Transcripts of conference calls by St. Louis' Jeff Fisher and Sam Bradford with Jets reporters on Wednesday morning:
RAMS HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER
On his impressions of working with Brian Schottenheimer…
My impressions, he's doing an outstanding job. I was very excited initially that he was available. We hit the ground running and he's been a big influence of the early turnaround of this football team.
On how Schottenheimer has helped Sam Bradford…
He has a great relationship with Sam. The two of them have spent a lot of time together. Sam has a very good feel for what we're trying to do. Brian and Sam are on the same page all the time during the ballgame. I think Sam is only going to get better and better.
On the Jets' use of Tim Tebow…
It's their call, their right to use him however they choose. He's a potential threat, a different kind of threat with the way they use him offensively from week to week — you probably hear that from everybody. It's something we have to prepare for. You have to spend time and be very prepared for the differences between the two quarterbacks.
On the amount of time spent preparing for Sunday's game…
We're just on day one of the work week. We're going to prepare our defense, but how much time we spend, that's confidential, that's our own business. The way the league is, we spent time on it last week with the young quarterback at San Francisco [Colin Kaepernick], and he's a fine player. Week to week, you have to remind your players that we potentially may get some of this offense and this is what we're going to do if it happens.
On what has impressed him about Schottenheimer…
His knowledge, his experience and the success he had there at New York. When you're putting together a new football team, you have to do it and developing a young talented quarterback like Sam, you have to first start with the run game. I think statistically, the Jets' run production over the years while Brian was there speaks for itself.
On if he was surprised the Jets parted ways with Schottenheimer…
What I was excited about was that he was available. What happened in the past is the past. Brian has moved on, we've moved on together and we have a great staff, we have a great working relationship. We expect to have a lot of success in the future.
On Wayne Hunter's performance…
Wayne came in and was very excited to be here. Obviously, it didn't take him very long to refamiliarize himself with the offense. He came in and helped us when we needed help. We missed him for a couple of weeks, but he's back now at 100 percent. He's a very enthusiastic, fun-loving guy that loves to practice. He's just having fun here.
On running fake punts…
Well, I think it's a philosophy. It's a philosophy that I obviously shared with our special teams coach because we've been known to do things like that in the past. There are teams that will put a fake punt in and they'll practice it once a week and the players know that they are going to call it. And there are teams that are going to install things and the players know they'd better be prepared to execute because it very likely will get called, and I think that's the approach we have here.
On acquiring Hunter…
Wayne is versatile. He can play left, he can play right, he can play guard. He's big, strong, physical. We're committed to rebuilding this offensive line and we needed depth. We've been through some injuries here thus far. This year we've got everybody back now except for Scott [Wells], so we feel like, like I said, Wayne gives us experience. He also has, in the past, played in the tight end position, reported eligible and the goal line thing, so he just gives us a big guy that we can trust.
On if it was tough losing Jason Smith…
No, we know this was a good for all four parties, for Jason, for Wayne, for the Rams and for the Jets, and that's why we did it.
On bringing in Schottenheimer…
I brought Brian in for a lot of different reasons, those that I spoke of earlier. His experience, the success that he had, his communication skills, everything that I heard about him is true and more. And he also is very gifted as far as the relationship with the quarterback. In addition to that, there's a quarterback coach involved, we've got an excellent one here. The three of them, along with the other two quarterbacks, get along very well.
On sizing up the Jets wide receivers…
Well, they're productive, young, but productive with different types of abilities. You've got guys with a run-after-catch ability, you've got good route runners, and I think that they've probably been unfairly criticized because this is a group that can make plays. I've been very, very impressed with Stephen Hill early on. He's going to be a very good player. And [Jeremy] Kerley's making plays. So the group can make plays, and it's just a matter of getting the football to them.
On if Schottenheimer's familiarity gives him an advantage…
Obviously, he's familiar, but he does pay close attention to what they do there. They change things weekly. They do some very unique and difficult things to attack.
RAMS QB SAM BRADFORD
On working with offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer…
I've really enjoyed working with Schotty. It's been great getting to know him, learning his system. I think he's really helped me in the fact this year that he's very detailed in everything that he does. He coaches me hard on little things, he never lets anything slide by and I think that's been something I haven't had in the past couple years. With him and Cig [Frank Cignetti] coaching me, it seems like they're always on me about something. They help me elevate my level of play.
On if Mark Sanchez might be distracted by Tim Tebow…
I'm not there. I don't know what that situation is like, but wherever you are in the league, you're going to have a backup. That's just part of the game. I've never had a distraction in my couple of years here, so I really can't speak on that because I don't know what that's like.
On Schottenheimer's greatest attribute…
I think Schotty's greatest thing is just his attention to detail. His game plan each week, the way he coaches me, the way he coaches the offense, he's very detailed. He holds everyone accountable to know all the small details and all the finer points. I think that's great and I've really enjoyed being around him.
On if Schottenheimer has made them a better offense this season…
Absolutely. I feel better with what we're doing at this point in the year than I did last year. Obviously, we had a lockout last year, which made things tough on everyone, but I think Schotty's done a great job coming in here and adapting to the personnel that we have yet still running his offense and what he knows.
On if having Schottenheimer is an advantage…
Obviously, it helps. The fact that he was up there and he knows, but at the same time I'm sure that everyone in New York realizes that, so they're not going to come out and play the same way that we expect them to play. I'm sure that they're going to have some new wrinkles. I think it helps with overall insight and information but at the same time we have to be prepared for the new things that they're going to throw at us on Sunday.
On if Schottenheimer has mentioned anything about wanting to beat his old team…
No, he hasn't.
On if he thinks Schottenheimer wants to beat the Jets because it's his old team…
Yeah, I mean, I'm sure anyone that leaves a team and goes to a new team, I think anytime you have an opportunity to play your old team, you want to beat them. But at the same time, it's one of our 16 regular season games. He's treated it just like any other game week. We set out to win each and every week and I think that's the way he's approached this week.
On if the team wants to win this one for Coach Schottenheimer…
Yeah, obviously, like I said earlier, we set out each and every week to win. That's our goal. I think first and foremost we want to win because that's who we are and what we do but at the same time getting to know Schotty over the past couple months, I think it would be nice for us to help him out and bring this one home for him.
