On Wednesday, September 11, 2013, Redskins LB London Fletcher addressed the media following afternoon practice at Redskins Park in Ashburn, Va.
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On the Green Bay Packers' offense:
"They have got a good offense. Obviously it starts with [quarterback Aaron] Rodgers. He's been a perennial MVP contender each and every year, but he has very good skill position players across the board. The offensive line is very good so they have an extremely good offense."
On the chess match between the Packers' offense and Redskins' defense:
"We'll see come Sunday. It's going to be tough because, again, he's a savvy quarterback. He knows where he wants to go with the football. He has a strong arm. He can make moves, make plays outside the pocket. He buys time, and he's very accurate."
On how hard it is to disrupt the Packers' offense:
"Obviously it's difficult because they spread you out sometimes, but if you can get some four-man rushes and get some pressure and try to disrupt that way... You have to be disciplined in your coverages whether its man or zone, whatever the case may be, and just try to be as disciplined as possible."
On how much of Monday's game against the Eagles was related to facing something new as compared to how much was not playing sound defense:
"This is Wednesday, I'm thinking about the Packers right now... I think we'll be ready to play come Sunday."
On how to prepare for pass-heavy teams:
"You still have to go into each and every game knowing that you have to stop the run, because if you are not stopping the run then you create more problems for your defense where you have to defend the run and worry about the pass. We all know how potent their passing offense is. For us, you still have to stop the run. You don't want to get them going in the run game."
On when he moved on from thinking about the Philadelphia game to the Green Bay game:
"Probably last night. You have 24 hours to celebrate or sulk so, in the NFL you can't dwell too long or celebrate too long because the next game is up on you pretty fast. With this being a little bit shorter week, you had one day and then last night I started looking at Green Bay film and started prepping for them."
On the play of linebacker Perry Riley:
"For Perry, this is his fourth year in this defense, third year as a starter. He knows the defense very well. He knows what his responsibilities are in the run game and the passing game. He's a really good blitzer, so utilizing all of his skillsets, I think Perry is continuing to get better each and every day in practice and each and every game."
On if the team has addressed its pass defense from last season:
"I think obviously with the draft, getting [cornerback David] Amerson, getting [safety] Bacarri [Rambo], and getting a healthy [linebacker Brian] Orakpo back, those have been some of the things we have done to address our pass defense deficiencies and problems we had last year. It starts with pressure, and we know with 'Rak and [linebacker] Ryan [Kerrigan], what kind of pressure they can get on the quarterback and then with some of the pieces we added, even getting [cornerback E.J.] Biggers into the mix as well, so, getting a healthy [safety] Brandon Meriweather will help and [cornerback] Josh Wilson coming back stronger and ready to do some things. So I think we have a lot of versatility on that back end now."
On what makes him so confident the defense will be ready to play Sunday:
"Because this is professional football, man, and we prep and we prepare each and every week. We practice, we're going to meet hard, and football is going to be played on Sunday."
On how this week will be different from last week:
"Each week we just prepare to get ready for a ballgame. You win some, you lose some, and then you learn from the tape. You watch and see where you need to make your adjustments, how you got better, what things you did good, what things you didn't do good, and that's how we do each and every week in practice, each week in the meetings. As coaches, they say and point out, 'Hey, we need to do this better.' As players, you have to be tough on yourself and really know what you need to do better."
On if he was surprised by anything he saw from the Philadelphia offense:
"No."
On the threat posed by Packers tight end Jermichael Finley:
"Finley is almost like another receiver out there on the football field. The way they utilize him, the different positions they put him in, whether it's lining him out at receiver, on the backside by himself, spreading him out wide or flexing him inside, just some of the different things they do with him. He's a tough matchup because of his unique size, athleticism and speed."
On how the change in offensive tempo from Philadelphia to Green Bay changes defensive plan:
"The Packers, they do have some tempo-type stuff, so they do some no-huddle type deals so, obviously it won't be the same as we faced the other night, but you still have to be ready for some no-huddle stuff."
On if he has a special appreciation for playing at Lambeau Field:
"I do. I think it is one of the great atmospheres in all of football. For the guys who experience it the first time, I think they'll be very impressed. It's really like a college atmosphere. I can feel the tradition when you come into the place. The whole city shuts down and everybody is at the Packers game. There is more people at the Packers game than they have in the city of Green Bay so that just goes to show how unique a situation it is. It's an awesome atmosphere."
On if he feels like this will be the first time to unveil the Redskins defense as it was constructed to play:
"It depends on how the game is going, how much playing time guys get. That's dictated by those types of deals and the nature of the game and stuff like that. We have different packages that we'd like to get in, but you just never know how the course of the game is going to go."
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