Zorn Press Conference overview

frankcal20 · Post by **frankcal20** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:42 pm

Here is an update on Zorn's press conference:

Haynesworth - Strained Glut. Is in Nashville handling a personal matter.

- Didn't win the 1 on 1 battle in coverage. They maxed protect on the line and QB had a lot of time to make the throws. Not enough pressure. His best plays were run.

- Team is getting better but not seeing it in wins. Expectations are still high in DC and there is pressure.

- 2008 is gone. Not going to talk about that. Only going to focus on this year.

- Zorn didn't really speak with Snyder after the game.

- Locker room is ok. Captains are controlling things and keeping the team together. Focusing on the positives - not negatives.

- Teams identity - it's just a loss - a big one. Going to push along, regroup and push hard again.

- Hall said team had more fight last year than this years. Zorn doesn't have a problem with that statement.

- Zorn is being REAL with the team. Doesn't need to yell or play psyco. game with players. Just show what happened and make changes/adjustments to be better next week.

- final drive - why pass plays in the middle of the field. Hook & ladder was designed to go after their defense with two WR's on their defense.

- CP was kicked in the calf. That's why Rock was in the game. Had a great game blocking. Team was gassed that's why Rock was in.

- Reinhart - had great run blocking. didn't affect play calling. will see what happens this week with a new team next week. He did enough to earn a start next week. no evaluation yet and hasn't spoke with Buges.

- Coming into the season are we getting what he wanted from the WR's - Not where Zorn would want from DT and MK. ARE has been great. Moss showed up. Improving and Malcolm needs to improve playing speed. He's fast enough though.

- Are players as good as they think they are? Coaches really examine offensively why they don't score TDs. There is enough talent but are coaches putting the guys in the right spot for opportunity and then it's up to the players to get the job done.

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Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:53 pm

Zorn: Teams identity - it's just a loss

Anybody but me see a problem here?

Chris Luva Luva · Post by **Chris Luva Luva** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:54 pm

It was so boring. He's showing how unqualified he is for this gig.

CanesSkins26 · Post by **CanesSkins26** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:56 pm

Chris Luva Luva wrote:It was so boring. He's showing how unqualified he is for this gig.

QFT. He is in so far over his head. He needs to be gone after the season.

KazooSkinsFan · Post by **KazooSkinsFan** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 12:57 pm

Countertrey wrote:Zorn: Teams identity - it's just a loss

Anybody but me see a problem here?

I know what you're saying, but I'm not sure what else he's supposed to say. Either he has some answers to our problems or he doesn't. What he says won't change anything, we need to see it on the field. But it's hard to escape that yesterday was a disappointment in pretty much every conceivable way.

SKINFAN · Post by **SKINFAN** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:00 pm

- Zorn is being REAL with the team. Doesn't need to yell or play psyco. game with players. Just show what happened and make changes/adjustments to be better next week.

This to me is GLARING... It's cool that everyone is an adult, treat them as they are but this MAY be the reason there is no FIRE in the players. I know Zorn's from the PACNW but dang, stop with this hippie crap and treat them like football players.

Paralis · Post by **Paralis** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:02 pm

Zorn's in a no-win situation. He can't blame the players and he can't blame the management. He doesn't have the weight to win any of these battles over roster construction, and he doesn't have the experience to even begin to try and coach around, say, the inability to run right.

So he shows up to work every day and does the right things and says the right things. Because even though he's going to get fired and everybody knows it, the bigger question is where he'll land next. And the determining factor there is how much of this mess he's willing to own.

I don't think Zorn has shown he has what it takes to be an NFL head coach, but I don't think he deserves this.

Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:06 pm

cleg · Post by **cleg** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 1:21 pm

Paralis wrote:Zorn's in a no-win situation. He can't blame the players and he can't blame the management. He doesn't have the weight to win any of these battles over roster construction, and he doesn't have the experience to even begin to try and coach around, say, the inability to run right.

