Eli Manning Says His Arm Isn’t Tired, Thinks “There Were Some Improvements” Against Cincinnati

The New York Giants are showing the football world why it’s so hard to repeat in the NFL. The Giants are suddenly struggling on offense, looking tired and run-down as they enter their Week 11 bye.

Then again, the G-men are notoriously bad in the month of November and the second half, and they still have a decent-sized lead in the weak NFC East.

Eli Manning joined Mike Francesa on WFAN in New York to discuss the New York Giants’ recent struggles, Sunday’s game in Cincinnati, the speculation that he has a “tired arm” and the bad habits that have reared their head recently. Manning also spoke about the Giants’ health situation at the bye week and how concussions are so tough for quarterbacks to avoid.

On the team again struggling in November, which has become a trend:

“I wish that wasn’t the case, but luckily that’s the good thing about getting off to fast starts is that if you gotta have a lull, at least you got a little advantage and a little lead in the division, and those type of things. Obviously I think this bye’s coming at a good time where we can get healed up, get rested up and come back refreshed and ready to go. We’ve got a six-game season left and it doesn’t really matter what’s happened prior to this. We’re in this situation and I guess you gotta take the positives of it. If you told us, ‘Hey, after six games you’ll have a two-game or a game-and-a-half lead in the division, would you take it?’ And you’d take it every time. So that’s where we stand, and we know we gotta play better football.”

On his belief that they actually made some progress in Cincinnati, despite the loss:

“I thought there were some better things done Sunday than in the previous weeks. I thought I did a little better making some third downs, making some plays. Had some opportunities for some other plays we didn’t quite capitalize on, but I thought there were some better things, I thought there were some improvements. And maybe the score doesn’t show it, obviously, because we had the costly turnovers — we gotta eliminate those things. But if we can eliminate those turnovers I think we would have had a better shot of staying in that game.”

On the speculation that he has a “tired arm”:

“No, I don’t have a sore arm. Arm feels good. In practice, the ball’s coming out well. It’s coming out. Deep throws are going where they need to be, so no. There’s no sore arm. … No injuries. … Though, for the most part, I threw the ball pretty well Sunday and had some good throws. I thought we had a better rhythm about our offense and those type of things. It obviously didn’t work out the way we wanted it to, but again, I think just the turnovers is what cost us.”

On his habit of trying to making things happen when nothing exists, leading to mistakes:

“I can’t get into bad habits. If we’re down in a game, it’s going to do us no good to throw the ball to the other team. It’s just gonna make things worse. So I gotta just take a sack, throw it away, make those good decisions. Sometimes the competitive nature comes out of you saying, ‘Hey, you gotta try to make something.’ And usually when you have that attitude, something bad happens. You still gotta make plays, but if nothing’s there you can’t try to force them.”

On getting healthier at the bye week and making a run during the final six games of the season:

“Getting healthy I think’s going to be important. We’ve got guys banged up. We’ve been playing 10 straight weeks and it’s easy for guys to get a little tired, and so we’re going to get healthy, get energized and get excited about these next six games.”

On searching for “that right style”:

“We want to make the playoffs, and whatever it takes we’re going to commit to it and we’re going to find it. We’re searching for that right style, for that right way for us to win football games, and we’re going to keep grinding away until we find it.”

On seeing three quarterbacks leave Sunday’s action with concussions:

“It’s just part of the job and sometimes you hope it doesn’t happen, but that’s why you try to avoid the big hits. And sometimes you can, sometimes you can’t. But when you’re running or when you’re outside the pocket, try not to take any direct hits while you slide. These linebackers and safeties are getting bigger, faster and stronger, and they’re looking to make hits. And you just want to try to stay out of those situations.”

Listen to Eli Manning on WFAN here

Read the original interview, here

Curtis Lofton Believes The Saints Are A Playoff Team, But Also That The Postseason Shouldn’t Be Mentioned Yet

It’s always interesting when the New Orleans Saints and Atlanta Falcons get together, but this year’s first meeting has some extra intrigue, with Curtis Lofton battling his ex-teammates in his new home. Oh, and the Saints are trying to keep their heads above water against the league’s last unbeaten team.

Curtis Lofton joined Mayhem in the AM on 790 The Zone in Atlanta to discuss how he feels about playing his former team, the notion that he wasn’t fully appreciated in Atlanta, the struggles the Saints have had this season, any tips he might be able to offer his new team about his old one and what he sees in Matt Ryan this year. He also addressed his own performance thus far and stated that he still thinks the Saints are a playoff team.

