September 14, 2009 Redskins Park

Redskins Head Coach Jim Zorn

On yesterday's game:"We came out of it pretty good. Our guys are sore, they battled hard. It was a very physical game. We just hope we can score more. We fell short in that department. We ended up running 49 plays. I called my fifth play on the script midway in the second quarter, so we didn't have a lot of chances early. When we did, we actually moved the ball. It was frustrating to watch just from the things that we did not do well. There was so much good that it's a hard statement to make because there was a lot of good in there. What we are going to do is try to build on the positive things. I think our guys, when they see what happened and how it happened, there will be a lot of recovery here and a lot of practice time on those things that we just fell short on. We will improve. I believe that we will improve."

On what he liked about Jason Campbell's play:"His decision making, all except for throwing the ball three yards past the line of scrimmage. He had about six yards and he threw the ball past the line of scrimmage, and plus it was an interception. It was poor. I like almost everything else he does, but he will look at it. He felt terrible about it last night as we talked about it. I can say, 'Hey, obey the rules. You have to throw the ball behind the line of scrimmage.' He knows that. He just lost sight of where he was and thought he could get into Santana [Moss]."

On the failed "trick" play of the game on the second play:
"The trick play was pretty sound. It was the right field position, it was on the script. To me it couldn't have been set up any better. They covered it well. They covered Santana, which most of the day they tried to take him out of the game. They did a good job with two guys on him. They had him covered. They had Chris Cooley covered on the play. I would trust every time if I called it again, that Antwaan [Randle El] would just throw it away. He decided to try and make something out of it. There was nothing really there. That wasn't the key to the game either, it was just a play. The play with Jason (interception) was a play. Those things added up. The several plays added up to us being frustrated most the day on offense just because they were drive stoppers or they caused the field position to be in such a way. We ended up punting there, and even on the punt, the ball hits the two and plops over our stopper's head."

On the defense's struggles on third and long:
"The only thing that I can go on in the things that I saw was that we gave a little too much cushion in the secondary. We needed to get closer, ride closer to those receivers to make plays. When we did we proved we could knock the ball down. We proved that we could slip inside and potentially get an interception. When we didn't, it just seemed to be easy. When the protection was there, it was easy. Those are things that we will learn. Jerry [Gray] is a great coach. I think our guys really listen well. We will continue to get closer and closer to those receivers. They had some long drives, but I think they will get more and more used to that idea of getting closer and closer to those receivers. I think that is what it was."

On making more defensive tackles active because of the tackle rotation:
"That was an issue to have the eight guys down. The issue for me was really going to be between [Anthony] Montgomery and Marko Mitchell. I had some four wide receiver stuff and I didn't want a receiver to go down and take us out of that. I let Marko up thinking that we could put Philip Daniels inside if we got in trouble. It thought we did a nice job in a couple drive stopping plays in the red zone to force them to kick field goals and Albert [Haynesworth] was a big part of that. I think our defensive tackles did a nice job, along with London [Fletcher] making some key tackles. It was pretty good."

On whether or not QB Jason Campbell was comfortable in the pocket:
"The one play we got the ball knocked out, I looked at it about three or four times this morning, he could have stepped up further in the pocket and then he could have made a decision to throw. Either throw the ball away or run. There was nothing really there. Again, we were trying to go deep to Santana [Moss], they doubled him. We tried to get the ball to [Chris] Cooley, he was covered and he's looking for the check down. He really did the right thing. We always talk about that rhythm, that clock and that clock didn't go off for him. He'll see it and we'll get better at that. That was critical play in the game with them scooping and scoring. Just think of the irony, with them fumbling a snap in their first series and gaining five yards and for us getting the ball batted and they got a touchdown on us."

On stepping up in the pocket being instinctual for QB Jason Campbell:
"He does it. On that play he was waiting for a back to uncover. The instincts are; take a look and then get rid of the ball. Take a look and make a decision. He didn't make a decision on that play."

On DT Albert Haynesworth being down on the field following one play:
"He got the wind knocked out of him, that's all. He came off and went back in. I wasn't nervous. One thing about him that I did notice in the football game is when he is in there he is going as hard as he can. I look around our defense and they were flying around. They were really working hard to get off the field. Just some of those critical third downs didn't get us there. That's what happened in the early part of the game, in the later part of the game we were doing what we had hoped would happen. Put a little more pressure on Eli [Manning], stopping the running game consistently, and getting the ball back."

On if he is satisfied with the amount DT Albert Haynesworth played:
"Yes. This was our first game with all of our starters playing the whole game. We will get a better feel for what we can and can't do and what that rotation will be. Every week I think I am going to agonize over deciding the last two or three guys that are inactive to maybe getting a bigger guy in when the run game is stellar. I wanted to get Marko Mitchell in because he had been doing pretty well in the preseason. We didn't utilize him that much. It is a hard decision."

On wishing DT Albert Haynesworth was in the game more:
"Absolutely, I wish he would play 100 percent of the time at 100 percent speed, but he weighs 340 pounds. He is a load, and I think moving that much mass can kind of take it out of you. We'll figure that out a little bit more as we go along. I wasn't displeased with the type of play he had on the field and really the amount. I'm looking all the time for him to push it and when I don't see him in there everybody else is picking up the slack."

On wide receivers' performance:
"[Antwaan] Randle El did a wonderful job. It's kind of an opportunistic thing for receivers. We had Randle El open a lot because he just beat his guy and Chris Cooley is very difficult to cover. So both of those guys did a nice job. They tried to take away Santana. We did have Malcolm open a few times. We didn't get the ball to him, we actually threw earlier. He's open, but we threw to Antwaan. I really like what he did. He got into open space and was able to do something with the ball. The empty backfield sets are a nice change-up. Really it's a change-up than pure offense because teams can learn to defend it and force you to throw quicker than you want to because you can only have six-man protection once you bring guys back in. It keeps the defense on their heels a little bit and off that pure pass rush.

On gadget plays:
"I threw that reverse pass because we have a guy that can really throw. I think it was worth the risk no question about it. It was a solid play. To me it wasn't trickster stuff, it was just a solid play. If Antwaan [Randle El] was just a pure receiver and I was just sort of hoping that he could get the ball out I wouldn't have called it. I have six other guys saying, 'Watch me throw coach,' and I have got tackles catching the ball saying, 'Watch me catch the ball.' I am not that much of trickster."

On whether or not he was surprised the play was so well covered:
"The disappointing part was the decision at the end. Antwaan [Randle El] was beside himself and we all felt bad. Now, we still had a second down. I was trying to get half of that back. So I ran a draw and hit [Chris] Cooley on a tight end screen which we got close to overcoming that. It was just something that happened."