Weekly Rivera Monday Presser

[boo7382]

Reviewing injuries...

Will keep monitoring how things go with Gross. Have been busy, haven't had a chance to check on his status today.

Anything jump out on you about the loss?

Just missed opportunities, the overthrow to Shockey for the big play, 2nd INT the ball sailed on him.

Not pressing the hole enough/blocking for the runs.

D- pressed the QB better, need be more disciplined, stop making coverage errors. We had the opps, just didn't take advantage of it.

After Roddy White TD, talking to Captain/Butler on sideline.

There was a communication error, one though the other was doing something. One stays on top one plays flat....was inexcusable.

THOUGHTS on cutting ties with Mare-

Will look at things, has unfortunate misses, needs to think this through, go through process and make sure we are making a good decision for us and our players.

At some point, you think he will click and kick and make them, hopefully we can get that done.

What do you think about Cams shovel pass/INT

Would love him to hold onto the ball, but he wants to win. Those are new things to learn and gain experience with, not trying to force the pass.

After this, Im headed to talk to Marty about a lot of stuff we need to assess, not just Mare.

I think there are a lot of things that need to be addressed in the off-season Defensively.

What do you need to do to get to the level of a playoff team?

Everything. Need to improve as coaching staff, look at scheme, evaluate it, what our strengths and weaknesses are.

We have seen improved play, now need to look at what they do best and improve those things.

As players, need to improve on what they are doing well, need to learn the game better.

Looking at this loss, is it tougher to swallow?

They are all tough. We have had the lead in most of the games, when you have that opportunity, someone steps up and makes the play. Sometimes we are banking on CAM/CJ to make the play when they need to be the ones stepping up and taking the pressure off them.

Anybody out there can make a play for you. We need to find that mentality.

Penalties? Came back again.

Yes, very untimely. Put us in a hole...shortened the field for ATL. Part of the problem. We will look at tape, see what refs saw and go from there.

I thought we were past that, would like to believe we are. We can't afford to make those mistakes.

Jason Shirley stepped up a couple times, helped us out. We had some runs we could have popped and we didn't.

What positions do you feel need to improve most?

ALL. Either those guys need to improve as players or we go find someone who can do it better. This is an evaluation period, for both players and coaches. A lot of things that will change/stay the same. Needs to change for the better. When its all said and done, we will be better next year. If not, we are moving on. Will not wait. I have been up front with them and made this message very clear.

Do you stress that the captains emphasize that ^^^ also?

Not really, we have a chance to win, we have led 12 of 13 games. We are better than we are giving ourselves credit for.

We need to get past "it is what it is", because its not. We need to grow up, we might not have Beason/Gross/TD, but you are a professional, this is why you are here. When you get your chance to play, you better step up and play.

Some bad things happened, sure, but some guys made some plays out there.

Gamble continues to play at top level, Darius Butler made a couple good plays.

Darius wasn't here for TC, he didn't have a chance to work with these guys. TC is different and he wasn't there, hasn't been a consistent starter, still developing.

Have you talked with Mare yet?

No, haven't had the chance. Want opportunity to visit with him (not at home ;)) and see how he is. We put ourselves in a bad position and they need to be corrected.

Snowball effect with team?

Trying to break that "here we go again" mentality. When something bad happens, we need to turn around and take advantage to come back ex: Pilares returning the kick. Make a play, get the momentum back, instead of going with the snowball.

We played very well against a playoff team to begin with, we jsut need to learn how to close it.

On Godfrey- had a decent year. Wasn't as aggressive this week b/c of shoulder injury, but will be a guy we count on going forward to step up.

See him in a leadership role, definitely. Has the ability to step up and be a leader, physical player, all respect his worth ethic. Definitely something that is needed. Will eventually be a pro bowl player in Rivera's opinion.

Any regrets on cutting Kasay?

No. Wanted 1 guy for kick offs and FGs, gain the spot on roster back. How long would he have played down the road? We considered all in the decision.

Did you consider signing a younger kicker at the time?

Yes, we looked at it. No younger guys we wanted were available. Looking for the "2 for 1" deal.

[CatMan72]

short and not very sweet, LOL

sounds like we're considering another kicker, Rivera going to discuss our options with Hurney

[bleys]

Capt. and Butler mis-communication on 2nd Julio Jones TD, "unacceptable" in Rivera's eyes

Capt and Butler aren't even the issue for me on that play. Had both of them done their job, there was still a TD from Douglas wide open because our LBer (Anderson?) had no chance in hell of getting through traffic to stop the play.

Munnerlyn saw what I saw... and I was watching from home..

the best defense for that play would have had the LBer in zone to cover his area and let Munnerlyn get the quick out while Butler covered JJ..

[davos]

Many of the defensive miscues were due to our personnel being mismatched and bad play calling by McD; he's still wayy overly aggressive. Butler I thought did well given his match up against Julio but Munnerlyn continues to struggle on the big plays. We need both size & speed at CB.

[BIGH2001]

Glad to see he is considering fixing one of the biggest mistakes in franchise history cutting kasay to sign mare. He should evaluate baker while he's at it.

[Proudiddy]

This is what I'm starting to feel about Rivera's pressers:

Rivera: Things have to change. We have to learn from our mistakes. We have to get better. Everyone is being evaluated.

Reporters: So what changes are you making?

Rivera: None.

Unless they cut Mare before next game, I'm just feeling like we're getting more of the same... A more talkative Fox.

[carpanfan96]

This is what I'm starting to feel about Rivera's pressers:

Rivera: Things have to change. We have to learn from our mistakes. We have to get better. Everyone is being evaluated.

Reporters: So what changes are you making?