On if he’s nervous to face his former team:

“I’m definitely not nervous. I’ve been playing football a long time and I’ve played in a lot of big games, and I’ll just be ready for this one.”

On if he feels he wasn’t appreciated in Atlanta:

“I feel like that in a way.”

On the notion that they wouldn’t let him go if they had appreciated him:

“You’re right about that.”

On if the Saints embrace their players in a different way:

“I would say so. The Saints is just about all New Orleans has. People live and die by the Saints. When everything’s going good, everything’s good. Anything goes bad, the whole town just feels the hit of the game. And they all love the players, and they’re back behind this football team like no other.”

On what’s been wrong with the Saints’ defense thus far:

“We play a lot of good football, but at the same time, when you got 10 guys doing it right and one guy doing it wrong, that leads to big plays. Right now, big plays is killing us. We’ve got to get that out of our game.”

On how grades himself thus far:

“I’d probably say B-plus. I feel like I’ve been playing pretty consistent, playing solid. I can’t give myself an A because I feel like there’s still a lot of work for myself to be done.”

On if the Saints are a playoff team:

“I think we’re definitely a playoff team, but right now I’m not really too worried about playoffs. We gotta win games and take care one game at a time before we can even be mentioned in the same sentence as playoffs.”

On if he can help his new team from a game-planning perspective as a former Falcon:

“No. … They got a new offensive coordinator, new defensive coordinator, so there’s not really too much I can help there. I can help with personnel and that area, but anything else, no. You’d have to get it from the film.”

On what he’s seen from Matt Ryan this year that’s different from years past:

“He’s running that no-huddle more efficiently and it looks like he has more freedom to control the game more.”

Listen to Curtis Lofton on 790 The Zone here

Read the original interview, here

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Several Weeks Later, Kansas City’s Eric Winston Stands By His Comments About Chiefs Fans Cheering Matt Cassel’s Injury

Kansas City Chiefs offensive lineman Eric Winston made plenty of headlines earlier this month when he ripped into Chiefs fans, who he heard cheering when quarterback Matt Cassel was injured in a loss to Baltimore on Oct. 7th.

Winston continues to stand by his comments. Kansas City stands at 1-6 looking to get back on the winning track this week at San Diego on Thursday night.

Eric Winston joined WHB in Kansas City with Soren Petro to discuss standing by his comments regarding Chiefs fans cheering for Matt Cassel’s injury, the Chiefs’ struggles that have led to a 1-6 record and not regretting that he signed with the Chiefs.

Several weeks later, do you look back at your comments regarding Chiefs fans cheering for Matt Cassel’s injury and think there is way you could have done it differently? Would you do it all the same?

“I stand by what I said. I believe in what I said. I guess when I said it, I never really thought it would get much national play to be honest with you. I guess that’s me still being a little naive to the media scene and how powerful some of the media is now, but I wanted to make a point. I thought I made the point and that was it. I’m sorry some people got their feelings hurt or they felt like it was wrong for me to say, but I don’t. I felt passionately about, it like you said. I felt like it was the right thing to say and I stand by it.”

Is there anything you can figure out as to why the season hasn’t gone so well and why the Chiefs are 1-6?

“No. … We came out of camp [and] we all felt pretty good about the team and where we are at, and I think if we were 3-3 or 4-3, maybe you could say, ‘Well, this is the one reason why we’re not 6-1,’ or something like that. I think when you’ve gone through as tough of a stretch as we have, I don’t think it’s only one thing. It’s a lot of things. … The bye week was — I would look at myself first. I would examine myself. How could I play better? What can I do to help my teammates and help the offensive line play better? I think that’s what everyone has to do and I think we did it, obviously, and it’s going to pay off Sunday. But I really hope the practices we’ve had, the way we’ve handled it, I think the guys in the locker room have been professional about the way we’ve gone about our business every day. I know it will start paying off and it’s something we gotta start making happen and not hope that it comes around, and hope that the ball bounces our way. We gotta make the ball bounce our way and we got another opportunity Thursday to do it.”

Do you regret signing with Kansas City?

