Ron Rivera Quotations

When we came into this draft, we talked about the needs that we had on the defensive side. We've improved our speed, we've improved our tenacity and we've improved with some of the depth we're going to have.

What we really like about him is he's an explosive guy.

We decided Alfonso, being a big body, was probably going to be the best bet for us. (Defensive line coach) Don Johnson felt very confident in his ability. Alfonso's a very sharp individual out there, and he did a tremendous job.

We have players just starting to scratch the surface of their ability. I can't wait to see the film.

One of the things we talked about was not giving the guy (Smith) a chance to make big plays, and he did that. You see why he's a Pro Bowler, an All-Pro.

More than anything, you've got to accomplish something before you can be compared to someone else and we hadn't accomplished anything. It was flattering, but we really weren't where we needed to be yet.

I would say depth there is something we probably need to look at.

Basically, you doubled him with a corner and safety and played your other nine against their other 10.

From what I've gathered, linebacker is the deepest position. There are going to be a couple of diamonds you can find in the third, fourth and fifth rounds.

He's a young man who will come in and spot our other two guys in pass-rush situations. He is athletic and comes off the end very hard, has speed and quickness, was productive, played in a big-time program, so he is used to this kind of football. We think he is going to fit us very well and give us flexibility.

He had time to throw. Some of their play-action bought them good time. We were geared up to stop the run, which we did do a pretty fair job of.

What I see is a guy who is matching up against a No. 1 receiver. It's a tough duty, and we know it. We believe in him, and we believe the young man can get the job done. Unfortunately, he got beat on a couple of plays. As he develops and continues to develop as a young corner, he'll get better with his technique.

Guys are going to miss tackles and maybe it isn't just one individual as much as just the complete effort. You've got to make sure you've got all 11 guys running to the football, so if somebody does miss a tackle the guy doesn't gain the extra yards afterwards.

We have to also understand that in critical situations, third-and-seven, third-and-eight, whatever it takes to get him down, you have to do it.

Guys weren't in their gaps because they were trying to do more than they needed to or they flat-out got cut off, and that can't happen. It doesn't matter who the running back is, it doesn't matter who the offensive line is, you just can't give up the yardage in key situations.

I talked with coach (Smith) on a number of occasions. I think the neat thing about it is he does have a lot of insight into the place.

I think as a coach the ultimate goal obviously is to be a head coach. And you do have to look at the opportunities, where you fit. Does that place in particular fit you? I'll go through the process this week and then again at the same time not lose my focus on what the ultimate goal is, and that's the playoffs.

Some of the guys we counted on stepping up or needing to step up really didn't show up, and that was disappointing. We can't have that kind of drop-off between the first group and second group.

That was a tough thing, too. They went after the young guy. It was a tough play and he failed as well.

That was the thing that was most disappointing. You're going to have a couple in each game where it's, 'OK. We just go to the next play and line up and play.' But when you get to critical situations where you can take the momentum and keep it, you have to make those plays and we didn't.

With the tools he has out there ? the wide receivers, the tight end and the running back ? you don't want the quarterback to get comfortable. You've got to try to get pressure one way or the other.

We would like to have had more pressure, but the play action kind of froze us. We stopped the run. Unfortunately, the result was they got away with a couple of big pass plays. (Palmer) threw the ball very well.

When you get to this point in the year, sometimes it becomes an overlooked thing because you've been doing it all year. I know coaches most certainly will focus on that the next couple weeks and prepare for the postseason.

We've got all our people here. At one point last year, I think we were minus five starters.

We most certainly look for opportunities to put him on the football field because he does deserve that.

We missed tackles, it's part of the game sometimes. You have to give credit to the running back, but in the same respect, I think some of the guys that missed tackles are some of our better players and we've most certainly got to improve on that.

We missed Mike. We had to try to make adjustments in our personnel and to some of the things we wanted to do defensively, but that's not why we lost the game. We lost the game because they played better than us.

With Foster back there, their character is a little different. I think they feel really confident about their ability to run the football, and so I posed the challenge to our guys: We have to stop the run and get them in situations where we can use our front four to get pressure on the quarterback.

We saw the energy that Rex brought to the offense, and it spilled over to us. Him coming in was a lift, and the team seemed to feed off that energy. Any time you can get a lead and add to that lead, you can really cut the guys loose.

