Jon Gruden Team Quotations

Obviously what is being reported right now is an impasse. There are a lot of teams in similar straits that we are in, in terms of kind of waiting and hoping for the best. If no agreement is reached, I am sure there will be some very difficult decisions to be made. The players and the owners have to sort this thing out. It will take time. It is frustrating for, I think, fans and everyone.

There's change circulating throughout the league and for us to sign Chris Simms for our future is something that is extremely exciting. He's a young man that's continued to improve and helped take our team to the playoffs and win an NFC South championship and is a guy we will continue to build our football team around.

We have so far to go. Though we are 3-0 ... we look at the tape at who's on the horizon. There's an analyst on every corner that's telling you, 'Hey, you are one of the top five or six teams in the league.' Three weeks ago, we were in the 30s, you know what I mean?

For us to sign Chris Simms for our future is something that is extremely exciting. (He is) A young man that has continued to improve, help our team make the playoffs and win an NFC Southern Championship, and a guy that we will continue to build our football team around.

I'll say this. He's as tough as they get. He was limited on the practice field (during the week), but the look in his eye is going to give our offensive football team a chance every Sunday. I believe that.

Not necessarily. We really worked hard on the draft the last couple years, being a part of it, so we know a lot of the players that are on the waiver wire from our research, ... And we know a lot about our players that didn't make this team also. Not necessarily, but familiarity can help you, you bet, when it's close.

He thinks every time I talk to the team I'm talking about him, and that's simply not true. Like I'm talking to one guy. Give me a break. I might be talking about some special teams guy. He can take anything I've said and try to attach his own meaning to it, but I know I was trying to win games and make it work.

We had lot of peaks and valleys. We've been fairly consistent. It's a credit to our coaches and the football team to step it up. We're in a prime position that a lot of people didn't think we would be in.

It's nice to have some continuity around here and build a team from within instead of compiling a nucleus of players from outside. That's challenging. The development, the persistence and the work ethic is going to pay off.

They dominate everybody I've seen, ... They're on the cusp of being one of the great teams in football.

They dominate everybody I've seen. They have a great package in terms of blitzes. They have high-profile players at just about every position. They have it all. They're on the cusp of being one of the great teams in football.

There are some interesting teams in the field. The AFC appears loaded, and certainly the NFC has some great defensive clubs in this race and some offenses that can make big plays.

This is the first team I've been on that starts every practice with an anti-turnover circuit. We're coaching that hard. ... We're actually implementing drills, specific drills, to increase our capability of hanging onto the ball.

A guy who has that criteria and history of bringing his team from behind, the fourth-down play that he made on the touchdown, made us concerned with him. But our defense played very well.

He's a very popular guy on this team and well thought of. He's been here a long time, ... He's got a lot of close friends on the team and on the staff and in the organization. I'm sure he's getting a lot of support from people. It's very unfortunate. He's not the only one that's had to go through this and we just try to help him the best we can.

What can you say about Jerry Rice? ... It's a great feeling to be on his team in the playoffs. I can't believe his performance tonight. Those 49ers acquisitions were big today. Jerry may be 39, but George Foreman won the heavyweight championship when he was 44, so he's got a lot of football left in him.

I think it's big. To say you're No. 1 in team defense, statistically speaking, that's a great accomplishment.

We've got some young guys contributing here for the first time in a long time. Guys like Mike Clayton, Carnell Williams, Alex Smith, a lot of these guys are not only playing, they're starting. So this team needed an injection of young players.

What do you want me to do? Criminy, we've got to do something, ... We've got to get practice done. We need to get certain phases of our football team looked at, but when you only have six or seven healthy linemen, you can't go in pads for 21/2 hours.

We just want to put an emphasis on getting better, period. Obviously, teams that win in this league usually have a better record at home than they do on the road. So, yeah, it's been a point of emphasis. But at the same time, before you can win games at home, you've got to improve your football team. We have made some strides.

It helps if you have a string of five or six or seven good drafts to develop a team. It helps when you have your draft choices on your team and in your program because guys do get better. Heck, I got better at my job in my second year.

We don't have one player or coach on our team who has ever won a Super Bowl. This is the most exciting times of our lives in football.

In my lifetime in the NFL, he is the best back I've coached. I'll say this about him; he is as tough as they get. The look in his eye is going to give our football team a chance every Sunday.

He'll continue to be with the team and help our young quarterbacks, and hopefully come back bigger and stronger and better than ever next year.

I think we have beaten some pretty darn good football teams and have been fairly consistent throughout the year. We've got a talented defense. We have a good running game and we are looking forward to seeing what we can do. Every year there are dark horses that jump onto the scene.

But in some ways, this is a real positive for our football team, for us to be tested in this way. We physically got beaten by a quality football team (Carolina). You can dwell on the negatives or you can do something about it and roll your fist up and play a hell of a lot better.

We're looking at every receiver on every other team as well, ... They're not just up against each other. They're up against the whole network. I think they understand that.

I'm sure he is. He's got a lot of pride, he's been through a lot with the rehab to get well, with the knee, with the back. I think, in his own mind, he's probably a little bit frustrated. But he's a team guy and he knows it's a long battle back.

I hope both of those guys continue to do what they did this season. I thought they were great complements of one another. They made as good a contribution to our football team as I've seen.

He's made plays. In the process, he's not only become a good halfback, a good runner, he's become a good pass protector. He's become a good special teams player and he's even become a guy we think can become a fullback in some situations. So he's come a long way as a football player.

The schedule doesn't get any easier, ... Our job is to do everything we can to help him. His job is obviously to make plays and move this football team and help us score and win games, and eliminate turnovers, negative plays, sacks. Those are areas that must be cleaned up in a hurry. And he'll be the quarterback this week again. Hopefully he can do that.