We now wrap up the Sunday NFL pregame quotage with Football Night in America plus we have some video for you. Check it out.
“FOOTBALL NIGHT IN AMERICA” NOTES & QUOTES; WEEK 4
“I know San Diego is kicking themselves in the butt saying, ‘Why did we get rid of this guy?’” – “Football Night’s” Rodney Harrison on LaDainian Tomlinson
“They are about three plays from 0-4.” – “Football Night’s” Tony Dungy on the Saints
Bob Costas interviews Tom Coughlin, Mike Martz & Jay Cutler
NEW YORK – October 3, 2010 – Following are highlights from NBC Sports’ “Football Night in America.” Bob Costas hosted the show live from New Meadowlands Stadium and was joined on site for commentary by Al Michaels and Cris Collinsworth. Co-host Dan Patrick, analysts Tony Dungy and Rodney Harrison, and reporters Peter King and Mike Florio, who made his debut, covered the news of the NFL’s fourth week live from NBC’s 30 Rockefeller Plaza studios. Alex Flanagan reported on Donovan McNabb’s return to Philadelphia from the Redskins-Eagles game at Lincoln Financial Field.ON GIANTSHarrison: “Now all of a sudden Tom Coughlin can’t coach? Three years ago he was in the Super Bowl and over half of the players on that Super Bowl team, including Eli Manning who’s the quarterback, are on the team right now…Eli Manning is leading the league in interceptions and Brandon Jacobs is still at the ATM counting his money. It’s the players. It’s not the coach right now.”
Dungy: “I know one thing, Tom Coughlin hasn’t changed. He’s preaching discipline. He’s preaching the same things he always has. Maybe the players aren’t listening. I know what Tom Coughlin is all about. We practiced with them when I was in Tampa and he coached my team (laughs). He wanted to discipline our guys: no sunglasses, your owners can’t walk on the field because that’s the way he runs his practices.”
Collinsworth: “I kind of went in (to watch tape) thinking, ‘These guys aren’t very good.’ But Perry Fewell and their defense have really made some jumps over the past couple weeks.”
Michaels on criticism of Coughlin: “Coughlin said he got criticized for the way he parked his car at the complex this week.”
Collinsworth: “Antrel Rolle talked to us about that a little bit and he was screaming for more fun. ‘We got to make this fun out here.’ It was almost you got the feeling he didn’t say it but they’re kind of looking across the way at the New York Jets, looking at what Rex Ryan’s doing and they seem to be having a great time. Of course, Tom Coughlin probably hasn’t been at the head of the fun list as far as NFL coaches go. So believe me there’s a little bit of juxtaposition going on.”
The following is Bob Costas’ interview with Tom Coughlin:
ON BEARSJulius Peppers on Brian Urlacher: “He’s a great leader. The best player I ever played with. That’s an honor to play with him. That’s one of the main reasons I wanted to come to Chicago to play.”
Dungy on Martz and Cutler: “You’re talking about the perfect offensive coordinator for his quarterback. Mike Martz wants to do the same thing that Cutler wants to do and that’s gets big plays.”
Harrison: “Cutler doesn’t want the field goal. He wants the big play.”
Patrick: “But with Mike Martz, he can be stubborn. He wants to prove that he can do it his way. Does it come back to haunt him?”
Dungy: “It can. This is Mike’s offense: deep throws and big plays. But, it also leads to sacks and interceptions.”
Costas: “With new offensive coordinator Mike Martz, Cutler seems like a new quarterback in his second year with the Bears.”
The following are of Bob Costas’ interviews with Jay Cutler & Mike Martz:
ON REDSKINS-EAGLES
Donovan McNabb to Alex Flanagan: “Emotions stay with you. It depends on how you’re able to display those emotions. I tried to keep it up my sleeve a little bit and not really show the guys in the locker room that anything affects me.”
Flanagan: “Fans here in Philadelphia might just be wishing that Donovan McNabb was also back here in Philly and playing.”
Dungy on Redskins: “They looked terrible last week. They realized how important this game was to Donovan. They came out with some energy and their defensive line got after the Eagles offensive line.”
ON JETSHarrison to Dungy: “I guess after that visit with the Jets you didn’t realize that LaDainian Tomlinson is a No. 1 legitimate back. The guy had over 130 yards today, a couple of touchdowns. I know San Diego is kicking themselves in the butt saying, ‘Why did we get rid of this guy?’”
ON SAINTSDungy: “They are about three plays from 0-4. I love Drew’s (Brees) optimism but they got to get real. This offense is not scoring like they did last year. They’re moving the ball but they need to get back to scoring to eliminate some of those mistakes.”
ON RAVENSHarrison: “We seem to forget that Joe Flacco, he’s a young quarterback…tremendous confidence building game for him.”
ON STEELERSHarrison on allowing game-winning TD: “Terrible technique by the cornerback playing outside coverage. It’s man-to-man. You’re supposed to play inside technique and not look in the backfield.”
ON COLTSDungy: “It’s a little bit alarming. The Colts are used to these good starts because they play consistent football all the way through. But this year, the turnovers in the red zone, dropped balls, we saw some shaky red zone coverage and some touchdown passes there.”
ON CHARGERSDungy: “They’ve been dominant two weeks in a row at home but, as Tom Brady said last week, you’ve got to win on the road to be a champion…I am waiting until I see a good road win from San Diego.”
ON BENGALSHarrison on Terrell Owens & the Bengals: “He should be a first ballot Hall of Famer…Not a playoff team. If you’re the Cincinnati Bengals, if you want to get to being a playoff team, you have to win games like this. You can’t lose to the Cleveland Browns…I said it last year, they’re a bunch of frauds. It’s just disappointing to see.”
ON 49ERSMichaels: “That’s as gut-wrenching a loss as a team can have today.”
Harrison on Nate Clements’ INT and fumble: “Every single day since training camp, we go over situational football. You got to be smart, Nate Clements…I’ve had several picks like that. You catch the ball, I want to run a little bit but I know the situation. You’ve got to get down on the ground and secure the ball for the victory.”
King on Singletary: “I think the front office is going to have patience. But I’ve been told that they will be evaluating Mike Singletary in the coming weeks.”
ON CARDINALSHarrison: “Arizona is a team that’s built to pass the ball. I think we finally realized how important it is to have a star quarterback in this league. Derek Anderson is no Kurt Warner.”
ON TITANSPatrick on Chuck Cecil’s gesture towards officials: “One finger. Six-figure fine perhaps.”
ON RAMSPatrick: “A question on how much Stephen Jackson would play with that groin injury. Looks like he’s groin, groin, almost gone here.”
That will do it.