Brandon came in and did an excellent job for us. Anytime you can have a rookie come in and make that contribution, you're very pleased with the effort. Leon Joe was exceptional. He made some mistakes, but he made up for it because he played hard and he played fast.

Following in a long line of teammates who have made an instant impact upon their arrival as a rookie, Chris surpassed everyone's expectations but his own.

That's not a particular problem because in our defense a lot of the linebackers are interchangeable. The outside guys can play either spot.

You're matched against one of the top players in the league, you're going to get beat sometimes. I thought he did a tremendous job in some situations. On that one, he stumbled and gave up that play. The other one, I thought he had the ball. Steve Smith, give him credit. That was a tremendous play on his part.

They thought they were better than we were and in some instances, some positions, maybe they were better.

As we said all the way through training camp: We felt we were a good team. We felt we were on the rise. ... We talked about where we felt we could be as a defense ? being in the top 10, being in the top five, being No. 1, finishing No. 1. The ultimate prize has always been the playoffs and getting to the Super Bowl.

It's kind of come full circle. It's a confidence that someone is going to get there and hit the quarterback, and it's a confidence that someone is going to cover and the quarterback is going to be forced to hold the ball. It's all working together, and it's reflected now in how we call the game.

It's a good thing there's only one football at a time. This is a very dangerous group.

It's an invaluable time for him because he can learn so much. It's a little disappointing we didn't get the job done.

It's not just the impact he has statistically. People talk about how they game-plan, how they attack, and you hear them talk about how Tommie was a devil to block.

It's like they say, you want to be an eight-man front when they run and a seven-man front when they throw.

It's going to be a process with him because of his inexperience. But what we really like about him is he's an explosive guy.

It's football. It's kind of the nature of the game, the nature of the beast, and we'll find out.

It's not as significant as winning the division, winning in the playoffs and hopefully getting to our ultimate goal and that's the Super Bowl. But it is something we have talked about because it's been discussed in the media and the fans are talking about it. It would be neat. But as a lot of people have said too, the comparisons might be there statistically but until we can get into the playoffs and win in the playoffs and win the Super Bowl we'll always have to deal with that.

It's an aggressive style of football. The biggest difference is the age. We're probably one of the youngest groups in the NFL.

It kind of reminds me a little bit about what happened against Cleveland and Cincinnati, was giving up the big plays.

Anytime you don't play well, you wonder if something is wrong. But at the same time, you also have to say, 'We've played well eight weeks in a row.' Every now and then, you're going to have a letdown. You just can't let it become a big thing. We tried to make sure guys understood those things do happen and that we needed them back, needed a great effort, and that's exactly what they gave.

Their passion, their passion for perfection. I don't think Brian gets enough credit for his work ethic. Here's a young man, when he watches film, he studies the film. He reminds me an awful lot of Mike in that respect, because Mike really was a great student of the game.

I'm real happy for the opportunity and if anything else comes about, that will be great. If not, I'm looking forward to next year.

I'm very happy for him on a personal level. He's a guy who works hard constantly. He deserves big plays to happen to him. If you continue to work, eventually you're going to get something big.

In a situation like that, I would have never expected him to stumble.

I'm telling you, he said that. Wade reminded us of it and we all kind of chuckled about it. He never stopped believing. You look at those things and the things that coach Smith has done for us this year, and you most certainly have to say he is coach of the year.

I'm at the point when the phone calls come and the preparation is made, all of that stuff will be thought out very carefully before I start making those decisions.

I hit for the cycle. I got a D-lineman, I got a linebacker, I got a safety and I got a corner.

I really enjoyed the conversation with Mr. (John) Shaw and Mr. (Jay) Zygmunt. I'm just really happy for the opportunity, and if anything else comes about, it'd be great. ... I guess the only thing I can do is just wait and see what happens.

I don't know if that's the result or the reasoning, but I do know that when you've got your veteran players out there there's a little more sense of comfort in terms of just knowing that they're capable of doing some good things for you.

He's very savvy. He knows how to play the game.

He's not the most spectacular player on the field. He's just very dependable. He knows the game so well. He does everything he's supposed to do and a few things you don't count on him to do.

These guys feel the same type of fervor. They can't wait until we get started for next season. ... I think there are a lot of pluses we can take from this. I believe that guys do have a defiant attitude because of what happened, and we'll be better for it.