Rivera: None.

Unless they cut Mare before next game, I'm just feeling like we're getting more of the same... A more talkative Fox.

What do you want him to do? The talent just isn't there defensively right now. Heck, it might not be there if they spend the whole draft taking defense. I can only count three starters on Defense that's playing right now that should be starting or would start for most teams.

Gamble, CJ and Anderson. The Panther's have some young players with upside like Hardy, Kearse, Fua, McClain and Hogan... But I don't know if some/any of those will be starter quality players.

There's no telling how Beason recovers from the Achilles tear, but he'll be back next season. Can't count on Davis to play a full season at this point so the team at least needs talent upgrades at OLB, DT, CB, FS and other spots as well for depth and so forth.

[Raskle]

This is what I'm starting to feel about Rivera's pressers:

Rivera: Things have to change. We have to learn from our mistakes. We have to get better. Everyone is being evaluated.

Reporters: So what changes are you making?

Rivera: None.

Unless they cut Mare before next game, I'm just feeling like we're getting more of the same... A more talkative Fox.

I have to agree to an extent. Rivera is talking the talk, but can he walk the walk?

I don't know if cutting Mare before next week's game would be enough to prove this, and I'm not even sure I favor this option to be honest. But come offseason, if Mare is still here after the draft, and he hasn't drastically improved by end of year, your evaluation of RR will be spot on.

I'm stealing RR's quote for my sig though. I do agree with what he's saying... time to poo or get off the pot. The guys are paid quite well to play a game to their utmost potential. If they can't get it done, time to find guys who can. Plus, I absolutely despise "it is what it is."

[CatMan72]

I think you keep Mare around for kick-offs and bring in a young guy to try out on FG's.

[rayzor]

This is what I'm starting to feel about Rivera's pressers:

Rivera: Things have to change. We have to learn from our mistakes. We have to get better. Everyone is being evaluated.

Reporters: So what changes are you making?

Rivera: None.

Unless they cut Mare before next game, I'm just feeling like we're getting more of the same... A more talkative Fox.

you've got to put things in their right perspective and context. they are looking at both the short term and long term here, but more with the long term.

you better believe that there are going to be some changes made, it just might not be as soon as you would like.

as far as cutting mare...who are they going to bring in that is any better? the guys that are unemployed right now are unemployed for a reason. sure, it sucks that we have one right now that should probably be unemployed, but i don't know that there are any better options. even if there were, we still suck at giving the kicker enough time. we aren't blocking on special teams very well so the results may not be a whole lot different regardless of who we bring in.

i want to win now, but correcting things that need it just won't be happening right now. there are a good few things that we'll just have to wait until the season is over and FA starts and trades open up.

[Proudiddy]

This is a general response to everyone who replied to my post above with my reasoning:

Mare is 38 years old, he's not going to get any younger. So, considering his body of work this season, you aren't really going to get much worse.

Shayne Graham was a "mid-season" replacement when Kasay was injured years ago IIRC, and he kicked 72% on his FGs in 11 games. He had a nice audition and showed enough to go onto earn the Bengals starting K spot for 7 seasons as a result. His very next season with the Bengals he kicked at an 88% clip.

Mare is currently kicking at 76% and hasn't just missed. He's missed horribly. This isn't a rookie or a 2nd year guy... A season vet they signed to a 12 million dollar contract.

A mid-season pick up isn't unemployed because they suck... We have Mare and he sucks... It's a matter of preference, contracts, etc. Plenty of kickers have been signed mid-year and went on to long and/or relatively successful careers.

How many D-1 football schools are there from which Ks just graduated from within the last year or so? How many Arena teams are there? CFL teams? Former NFL Ks?

There's one PK on most of those teams that handle the FGs. You're telling me not one of them is better than 76%? Not one of them has the ability to make clutch kicks? Not one of them can kick the ball off as well as Mare? Not one of them can kick a FG of 50+ yards without completely shanking it?

I find it very likely that there is a guy out there right now that can do everyone of those things, if not consistently at least we'll get to see what they have and stop wasting our time with a loser.

He isn't doing his job.

This same logic doesn't apply to every position, so much of the team we can't fix (and I'm not convinced that we need to fix as many positions as people are suggesting)... But, a K? Yes, we can address that immediately. His performance is inexcusable.

[mwright350]

I'm not entirely sold on there being a ton of personnel changes he could make right now that would not just be change for change's sake. Of the players who we consistently want to see cut who is the better option after we cut them? I am admittedly not an NFL analyst or a Free Agency guru but there don't seem to be upgrades growing on trees that we want to sign for the last three games of the season.

As far as scheme changes and internal stuff? I don't expect to hear that from a coach in a presser ever. Hinting that they might happen or acknowledging that they need to be evaluated absolutely...but as much as we the fans would love to hear it it's just not intelligent to go about spouting what you're going to change in a competitive environment until it's already obvious to the competition. Even if you're bad.

I think Rivera has proven already that he's not Fox - he might not be Football Jesus and immediately fix everything wrong with our franchise but in my eyes he's clearly night and day.

[teeray]

ALL. Either those guys need to improve as players or we go find someone who can do it better. This is an evaluation period, for both players and coaches. A lot of things that will change/stay the same. Needs to change for the better. When its all said and done, we will be better next year. If not, we are moving on.

Either he is trying to deflect some blame upon himself to lessen the harsh rhetoric.... or he just put McDermott on notice. Not sure which.

[Carolina_Champ]

I think you keep Mare around for kick-offs and bring in a young guy to try out on FG's.

That just puts in the same position that we were in before Rivera. If we bring in another kicker he must be able to do KO's and FG's.