So he shows up to work every day and does the right things and says the right things. Because even though he's going to get fired and everybody knows it, the bigger question is where he'll land next. And the determining factor there is how much of this mess he's willing to own.

I don't think Zorn has shown he has what it takes to be an NFL head coach, but I don't think he deserves this.

You're right. But he accepted this type of critisim when he accepted the head coaching job of the Washington Redskins. I know he probably felt it was worth a try and he thought he could pull it off but he is overmatched and does not have the right personality for the HC position.

This team basically needs to rebuild - a new QB, a new O line, new receivers. How they do that without a couple more years like this is anyones guess.

MEZZSKIN · Post by **MEZZSKIN** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:30 pm

you know what I miss.....

GIbbs press conferences...God how mundane they could be sometimes...But it had ALOT OF accountability!!!

REMEMBER WHEN HE APOLIGIZED TO FANS DURING THAT BAD 2006 YEAR right before they benched Brunell

Remember when he would say--"This ones on me ...I take full responsibility"....After Almost every loss he said that...and at times we fans got on him for not making changes to his pressers

WHATS CLEAR NOW ....was that was a HOF'er's way of stepping up and taking the accountability by the horns..Team always responded to him later in the year...they fought for him ...They didny want Gibbs taking 100 percent flak every week

fast Foward to ZORN AND JC........did these two Mutants ever once! take blame and say....ITS ON ME ...buck stops here!

NEVER..and thats why this team doesnt play for either

TincoSkin · Post by **TincoSkin** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 2:33 pm

- Zorn didn't really speak with Snyder after the game.

does this mean he talked to him and doesnt want to talk about it? or he didnt talk to him? maybe he talked to him but didnt really TALK to him

portis26 · Post by **portis26** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 3:01 pm

Zorn actually had the guts to say Clinton had a good game. He rushed for 42 yards and got stuffed on the 1 in his only meaningful carry.

frankcal20 · Post by **frankcal20** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 5:01 pm

Portis didn't follow his blockers on that play. Also, he's lost the ability to stay on his feet. If you touch Portis' ankle, he goes down every time.

skinsfan#33 · Post by **skinsfan#33** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 8:00 pm

frankcal20 wrote:Portis didn't follow his blockers on that play. Also, he's lost the ability to stay on his feet. If you touch Portis' ankle, he goes down every time.

I'm tired of him gutting it out!!! I don't want him back on the field until he is 100%. Play Betts (as long as stopping the clock isn't important - then equipment manager should take his helmet so he can't think of going back into the game). How about Rock and Aldrige getting some carriers.

Not that it relates, but I wouuld drop Dev Thom to 5th and start playing Marko.

(Polo!)

Mississippi Hog · Post by **Mississippi Hog** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:40 pm

I really think that one of the biggest problems is that Zorn refuses to admit that his play calling has been an issue. He continues to say, "We have to execute." "It was the right call." Sometimes you have to admit that you have been outcoached, and that you made a bad decision. Sometimes, you can execute all day long, but if you make the wrong calls, you will not win the game.

BTW, did anybody notice that Betts did not even try to pitch the ball back on the hook and ladder? He just tried to drive through. It may not have worked anyway, but he could have helped it carry on a little longer by turning and pitching it.

Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 9:45 pm

Mississippi Hog wrote:
BTW, did anybody notice that Betts did not even try to pitch the ball back on the hook and ladder? He just tried to drive through. It may not have worked anyway, but he could have helped it carry on a little longer by turning and pitching it.

Yes.

I don't know... it should not have needed to come down to a play of pure desperation. Can't blame Betts for that...

Champsturf · Post by **Champsturf** » Mon Sep 28, 2009 11:58 pm

Countertrey wrote:
Mississippi Hog wrote:
BTW, did anybody notice that Betts did not even try to pitch the ball back on the hook and ladder? He just tried to drive through. It may not have worked anyway, but he could have helped it carry on a little longer by turning and pitching it.

Yes.

I don't know... it should not have needed to come down to a play of pure desperation. Can't blame Betts for that...

