Skip to main content
Advertising

News | Washington Commanders - Commanders.com

Jim Zorn Post-Game Press Conference

On his feelings following the win over the Denver Broncos:
"It's been arid the last few weeks and to be able to come off with a win, you almost don't really know how to feel. Yet, we remembered very quickly. It was exciting for our football team, for our franchise, and for our fans. Just think about the fans coming here and supporting us the whole time. To have a win like we had today, I felt good for the organization and Redskins Nation. I'm really excited for savoring it for a day at least."

On the emotion of the players in the locker room after the win:
"Here's what was good about today in our locker room. Guys didn't just freak out like they didn't know how to win, or how to act. It was a hard fought game. The Denver Broncos are a very good team. We made some big plays throughout our program, but we also gave up a couple. The thing that I suggested to our football team was to continue how our team has played – we don't give up. We kept fighting in there. They didn't act foolish or immature. Guys acted like it was a hard fought game. We were tired. It was a hard week of practice and this game just capped it off for us."

On Hunter Smith's touchdown pass:
"I had it called and we had 10 guys on the field, if you can believe it. I was pretty frustrated about that. I kept it on instead of trying to do something different. I didn't change the plays and we executed it very well. I'm very excited for our field goal team. When I played, those plays made a big difference, and they're still making a difference today in our program so it's very exciting."

On if the play was something that was practiced this week:"That wasn't something that we just put in this week. When you have a play like that it is well practiced. So he had practiced that play before this week. We thought we could run it at the right time and I certainly thought that was the right time in our situation. We had a big play that just happened to us and we had to stay in the ball game. In the past weeks we've been down 14-0 and our offense took a little time to get that run game going. That's really one of the reasons I called it."

On the offensive line:
"I think it really starts with the offensive line. We had Levi Jones come in. We put Stephon Heyer to the right (tackle). We started Chad Rinehart this week. So we had three changes in our offensive line. We felt good about our run trying to keep things simple. Where we struggled a little bit in practice this week was getting everyone up to speed, our cohesion in protections. Our offensive line rose up and did both. We really came off the ball and we beat a pretty good run defense. They were in the top 10 in the NFL coming into this game. They ran the ball a little bit against us as well. Ladell Betts had over 100 yards rushing, so a break in the line of scrimmage for us was critical. Then he turned it on and made some great moves up the field and got the extra yards. If you saw every running back in our football program, they all fought for extra yards and I'm really excited about that."

On quarterback Jason Campbell's performance:
"I was really proud of Jason [Campbell]. He was getting knocked around a little bit, but he really hung in there, mentally and emotionally. In the past couple of games, once things started getting sour, you could see him being a little nervous in the pocket. He didn't seem nervous to me except on one or two throws and then he settled right back down. I thought in the first half he missed a couple throws he could have had, but he hung in there tough. He started throwing on rhythm and spreading the ball around to his wide receivers."

On how the enthusiasm of the win will affect the rest of the season:"We're going to be enthusiastic at least for a day, and then we've got to get back to work. I'm going to give the players off tomorrow and allow them to enjoy what they can, but we have a big week ahead of us. We travel to Dallas. It's going to be a huge game, a division opponent and an away game. So we have to learn how to win on the road and beat a division opponent. Those are things we are going to concentrate on all week and try to enjoy the win when while we can."

On his reason for taking Carlos Rogers out of the game:
"We took him out to give him a break. Fred Smoot really rose to the occasion. Having to come in and play corner in a big game. I was proud of what he did. Carlos [Rogers] is not just out of it now. We'll go back and look at it. We made a change. It was for the rest of the game, but that doesn't mean it will be for the rest of the way down the road. We'll evaluate it."

On if Ladell Betts worked better with a new offensive line:
"I don't know what that chemistry was. I do feel like there were solid blocks. Our guys were running off the ball. That was one of the key issues if you looked at the line of scrimmage. We were actually moving the line of scrimmage down the field and it certainly takes that to have a strong running attack, and then it takes guys running the ball hard."

This article has been reproduced in a new format and may be missing content or contain faulty links. Please use the Contact Us link in our site footer to report an issue.
Advertising