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Green Bay - The following is a summary of Packers coach Mike McCarthy's Friday press conference:
- (On the day after) Yeah, I think we all slept a little bit. Just had the players in today. We had an NFLPA meeting at 11. We had a team meeting at noon. Then, they had their workout. After the conclusion of team meeting, training room’s full. Most guys are in there getting treatment.
- (On team schedule) We’ll be off for the weekend. We’ll have some things to get done Monday and then we’ll crank it up full speed Tuesday.
- (On Rodgers' Hail Mary throw) The way he threw it last night, he probably had a few more yards left in him. Just mechanically and just being in tune with his technique and the why he processes information. The ability to get up a close as he could to the 40-yard line and to launch the ball. I think a lot of guys may go with a flatter throw because they’re thinking they have to get it there, but the confidence he has in his arm and his ability to throw with that arc. The arc of the ball is critical to the success of the play. That’s the why it’s coached. The angle you want the ball to come
- (On watching the play again) Saw it on TV last night or this morning I guess you would say. I couldn’t sleep so I sat up and watched it a few times on TV. It was a phenomenal play. I was just speaking with Aaron in the training room before I came in here. Outside of the Super Bowl, to me, that’s our greatest regular-season win. It’s more about – obviously the play – but the reaction on the sideline. That’s the stuff you remember. I get the biggest kick just seeing our guys, the joy that they had and the excitement and the locker room. It was phenomenal. I’m looking for flags like I always do when we have big plays to make sure it’s going to – I think that’s just your process as a head coach. Just what a great win. It’s one win. It’s a division win, but I think this stretch that we wanted about. The second stage of our season. We know this was going to be the trials of our schedule and it’s definitely been that. There’s a lot to learn from what we’ve been through and we need to carry it forward.
- (On the extra point needing to be run) I’ll be honest with you, I thought the referees handled it great. I mean Carl (Cheffers) – you’re running down to the end zone and he’s running over to me telling me we need to kick the extra point. I kind of laughed and said it’s going to be a couple minutes. I’m not stopping this. You have to be kidding me. We laughed about it. He said, ‘You’re really going to kick it?’ I said, ‘I’ve never really been in this spot before, Carl.’ Then, I said, ‘Well, I should just kneel on it.’ He says, ‘Oh yeah, that’s what he would do.’ I said, ‘OK, let’s kneel on it.’ It was good to have great help from the officiating.
- (On feelings at halftime) Well, I don’t think the thought process is a lot different. You’re in a football game. You have zero points on the board and they have 17. Perception and reality. That’s the factors. We’re down 17 points, but just the reality from the way we were playing and the things were happening to us. Offensively, the penalties and the long down-and-distances. We could not overcome that. It really was a pretty big factor in our offensive production. You can take the facemask on Josh, I think on the second series we start with the screen. We had a couple first-and-20s and things like that. Defensively, we had the bad punt. Gave them field position and they got the first three points and then they got seven off the turnover and we didn’t get the check versus their empty line. So we really were three, four plays – I hate when we do analysis like that where we say, ‘Hey, they rushed for 160 yards, but they got 75 or 80 on two runs.’ Well, they all count. Just like Detroit. Those plays count against us; it’s why we’re down 17 points. I just felt that we were a lot closer than the scoreboard indicated.
- (On why Eddie Lacy didn't play more) Nothing happened last week with Eddie. Leading up the game, frankly, there’s an internal football decision that was made. That’s what resulted in Eddie’s reps.
- (So it wasn’t disciplinary?): Could be. But those things we don’t discuss in here anyway. It’s something that we handled internally, and that was the outcome.
- (What can he do to improve) He needs to build off his preparation. He’s put up some yards in the prior games, but he can be better. We need to be better as a team, frankly. I discussed this in our team meeting. There’s a lot more to give. The fine details are not where we want them to be. There’s a formula for us to get it there. That was made clear to our players and with the expectations and the commitment that we’ve made to each other, and we’ve got to do a better job. We’re not clicking for four quarters in all three areas, and that’s what we’re working for.
- (On the Hail Mary play) That whole segment of when you’re calling plays, we were at the final play beforehand because that technically was the final play and where Richard threw it back to Aaron and then we got the penalty. So you’re trusting your preparation, and then you get the rebound pass. We actually call it rebound pass. We don’t call it Hail Mary because we think we’re going to go catch it like a rebound. So it’s called a rebound pass. And it’s just really watching the mechanics, the play entry, and I saw the three-man rush.
- (On David Bakhtiari) He’s beat up. They’re all beat up. I just visited with David earlier, and his words to me was he plans on practicing every day next week and just looking forward to this time off. Your big guys, obviously playing the four games, the four division games, the 11-day period, I think the fact, what you hear a lot of is the two turf games, the two turf games in the last three-play segment, that’s something that’s been really hard, particularly on the big guys with their joints.
- (On why John Crockett was signed) I’ll just say, it just puts a smile on my face when I think of Crockett. You come off the field here at Lambeau, he’s the first guy in the tunnel, greets the team. He’s got unbelievable energy. He puts a lot of time in. He’s got his nose in his playbook, the way it should be. So there’s just a lot there that’s been going on for really since training camp.
- (On TE Richard Rodgers) Yeah, I think you look, before the Hail Mary, Richard had a heck of a football game. I think he caught every ball that was thrown to him if my memory is right, so he needed that and we needed that. So we need more production in the passing game. And that was a big night for Richard.