Sure you can. It was the play called and you don't try to get the first down there, which is exactly all he did. I hated the play call, but if that's what's called and the ALMIGHTY zorn will bench youif you audible, then screw it...run the stupid play and try to make it work...not dive while being tackled to get the first down. Bench his arse! Put Aldridge in as the change of pace back.

CanesSkins26 · Post by **CanesSkins26** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 12:13 am

Champsturf wrote:
Countertrey wrote:
Mississippi Hog wrote:
BTW, did anybody notice that Betts did not even try to pitch the ball back on the hook and ladder? He just tried to drive through. It may not have worked anyway, but he could have helped it carry on a little longer by turning and pitching it.

Yes.

I don't know... it should not have needed to come down to a play of pure desperation. Can't blame Betts for that...
Sure you can. It was the play called and you don't try to get the first down there, which is exactly all he did. I hated the play call, but if that's what's called and the ALMIGHTY zorn will bench youif you audible, then screw it...run the stupid play and try to make it work...not dive while being tackled to get the first down. Bench his arse! Put Aldridge in as the change of pace back.

I've had enough of Betts. For two straight weeks he fails to run out of bounds with around 2 minutes left in the game.

Manchester_Redskin · Post by **Manchester_Redskin** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:06 am

I found this article on Yahoo sports ...

Redskins players, Zorn see big picture differently

By JOSEPH WHITE, AP Sports Writer 13 hours, 49 minutes ago

ASHBURN, Va. (AP)—The scene was surreal, showing signs of a disconnect between players and coach.

On the day after the Washington Redskins infamously became the team that broke the Detroit Lions’ losing streak, veterans spent 45 minutes or so in the locker room expressing big picture concerns—attitude, approach, overconfidence, unity, identity—stuff that goes beyond executing the Xs and Os in a game plan.

Minutes later, coach Jim Zorn stood behind his lectern for his weekly news conference. He downplayed his players’ comments, put a premium on the need to “fine-tune” the Xs and Os and declared: “In the big picture, I think things are progressing.”

Coach in denial? Or just a coach on the hot seat determined to stay calm and stay the course, even as questions about his job security continue to mount.

For the record, the big picture, at least as of this week, shows the Redskins settling among the dregs of the NFL, losing to the Lions after winning without a touchdown over the St. Louis Rams. If nothing else, according to linebacker London Fletcher(notes), this should put an end to any thoughts among his teammates about the Redskins being “one of the elite teams” in the NFL.

“Maybe guys tend to think that, and that you can just show up,” Fletcher said. “That’s not the case. We’re struggling to win ballgames. We’re going to be in tough ballgames, week-in and week-out.

“We’re not a great football team—never have been since I’ve been here— and it hasn’t been in a long time, since, what, the ’80s? It’s been a long time since the Redskins have had a great football team. We have to come in here with a workmanlike attitude, with the mindset that we must work to win.”

Or, as cornerback DeAngelo Hall(notes) put it: “We’ve got a lot of people in here that think they’re better than they are. You can look at it and tell. They’re not practicing. This isn’t the preseason; this is the real deal.”

What was stunning for some players is that this was a team that was booed off its own field a week earlier against the Rams—yet was unable to channel the anger or frustration from that moment into a determined effort with league-wide humiliation on the line.

“It’s surprising to me that we as a team couldn’t come out and pound and jump on these guys from start to finish,” Hall said. “It puzzles me, too. I’m mind-boggled as well.”

While the coach plays a major role in setting such a tone, there’s something to be said about the overall culture established in 10 years of Dan Snyder’s ownership. Interestingly, the last three coaches he has hired—including Zorn— have gone 9-10 in their first 19 games. And, of all games—at a time when his team needed to be focused to the max—Snyder picked Sunday to have movie star pal Tom Cruise hobnobbing on the field with Zorn and others before kickoff.

“As a team we’re not going to point fingers and say this guy wasn’t ready, that guy wasn’t ready. WE weren’t ready,” cornerback Fred Smoot(notes) said. “Individuals don’t win championships, don’t win playoff games. Teams do. That’s what we’ve got to do. We’ve got to become a team.”

