regular season, so I feel good about the games I had and the time I was in there.

Patrick is a great guy and a very good player,

Our defense was incredible. You can't say enough about them.

That allows me to put things in perspective, knowing I've got some priorities in my life. At the top is my relationship with God, and then my relationship with my wife and kids, and football's down there around three or four. Knowing that helps me be a good football player.

I think everybody looks at that, and we were doing that for a while. But I think what's important is that we just worry about ourselves, and hopefully things will take care of themselves and will work out. But I think we've really switched gears, this team has, I know offensively, forgetting what the other teams like the Giants and Dallas, who they all play, watching the scoreboards. We're really more focused on ourselves, which I think is a good thing.

That was quite a while ago. But it's a great memory, one of the best games I've ever been part of, one of the best teams I've ever been part of.

That's at the forefront of our minds -- getting the ball downfield.

You don't care about numbers. You don't care how pretty it is, or how effective it is, or how effective you were on offense. To get a win is huge. You are on the road in the playoffs against a very good defense. We will take it.

Winning five in a row is difficult to do. But that's over with. Now we start a new season.

We feel good about a few things that we're doing, but in my opinion we've got a ways to go.

We were very fortunate to be in that system and to be coached by that group of coaches. It was a great environment, great to come to right out of college. I was only there for two years, but it helped me so much.

We're cutting down on our mistakes. We're being smarter with the football. We're running the ball much better. Our defense has been good all year, but offensively, the biggest difference is that we're running the ball. That makes everything a lot easier.

We couldn't run it and, obviously, we didn't throw well, either.

We had two big plays that worked and got us the win, but there is still some timing there and some work that needs to be done, ... You watch the game and realize we have to clean up some things. The passing game wasn't entirely there.

We got the coverage we wanted in the right situation. So we were very fortunate.

We came up with enough plays on offense to get points, and the defense was incredible again.

We played a good football team on the road, in the playoffs, and you've got to bring your A game. You've got to be at your best. If you don't, then you're going to lose.

Tough way to start a football game. It's tough to establish any momentum or get anything going. I think that hurt us.

You look at those numbers, and I'm real fortunate that we've had a really good running game. The receivers have done a great job. The offensive line has done a great job of protecting. Those numbers come up because you have 10 guys around you doing their jobs. It's the reflection of the whole offense, not just one position.

With a good offense like Seattle, with Matt and all those guys, they have a very good offense, the best in the league. If they're on the field long enough they're going to score some points. We just needed to keep the ball in our hands and convert those third downs and get some points, and we just didn't do that.

We wouldn't allow anything that came before the team.

We're not just a bunch of giggles out there. We work, but there is a time for a little levity, and I think it puts guys at ease. Some guys are so focused they don't listen to you anyway.

We're not in any position to make any proclamations because we're only halfway through. All we can say is we're pleased with where we're at, 5-3. It could be better; it could be worse. You are what you are and we're a 5-3 team halfway through. Probably the overall feeling is that we feel pretty good about ourselves. We've been in tough games and won them. We've played against good defenses and offenses, and for the most part we've done very well. But it's hard to say at this point.

We've come a long way since last year. Hopefully, this will be a stepping stone for this football team. I think we've got great talent, I think we've got guys with great character, all the things you want. I hope we can keep this group intact. It's difficult to do nowadays. But if we can, I expect some good things next year.

We've played only one game, but for the most part guys are more comfortable with what we're doing.

We had something there. If I could've done it again, I'd step up in the pocket. I think we'd walk away with a TD.

We need to run the ball and set things up for the passing game. They shut us down.

We were fortunate. That was huge. It doesn't always happen that way.

We've got a lot of talent, ... We're doing some good things on offense, particularly for an offense that has struggled in the past. We're moving the ball. Hopefully we can build on it. We still have a lot of work to do.

We were one-dimensional last year. We ran the ball very well, I thought, but our passing game was lacking. When you can have that balance, you're more efficient.

Turnovers killed us. You're just not going to win if you turn the ball over.

You have to throw it out there about as far as you can because he is going to run and get it.

You guys were telling me all week what a great runner I was, ... but you've got to tuck the ball away. If you don't, it will come out.

This year, I'm a different guy in that I've been in the system for a year, ... and I think we've got more talent this year, I really do.

This year, I am a different guy and I have been in the system for a year. I think we have more talent this year. We have guys that want to be here and have great attitudes. There has been a lot of change for the better as far as personnel on this team, and so now we can go try and win some games.

We just needed to keep the ball in our hands and convert those third downs and get some points. But we just didn't do it.

