Ron Rivera presser transcript

[Jeremy Igo]

Panthers Head Coach Ron Rivera

 

On how good it feels to get the first win of the season:

“Well it’s good, that’s for doggone sure. I thought the guys came out and responded. That’s a heck of a football team we played against. They’ve got a young, dynamic football player as their quarterback and when this football team matures, what (Kliff Kingsbury)’s got going over there I think could be pretty good, I really do. Kyler Murray is a handful. The guy makes plays, but I thought our players handled it very well on the defensive side, made adjustments that we needed to. And then I’m real pleased with what we did on the offensive side. The guys came and won. Adjusted to Kyle Allen and some of the things he did early on. We had the one little blip with the sack and fumble, but I thought he responded very well, took snaps, scored and put points up on the board.”

 

On the team’s identity with QB Kyle Allen at quarterback:

“That’s a good question. When I get a chance to look at the tape, I think I’ll have a better answer for you on Monday, but I think the guys really showed some resilience. It was a good week. I thought the guys responded very well. We played on Thursday night, gave them a few days to get away. They came back energized. I really liked their approach on Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I really do. I thought they did the things that we asked of them, trying to get settled in. It took a little bit of kind of feeling out early on. They had a big play, got the ball and got into the red zone and the defense was able to… it was a 16,17-play drive. The biggest thing was we have to contain their quarterback and after we settled in and we talked about it on the sidelines, I think our guys really got focused.”

 

On Allen’s pass in the first quarter after Arizona received an offsides penalty:

“He’s a guy that really keeps his composure. He understands, he’s smart, he’s got a good football mind and he reacted that way and that’s why he made the play that he did.”

 

On Allen’s mobility:

“Well I think he has just enough mobility to get him out of some situations. Once he got a feel for things, he was able to kind of walk away – well I shouldn’t say walk – move away from the pressure, and he handled that very well.”

 

On having TE Greg Olsen healthy:

“It meant a lot because early on, he was a big factor and it really gave Kyle somebody to find. But once we got to that position then other things opened up. That was probably the biggest thing that happened was a couple other things opened up for the guys.”

 

On what was different today that allowed the defense to get eight sacks and two interceptions:

“I thought that the things we did with our coverage, our secondary handled it very well. We mixed our coverages as much as we could, tried to give them different looks and confuse them a little bit. We did a couple things up front with some of our alignments that were different that really helped our guys as well. There were some really good things that the players responded to.”

 

On Allen’s coolness:

“I think he’s real confident in who he is as a football player. He was a very heralded player coming into college, he had a good college career and I think he’s just confident that he has that kind of ability. He’s got a lot of swag, which is kind of interesting when you watch him, and he’s been able to back it up. That’s probably the biggest thing because he did it in high school, did it in college and the two times he’s played for us he’s played pretty well, so hopefully we can continue that.”

 

On if QB Cam Newton will start when he is healthy:

“Yes. He’s our quarterback and he’s who we rely on, but for now we’re going to stick with Kyle and we’ll keep rolling and see how things unfold as we go forward.”

 

On the stability associated with a backup quarterback they can trust:

“It was very uncertain coming into this season. It was very uncertain last year when Derek Anderson left. When you have a guy like that and for seven seasons, we had a little bit of uncertainty and we really didn’t know. Now having a guy that may be assuming that role, I think that helps us in terms of our confidence going forward knowing that if something were to happen again, we can obviously have a guy that can go out there and play and play very well for us.”

 

On how the team has embraced Allen:

“The one thing that we’ve always done here, and we’ve been fortunate is that we’ve kind of responded really well to the next-man-up attitude, and it goes all the way back to 2013, 2014, 2015 when we’ve had some guys that have gone down, and guys stepped up. So, it’s really a reflection of who those guys are in the locker room more so than anything else.”

 

On if the rotation between T Greg Little and Daryl William was pre-determined:

“Yes, it was something we had talked about earlier. Just looking for the opportunity to give Greg a chance to play.”

 

On how the decision to play Little was weighed knowing that they were starting a young QB:

“That’s why we waited until the second quarter because we wanted him to get an opportunity to settle in. He was drafted for a reason and he’s got to get opportunities to play, and same thing with Daryl. Daryl is a big, stout football player and we’ve got to find ways to use him as well, so it’s a nice problem to have.”

 

On how Little played:

“Initially, I think he did some really good things. I didn’t hear (Running Game Coordinator John Matsko) scream into the headset, so.”

 

On how big of a step CB Donte Jackson’s two interceptions were:

“It’s a huge step. I like to tell him, ‘As long as you play disciplined and keep your eyes in the right spot, you’ll get opportunities to make plays.’ And that’s what he did.”