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- (On the day after) Yeah, I think we all slept a little bit. Just had the players in today. We had an NFLPA meeting at 11. We had a team meeting at noon. Then, they had their workout. After the conclusion of team meeting, training room’s full. Most guys are in there getting treatment.
- (On team schedule) We’ll be off for the weekend. We’ll have some things to get done Monday and then we’ll crank it up full speed Tuesday.
- (On Rodgers' Hail Mary throw) The way he threw it last night, he probably had a few more yards left in him. Just mechanically and just being in tune with his technique and the why he processes information. The ability to get up a close as he could to the 40-yard line and to launch the ball. I think a lot of guys may go with a flatter throw because they’re thinking they have to get it there, but the confidence he has in his arm and his ability to throw with that arc. The arc of the ball is critical to the success of the play. That’s the why it’s coached. The angle you want the ball to come
- (On watching the play again) Saw it on TV last night or this morning I guess you would say. I couldn’t sleep so I sat up and watched it a few times on TV. It was a phenomenal play. I was just speaking with Aaron in the training room before I came in here. Outside of the Super Bowl, to me, that’s our greatest regular-season win. It’s more about – obviously the play – but the reaction on the sideline. That’s the stuff you remember. I get the biggest kick just seeing our guys, the joy that they had and the excitement and the locker room. It was phenomenal. I’m looking for flags like I always do when we have big plays to make sure it’s going to – I think that’s just your process as a head coach. Just what a great win. It’s one win. It’s a division win, but I think this stretch that we wanted about. The second stage of our season. We know this was going to be the trials of our schedule and it’s definitely been that. There’s a lot to learn from what we’ve been through and we need to carry it forward.
- (On the extra point needing to be run) I’ll be honest with you, I thought the referees handled it great. I mean Carl (Cheffers) – you’re running down to the end zone and he’s running over to me telling me we need to kick the extra point. I kind of laughed and said it’s going to be a couple minutes. I’m not stopping this. You have to be kidding me. We laughed about it. He said, ‘You’re really going to kick it?’ I said, ‘I’ve never really been in this spot before, Carl.’ Then, I said, ‘Well, I should just kneel on it.’ He says, ‘Oh yeah, that’s what he would do.’ I said, ‘OK, let’s kneel on it.’ It was good to have great help from the officiating.
- (On feelings at halftime) Well, I don’t think the thought process is a lot different. You’re in a football game. You have zero points on the board and they have 17. Perception and reality. That’s the factors. We’re down 17 points, but just the reality from the way we were playing and the things were happening to us. Offensively, the penalties and the long down-and-distances. We could not overcome that. It really was a pretty big factor in our offensive production. You can take the facemask on Josh, I think on the second series we start with the screen. We had a couple first-and-20s and things like that. Defensively, we had the bad punt. Gave them field position and they got the first three points and then they got seven off the turnover and we didn’t get the check versus their empty line. So we really were three, four plays – I hate when we do analysis like that where we say, ‘Hey, they rushed for 160 yards, but they got 75 or 80 on two runs.’ Well, they all count. Just like Detroit. Those plays count against us; it’s why we’re down 17 points. I just felt that we were a lot closer than the scoreboard indicated.
- (On why Eddie Lacy didn't play more) Nothing happened last week with Eddie. Leading up the game, frankly, there’s an internal football decision that was made. That’s what resulted in Eddie’s reps.
- (So it wasn’t disciplinary?): Could be. But those things we don’t discuss in here anyway. It’s something that we handled internally, and that was the outcome.
- (What can he do to improve) He needs to build off his preparation. He’s put up some yards in the prior games, but he can be better. We need to be better as a team, frankly. I discussed this in our team meeting. There’s a lot more to give. The fine details are not where we want them to be. There’s a formula for us to get it there. That was made clear to our players and with the expectations and the commitment that we’ve made to each other, and we’ve got to do a better job. We’re not clicking for four quarters in all three areas, and that’s what we’re working for.
- (On the Hail Mary play) That whole segment of when you’re calling plays, we were at the final play beforehand because that technically was the final play and where Richard threw it back to Aaron and then we got the penalty. So you’re trusting your preparation, and then you get the rebound pass. We actually call it rebound pass. We don’t call it Hail Mary because we think we’re going to go catch it like a rebound. So it’s called a rebound pass. And it’s just really watching the mechanics, the play entry, and I saw the three-man rush.
- (On David Bakhtiari) He’s beat up. They’re all beat up. I just visited with David earlier, and his words to me was he plans on practicing every day next week and just looking forward to this time off. Your big guys, obviously playing the four games, the four division games, the 11-day period, I think the fact, what you hear a lot of is the two turf games, the two turf games in the last three-play segment, that’s something that’s been really hard, particularly on the big guys with their joints.
- (On why John Crockett was signed) I’ll just say, it just puts a smile on my face when I think of Crockett. You come off the field here at Lambeau, he’s the first guy in the tunnel, greets the team. He’s got unbelievable energy. He puts a lot of time in. He’s got his nose in his playbook, the way it should be. So there’s just a lot there that’s been going on for really since training camp.
- (On TE Richard Rodgers) Yeah, I think you look, before the Hail Mary, Richard had a heck of a football game. I think he caught every ball that was thrown to him if my memory is right, so he needed that and we needed that. So we need more production in the passing game. And that was a big night for Richard.
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