We scored 14 in the fourth quarter, and the last few weeks we haven't been able to do that. I think it just shows the resolve of this team. We had three very frustrating weeks -- games that were very much in our reach -- and today we made the plays we need to make to win the football game.

You get down there in that red zone, and the thing is that nobody wants be around him because he's so big. Nobody wants to have to tackle him or cover him. The guy's a beast down there. He's getting open, and he's making some plays.

To win five in a row says a lot about this football team, its character and how we stuck together.

This one is going to hurt, it's supposed to hurt.

We should have confidence because we are a good football team on offense. We've scored some points, particularly in the last half of the season. . . .We're going to look at the big picture going into this game.

There's some things that have changed. There's some things that have stayed the same. But I think we're a better offense. We have a year under our belt with this system.

The safety was bearing down on him. So I tried to get the ball up so he could make a play, and he did.

It would be my hope that we could keep this group intact, which is difficult to do these days. I think we have guys with great character, work ethic, attitude; all the things that you'd want.

It was a little crazy out there tonight. We need to be more sharp. It was a little sloppy, but we will correct it.

Santana made some big plays. The biggest thing as a quarterback, when you are playing with a guy with that much speed, is you can't underthrow him. You have to throw it out there about as far as you can because he is going to run and get it.

Psychologically, at least for our confidence, that was huge. We got in that fourth quarter, and the previous three games we weren't able to pull it out. Our backs are still against the wall. It's going to be a tough road ahead. Hopefully this does something for us.

Our defense has been good all year, but offensively, the biggest difference is that we're running the ball. That makes everything a lot easier. But it's going to have to be one of our best days for us to have a chance against this team.

Day-to-day. Every day I anticipate it getting better and better, but I am certainly not going to make predictions.

You need your best games in the playoffs to keep going. That obviously was not the case today.

This is great. We've played our best football in December, and to get a playoff win on the road, as you know, is very difficult to do. Our defense was incredible. You can't say enough about them. They won the game for us.

They stuffed us. A lot of times, they had eight guys in the box, and that's how you stop the run.

They're a better team than the last time we played them. Having been able to score those points (35) last time perhaps gives us some confidence going into their place.

There wasn't a lot there on the routes and the linebackers and safeties were so deep, ... It was good to be able to have some room to run.

At halftime, Patrick was ready to play, ... His neck was bothering him a little bit. But he felt good about going in. And when they didn't make the switch, it could have gone either way, but there wasn't any real surprise.

As we go, hopefully that chemistry will continue to improve.

It's just a sprain, nothing really serious. Every day I anticipate it getting better and better.

It wasn't pretty but we managed to get a couple of good plays.

It was good to be out there again. Actually I told my wife the same thing: 'It'll be fun to go out in a stadium on a field competing.' Even though it was just a scrimmage.

It was a shady hit, ... I don't think guys should be playing that way.

It's a day-to-day thing. I had an MRI today. It feels better than it did on Saturday and I think each day I'll improve a little bit more.

I told my wife the same thing: It'll be fun to be out in a stadium, even though it's just a scrimmage.

It shows you what he's capable of doing. That was incredible. It doesn't have to be a real big hole for Clinton to get in there. He's pretty impressive.

The offense that makes the most mistakes, that's the team that's going to lose. They had three turnovers, we only had one and it didn't hurt us. In a playoff situation like that, you realize that that is the most important (factor) - being smart with the ball and not giving it to them, because if you do, they're going to take advantage of it.

That's the avenue we're looking at, exploring our options at quarterback in free agency,'' Smith said.

That remains to be seen. I do know for us we're battle tested.

That kind of criticism will continue until we turn things around here, ... I'm still not reading the papers. Nothing changes around here until we start scoring some points and winning.

It's not going to fly with me. The week following the injury, we played Dallas, and I had my best game when the hamstring hurt the most.

The basics start with playing smart football, not turning it over and also running the football and playing solid defense. That's how you win. We've been doing those things. The first part of the year we weren't.

It's a marked improvement over last year. We just find ourselves in a little bit of a rut right now. We're getting to that fourth quarter and we're just not getting it done.

It was probably a coverage thing. His number is always called. We realize how important he is to our offense and you try to get him the ball. Sometimes it doesn't happen.

It was pretty shaky there for a while, but we hung in there. It wasn't pretty, but the guys stuck together and we managed to make a couple of good plays, thanks to Santana,

It's tough for anyone to be on the sidelines, but it would be especially tough now.

They weren't real nice out there during the game, but before and after they have been great. It's good to come back and see a lot of family and friends. I love the city. I love the people, and my experience that I had here was great. A lot of memories.

They just wanted to see if I still had a little bit left in the legs. It was a test.