 

On the statement the team made:

“Tribute to our guys. We gave them a little time after the Thursday game to get away and we brought them back on Tuesday, and I just liked the way they practiced Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, I really did. I thought they responded very well to that whole thing, so just how they handled it is really important and I thought they handled it very well. Coming out early on Friday, it was kind of neat to watch the guys, they kind of traveled in packs. When they went to dinner, when they went into the snack room – it was just kind of cool because you see these pods of guys hanging out together, and sometimes being home you don’t get that as much. But on the road they seemed to pull each other in and that was good.”

 

On Kyle Allen’s swag vs. Cam Newton’s swag:

“(Newton) is taller. That’s just who they are. They each have their own personalities. You just have to look at them for who they are. Hopefully (Allen) doesn’t start dressing funny, but I was really pleased with what he did.”

 

On if the decision to not play DT Kawaan Short was out of an abundance of caution:

“Yes. It’s one of those things where, if you’re down to the line and you really need to have a guy out there we could have done it, but I wasn’t going to do that to (Short), especially early in the year.”

 

On if he has a sense of G Trai Turner’s injury:

“No, we’ll check on that when I get a chance to talk to our training staff.”

 

On if there was anything about Kingsbury’s offense that surprised him:

“Oh yeah. I will say this: as that team matures, that quarterback belongs in this league. He’s got a legitimate arm, he’s just got to get better, just got to get comfortable as he continues to grow. They’re a young football team. I think that if (Kingsbury) sticks to his guns, he’s got an opportunity here. It was kind of an interesting thing to see.”

 

On how the importance of balancing consistency and splash plays for CB Donte Jackson:

“Very much so. That’s of the biggest importance, to get (Jackson) to play consistently, that’s what you want. You want him to play his game - he’s got that kind of skillset. He showed you today with two interceptions. He’s a young guy, he’s easy to influence (so) we need to keep him on the straight and narrow.”

 

On what this game does for the defense’s confidence:

“Well probably the biggest thing we’ve got to do is be able to go out and do it again. We’ll start getting ready for our next opponent and believe me, they’re not going to give up eight sacks. We’re going to have to play well as a football team and put points on the board when we get opportunities and get some stops on defense.”

 

On if LB/DE Mario Addison’s performance set the tone:

“Yes. I thought Mario did some good things early on that set the tone. We had some guys that were really doing some good things out there. Real pleased with the stuff we did on the sidelines as coaches in all three phases. Some of the adjustments we made, some of the things we talked about really panned out. Real pleased with what Coach (Norv) Turner did with the offense and giving Kyle (Allen) an opportunity and using Kyle’s skillset. I thought some of the adjustments made on the sidelines with the defensive guys that was going on between them and the defensive staff was really good.”

 

On what scheme they got most of their sacks out of:

“It came out of a good pass rushing and coverage behind it. I thought it was really good.”

 

On the inception of the play on WR DJ Moore’s touchdown:

“It’s somewhere deep in one of Norv’s (Turner) playbooks. We happened to run the right call for the right coverage for it to be a success. The truth is DJ made a nice move underneath and caught the ball in stride. If you can get a guy in stride like that, then you’re going to be fine.”

 

On how he instills discipline on penalties:

“You have to talk about it. You have to hold each other accountable. That was one of the things that I had talked to the guys about it after the Thursday night game that we have to take a real good look at ourselves and hold ourselves accountable for everything that goes on out there starting with me making sure we’re doing the things we need to do as a football team.”

 

[Mr. Scot]

I can tell you one person whose thoughts I'd really like to hear right now, but probably won't.

Norv Turner.

[Dunn]

I think Norv is beating down the door saying 'see! this is how my offense can work with an effective passing game'.  I love Newton, and he is as dynamic as he comes...but Allen showed he's got the accuracy to make the throws Norv wants...I'm just happy we have someone that'll keep us in the race until Cam gets back.

[morgan55]

17 minutes ago, Dunn said:

I think Norv is beating down the door saying 'see! this is how my offense can work with an effective passing game'.  I love Newton, and he is as dynamic as he comes...but Allen showed he's got the accuracy to make the throws Norv wants...I'm just happy we have someone that'll keep us in the race until Cam gets back.

Gets back from what?

[Skack25]

I hope Allen does start dressing funny.  That would be awesome.

[DeAngelo Beason]

Norv's offense is built on hitting receivers in stride.  That's the whole point of it.  Cam just can't do that.  There's a lot of denial going on in these boards, but we should really get used to life without Cam.  This offense needs accuracy and tempo.

One thing I thought was very interesting, and makes me wonder... did anyone else notice how we were getting the ball snapped WAY earlier than usual?  Makes me wonder if that could somehow have something to do with Cam?  

[Ricky Spanish]

18 minutes ago, morgan55 said:

Gets back from what?

Shh. Don't let him know the truth about the farm they send old broken QBs to. 

[morgan55]

1 hour ago, Cracka McNasty said:

Shh. Don't let him know the truth about the farm they send old broken QBs to. 

Hahahah.... do they have lots of space to run around and all?