“Absolutely not. My family has taken a real love for this city. I enjoy the place, I enjoy the guys and I enjoy the team, and tough times don’t last. We are going to make this turnaround and we are going to figure out a way to get this thing turned around. It’s been a real pleasure to be a part of an organization with as much history. I’m a huge football buff. I love football, I love the history of it and everything like that, and to be a part of an organization that has deep roots in the history of the NFL as Kansas City does is a real honor for me to be a part of it.”

Listen to Eric Winston on WHB in Kansas City here

Read the original interview, here:

http://sportsradiointerviews.com/2012/10/31/nfl-eric-winston-kansas-city-chiefs-matt-cassel-injury-fallout/

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Ben Roethlisberger: “It Doesn’t Do You Any Good To Be Hot In The Beginning Of The Year”

Ben Roethlisberger and the Pittsburgh Steelers have been in survival mode for much of the 2012 season thus far. Roethlisberger and the offense have been adjusting to drastic changes under a new coordinator and injuries have hit the team hard on both sides of the ball.

But Roethlisberger has been here before. He’s not panicking. He knows it’s all about timing in this league.

Ben Roethlisberger joined Mike & Mike on ESPN Radio to discuss his rivalry with fellow 2004 draft pick Eli Manning, whom he plays this week, as well as to talk about the new-look offense under Todd Haley, the importance of timing and getting hot at the right time in the NFL.

On how competitive he is with Eli Manning, who was a fellow first-round pick in 2004:

“Very competitive, but I think it’s turned from … early on — for me at least — it was, ‘I’m going to beat him and I’m mad he got drafted ahead of me. I’m going to prove everybody wrong.’ But now, to me, it’s just more friendly competition. … To me, it’s like, let’s see how good we can make this draft class of quarterbacks. People also have to remember, we had Matt Schaub and Philip Rivers as well. My philosophy was always, let’s make it as good as, was it the ’83 draft class? Was that the Dolphin/Marino? The quote-unquote best quarterback draft class. So that’s kind of the way it is now, and I do keep an eye on all three of those guys.”

On how the offense is coming along under new offensive coordinator Todd Haley:

“We’re doing some pretty good things. Obviously we’re not there yet. I don’t think anybody on our team would tell you that we’re to the place we want to be yet, but we’re getting there. We’re making strides towards being better and getting better and learning. Every week, as you know, in this league, you put in new plays, you do new things and you learn. And I think that Coach Haley has really opened up to accepting changes from us, and us accepting changes from him. So it’s been a great working relationship between all of us. And the biggest thing for us is possessing the ball, converting third downs, not turning it over and scoring as much as we can.”

On how much the offense has changed under Haley:

“Probably 97 percent of it changed. I laugh and I joke with some of the other media — a curl is a curl route. You can’t call a curl much different. Some things stayed the same, but for the most part everything changed. I think the hardest part — the trickiest part, I should say — is when something from the old system was called one way and it’s the exact same route or protection and called something completely different. That was the trickiest part.”

On having to get hot at the right time:

“I’ve always said that it’s about when you get hot. You have to get hot late in the year. It doesn’t do you any good to be hot in the beginning of the year, unless you can sustain it. And even when you sustain it, you gotta get into the playoffs and keep playing at a high level. Our first Super Bowl run, kinda the same thing — we got lucky late, got into the playoffs as the wild-card team and just was playing really good football all the way through. That’s what it’s about, and that’s kinda when I had a talk with the offense a couple weeks ago, I said, ‘Listen guys, we’ve got a lot of football left to play. Let’s get hot at the right time and just take it one week at a time and just get one win.’ And we’ve done that two weeks in a row, and we’re going to go for that this week — just get one win.”

Listen to Ben Roethlisberger on ESPN Radio here (starts at 11:30)

Sports Radio Interviews » NFL

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Jerry Jones Dishes On Dez Bryant As A Return Man, Jason Garrett’s Late Play Calls And Getting Booed at Home

The Dallas Cowboys are on the brink of collapse after losing to their division-rival New York Giants in heartbreaking fashion in Week 8. Now Dallas has to battle the unbeaten Atlanta Falcons on the road. But Jerry Jones says he isn’t discouraged and he appears to be standing by his team and its head coach.

Jerry Jones joined RJ and Shan on 105.3 The Fan in Dallas to discuss last week’s tough loss to the Giants, the issues affecting the team, Dez Bryant’s role as a punt returner and the risks that come with it, as well as Jason Garrett’s play-calling against New York and how it felt to be booed at home Sunday.

