Still-angry Linehan: “I’m scared to death to lose”
It wasn’t quite as dramatic as Jets quarterback Joe Namath guaranteeing victory over the heavily favored Colts in Super Bowl III. But Scott Linehan was adamant that his downtrodden, 0-2 crew would bounce back Sunday in Seattle.
“I’m not making any guarantees; you can call it what it is,” Linehan said Monday at his weekly day-after gathering with reporters. “But in my mind, we’re going to beat Seattle and we’re going to right this ship. Because we don’t have a choice. I don’t have a choice, and neither does anybody else around here.”
Linehan was responding to a question about whether he was concerned about his job security. Here’s the rest of his answer:
“I’ve been concerned about my job security since I started coaching. I’m scared to death to lose. If you lose, you worry about everything. For most of my career, that’s been a positive thing. At this point, we’re not winning enough games. So when you don’t win games, people are going to want the head coach’s head; it’s the way it works. I’ve told you that from the beginning. I’ve accepted that only as part of the job, but not as part of where we’re going.”
Obviously angry in his post-game interview after the 41-13 loss to the Giants, Linehan had plenty of fire still raging Monday afternoon. Here are some more excerpts:
*On the Rams failing to “finish” games:
“Two years ago, we finished games great. Our fourth-quarter scoring and production was outstanding. Last year it was bad, and this year it’s not much better. . . . Over the last six months, we’ve done nothing but try to make adjustments and improvements. We have a new offensive system, we’ve got new defensive players, we’ve got some adjustments we’ve made within the (coaching) staff, and we’ve got a few new offensive players.
“That’s all fine and dandy, but we’ve got to go out there and turn whatever those adjustments were into positive plays and positive drives and positive finishes to the fourth quarter. Right now, that’s not happening.”
*On the defense giving up a six-play, 82-yard TD drive after the Rams made it 20-13 early in the fourth period:
“To be in a position where, bang, we finally get something going offensively when we get the touchdown with Torry (Holt) — great play, one of the best catches I’ve ever seen. To a special-teams play, bang, you have another great play (a jarring tackle by Chris Draft on the 18-yard line on the subsequent kickoff). Now it’s 20-13 and you’re really in a position where defensively, you can go out and sack the quarterback, pick off a ball, go three-and-out, and all of a sudden now it’s a one-score game and you’re playing at home and the place is going nuts.
“That’s where we were. We were in a position where we could’ve just taken that game over right then and there. And instead . . . we went back to where we were — down two scores and the clock running out.”
*On possible lineup changes this week:
“Yeah, I think so. Whether we do them or not remains to be seen as we go through the week. But there could be some adjustments to the lineup, for sure.”
*On other possible changes:
“I’ll tell you what: we could flip-flop, practice at midnight and sleep during the day. We could eat baloney sandwiches on Wednesday, penalize the team for not playing very good. We could try all that stuff. But the bottom line is how we play on Sunday and what we do when we get in those moments in the game that are going to decide our fate. That’s really nothing else you can do.”
All for now . . .
Mr. Linehan must go and so must Mr. Zygmunt. Was Bryan Burwell right about Jay signing free agents because he liked their agents? Let’s give Duvaney a shout at turning this around.
I know you think I’m crazy but the Rams have talent, thats not the problem. The problem seems to be Preparation and desire which lands in the lap of the coaching staff. The inerior of the Rams offensive line had terrible technique. They lounged alot and let the D line men go right around them and b-line to the QB. Bulger is a brave man. if they get the O lpne fixed they’ll be ok. The Offense is starting to come around, they have some innovative plays and good personell in Bulger, Jackson, Holt Mcmichael and Looker. The Defense is small which usually means they play fast. But the Rams defense is totally opposite. They play awfully slow as if their thinking about where they should be instead of old fashion just flying to the ball. Hasslet must Go! I have NFL Sunday ticket and watched a lot of games on Sunday. I saw players sacrifice their bodies in order to make plays for their team. The Rams have a few players such as Bulger, Jackson, Holt, McMichael, and Looker on “O” and Bartlell, Long,Glover, J. Hall and Chavous(Even though he cant tackle he tries). The other guys act as if their saving it for something else. I think a coaching change is necessary to get the most out of this team. Linehan and Hasslet must go now.
nobody ever questions Pace! no heart no desire,he screws th whole show up!
i wish they had an immediate answer for all the problems, but there are too many glaring needs. Linehan is not the only problem but you gotta start somewhere, usually at the top. They play with no intensity or heart.
Dennis, so far the only O-lineman without a false-start penalty is Pace. He’s probably getting a little long in the tooth and I think he definitely owes us some big-time blocks for the past 2 years I think he’s one of the ones who actually seems to care and wants to do something. He can’t do it all himself, though. The best thing you can say about Orlando is that you haven’t heard his name during either of the games, which is good for an O-Lineman.
Scared to lose? I have never heard of a good coach that was scared to lose. Walsh, Parcells, Lombardi they weren’t scared to lose. They got angry when they lost, but they never got scared. Fear has no place in a football team nor in it’s coach. Linehan needs to go…NOW.
Isn’t it amazing, Linehan states now that 2 years ago when he took over the team with the players that were in place, they used to finish the game great but now, not so much. He’s so lost I don’t know if he thinks he’s coming or going. Hopefully he’s going because by his earlier statement it’s clear that the team has simply gotten worse since he took over.
If we somehow fix our O-line problems I think it would be a really good start. I like Linehan’s idea about feeding the players bologna sandwiches on Wednesday but I think he should take it one step further and starve the O-line. I think that Pace does not deserve that treatment, but you have to punish them as a team if you want them to play as a team. Pace should do some of his famous pancake blocks to his own O-line teammates until they learn how to do their job.
Oh, and one more thought…I know it is supposed to be the coach’s job to prepare his team for game day, but there should be no question of motivation on behalf of the players. That is the players’ responsibility to show up ready to play their best game. If they need some help finding motivation I would like to point out the fact that even the lowest paid player on the team - even the practice squad players - make several times more money than the average person in the United States.
Let’s see what kind of motivation these players have when winning and losing makes the difference between putting food on the table and going hungry. For those who think I am being facetious I am not. Just ask any former NFL player whose career was shortened due to lack of motivation. I think you will find that they are out here in the real world worrying about that very thing like the rest of us.
That is why I admire Kurt Warner. He worked at a grocery store and knows how fortunate he is and he NEVER has his motivation in question.
Wow, all this talk is very reminiscent of LA Ram fans right before they packed their bags and headed to St. Louie. Read between the lines.