Quarterback Joey Harrington
Q: Have you masked plays on the sideline so nobody could steal your signs?
A: “Not since college. In college we were playing Oregon State and I had recognized their signs by the second quarter. It was to a point were I could relay the call to the defensive coordinator and let him know if it was a run or pass. They saw me trying to lean around and get the signals and then they started putting guys in front of me so I couldn’t see. Everybody tries to do that to some extent. Sometimes the extent might cross the line, though. I don’t know what’s going on with the situation in (New England).”
On coach Petrino covering his mouth with his play sheet.
A: “I don’t know where that came from, but everyone does it now. Maybe people are paranoid someone is going to be reading their lips for a purpose. Maybe someone is going to be pointing their camera on them.”
Q: How comparable is the Jacksonville defense to the Minnesota defense?
A: “They are similar in personnel. Minnesota had a tremendous front four. They were big and stout. Jacksonville also has two big tackles inside. They both have Pro Bowl corners in Antoine Winfield and Rashean Mathis. They have linebackers who can move and run around a little bit. As far as scheme, they are a bit different. I’m sure Jacksonville has seen some of the things that Minnesota did last week. They will probably try to put some of that in their plan to be successful. I don’t think there is a lot of similarity.”
Q: Does the offense need to set up one thing to accomplish another?
A: “No. I think practicing well enough until we feel comfortable enough to do it in the game will set up the offense. There is no magic formula for offensive success either than doing it right. I’m not a believer in running to set up the pass or passing to set up the run. You have to do both to win football games. In order to do both, you have to do your job and there is no getting around that.”
Q: Do you think the team needs more time to reach a comfort level?
A: “I’m pretty comfortable with it. I feel that I know when to throw the ball at the right time. I think everyone else is comfortable with it, too. We are plenty comfortable with this offense. Of course you get better the longer you run it. There is no reason why we can’t go out and play well offensively now. We’re professionals.”
Q: How important is it to avoid a 0-2 mark?
A: “The Carolina game doesn’t have much to do with it either than the fact that we don’t want to be 0-2. Carolina is not in our thought process right. Our thought process is doing the right things. If I write down that I want to win the Super Bowl on a piece of paper; that is not the goal. That is the result of your goal. My goal is to be prepared every time I go out on the field. When I’m on the field, I’m ready to play and, therefore, my play helps us win games which helps us go to the Super Bowl. Yes, we want to beat Jacksonville so we don’t go 0-2. My goal is to do things the right way. That’s what our goal is as an offense as well. Not to think about Carolina, not to think about being 1-1 or 0-2. Our process is to perform every play correctly. The rest will take care of itself.”
Q: What have you seen from Tennessee last week that might enlighten the offensive game plan?
A: “I could tell you, but then it wouldn’t be a surprise anymore. The amount of success that Tennessee had running the football was abnormal. Very rarely do you see a defense give up that many rushing yards. That doesn’t happen very often in the NFL. I’m sure we are going to try and do some of the things that Tennessee did well and see if they can stop it. I’m sure there are some things that Tennessee did well that we can learn from. Like I said, it’s a bit abnormal to have that much success running the football.”
Q: What does this offense have to do better this week?
A: “We have to be more explosive. Like I said after the game on Monday, we were efficient, but we weren’t explosive. Some of our situations may have dictated that. We started on our own 10-yard line countless times. We need to make more big plays. The difference in the game last week was big plays. We didn’t make any and they did. If you can take a team that is 50 percent on third downs, completes 70 percent of their passes and makes a few big plays running and passing the ball, we will be fine. That was the difference for us last week and that’s what we need to do this week.”
Q: On the team responding in Jacksonville this week.
A: “We will respond and there is no doubt about it. There are guys who have been in these situations before and they know how to react.”