On how he feels about last week’s loss to the Giants:

“I’m sick. We had three or four chances there near the end to win a game that took a super effort to get back in. And so there were those kinds of swings that we all experienced, and you are able to overcome that kind of early bad play, and then make that thing be viable for a win at the end against a team of the Giants character. And we all know they’re one of the better teams — it’s very disappointing. And I’m very disappointed, but not discouraged at all.”

On the multitude of issues affecting the team:

“I’ve often said that a football team is like trying to hold two handfuls of jello. When you get part of it under control, the other part’s coming out the other side. And that’s football. It can be a positive thing, and when it gets going, it’s a thing of beauty. But until it gets there, there’s all types of continuing challenges. Turnovers, it’s well known, it’s said often, and it’s said from the first day you walk in the locker room — if you can’t hold the ball and keep the ball when you’re supposed to have it, you’re usually not going to win. And it takes just an inordinate thing, it takes a Romo — similar to the Buffalo game that we had six, seven years ago when we had all the turnovers and still won — that’s rare. The turnovers will usually do you under and the other day that’s the thing that got us.”

On Dez Bryant returning kicks:

“Well we’ve gotta protect the ball. One of the things you often see, at least we do, you see a player back there that has less return potential but is an outstanding hands guy — can really catch the ball and does protect the ball. And at the end of the day, to prevent the turnover is the No. 1 goal. The kicking game — all phases of it — when you make mistakes in it, they’re accentuated. And of course, that happened. Rather than have possession, you give up possession. It’s your time to make that possession. Usually, defense have done a good job. It affects momentum, it affects — technically — the field, and how well you’re going to play in the game. So turnovers on the kicking game are even more hurtful than turnovers in the regular part of the game.”

On head coach Jason Garrett calling three straight pass plays with only one yard to go to pick up a first down on a late drive:

“The day was clearly oriented for us, offensively, to throw the ball. The defense was not giving us anything, plus that’s their strength, is their front seven; their front was their strength. And we hadn’t done well running the ball, but we had done outstanding as of late — late being the last two quarters — moving the ball by throwing to Jason Witten. … So I have no quarrel with those calls there. We changed a play. We did have an option to run [on] the play if they had lined up differently, we could have run the ball. But under the circumstances, the way they lined up, I don’t second-guess the call.”

On his comment claiming he didn’t mind getting booed and had been to “boo school”:

“First of all, they teach you, don’t ever walk into another sport or another venue and be introduced — a basketball, baseball game or what have you — because if a boo starts, it’s going to be pretty good, so don’t do that. Why’d I even go to boo school? Really, what I was implying is, because certainly in 24 years I’ve experienced boos, but the other things is, we all know that for whatever the reason, we put it up on our screen and we also had Jason up there and I’m not sure if Tony was up there or not, but that gives a good opportunity to create some kind of reminder about the fact that we’re not playing well. And those are the people responsible for not playing well. I accept that and I understand it now. I’m not saying that it doesn’t hurt to get booed, but that just goes with it.”

Listen to Jerry Jones on 105.3 The Fan here

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Football Radio Show: Week 9 Philadelphia Eagles at New Orleans Saints

Before the season started, both the 3-4 Philadelphia Eagles and the 2-5 New Orleans Saints were considered potential favorites to represent the NFC in the Super Bowl. Nine weeks into the season both of these teams wold just like to be at 500. A loss in this game by either team pretty much ends their shot at the playoffs. So who is looking forward to next year next week? Casey and Dave talk the ruin of many a poor boy on this episode of The Football Radio Show.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Football Radio Show: Week 9 Dallas Cowboys at Atlanta Falcons

Week 9 is do or die for the Dallas Cowboys. So far this season, nothing has gone right for Tony Romo, and on the opposite end of the spectrum everything has gone right for Matt Ryan and the Atlanta Falcons. At 3-4 the Boys are desperate for a win where as the 7-0 Falcons are the league’s only undefeated team. So do the Cowboys even have a snowball’s chance? Casey and Dave let you know on this episode of The Football Radio Show.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download

Football Radio Show: Week 9 Preview Part 3

Being that we are in sunny Los Angeles, and we watch every game, we hate when the NFL only gives us three late games. The only thing worse is when they only give us two late games. At least we are getting a couple of good ones. Casey and Dave preview Bucs at Raiders, Vikings at Seahawks, and Steelers at Giants on this episode of The Football Radio Show.

Podcast: Play in new window | Download