When the locker room doors were shut and it came Zorn’s turn to speak, it sounded almost as if he were coaching some other team.

Are there some big-issue problems that go beyond blocking, running and tackling?

“I don’t believe there is,” Zorn answered. “In the big picture, I think things are progressing. We’re getting better. It’s not coming in the win. We’re going to continue to press on and take care of those details.”

Asked to react to the specific comments from his veterans, he attributed them to the natural thoughts that run through players’ minds.

“After a big loss like that, I can imagine, there’s a lot of things that go on through guys’ minds,” he said. “Thoughts. It is a thought. I don’t have that thought. We’re going to push right along, regroup, and I think our guys are resilient and I think they’ll come back.”

Does he think he could lose the locker room?

“I would be really surprised,” he said. “I think we have excellent men in that locker room. I think we have great captains. They handle a lot of that stuff. Our captains are doing a wonderful job of keeping our guys together.”

What does Zorn plan to say to the team this week?

“I will be real to them,” Zorn said. “I don’t need to yell at a bunch of men to say ‘Come on guys, let’s really go now.’ Or I don’t need to try to play a psychological game with them either. The thing that I’d like to show them is what actually happened, regroup and then make some changes if necessary, some fine-tune adjustments as we go on to next week.”

tribeofjudah · Post by **tribeofjudah** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 7:59 am

Zorn spoke to Chick from Comcast. Zorn says that D practiced a particular play to stop Lions on 3rd downs.....they practiced it ALL WEEK LONG. And yet the Lion ran that 3rd down play 3x and converted each.

How do you practice to stop a play all week long and still, when it happens, the team looks like a "deer in the headlights" as if they've NEVER seen it....???

That's execution.........NOT Zorn, imo

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:18 am

From that article:

“Maybe guys tend to think that, and that you can just show up,” Fletcher said. “That’s not the case. We’re struggling to win ballgames. We’re going to be in tough ballgames, week-in and week-out.

“We’re not a great football team—never have been since I’ve been here— and it hasn’t been in a long time, since, what, the ’80s? It’s been a long time since the Redskins have had a great football team. We have to come in here with a workmanlike attitude, with the mindset that we must work to win.”

I do not know about the players ... yet.

But Zorn lost me as a fan. I give up on the guy as HC.

It is during tough times that a leader shows competence and accountability. He has shown none on the field, on the locker room and press conferences. He is in denial.

This is worse than I ever imagined. I was misled by that 6 - 2 start last season. It was a fluke.

USAFSkinFan · Post by **USAFSkinFan** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 8:47 am

I'm just happy to hear we're getting better... after 3 horrible lack-lusteer performances, I thought I had a reason to worry... color me relieved...

Countertrey · Post by **Countertrey** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:02 am

Redskin in Canada wrote:I do not know about the players ... yet.

But Zorn lost me as a fan. I give up on the guy as HC.

It is during tough times that a leader shows competence and accountability. He has shown none on the field, on the locker room and press conferences. He is in denial.

This is worse than I ever imagined. I was misled by that 6 - 2 start last season. It was a fluke.

You aren't alone, my friend.

CanesSkins26 · Post by **CanesSkins26** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 9:39 am

But Zorn lost me as a fan. I give up on the guy as HC.

It is during tough times that a leader shows competence and accountability. He has shown none on the field, on the locker room and press conferences. He is in denial.

QFT. I'm done with him as well. See is so far in over his head that he has lost touch with reality. Up until today I was thinking that it would be a mistake to fire him during the season, but at this point the idea of firing Zorn and making Blache interim HC sounds rather appealing.

Redskin in Canada · Post by **Redskin in Canada** » Tue Sep 29, 2009 12:20 pm

CanesSkins26 wrote:
But Zorn lost me as a fan. I give up on the guy as HC.

It is during tough times that a leader shows competence and accountability. He has shown none on the field, on the locker room and press conferences. He is in denial.

QFT. I'm done with him as well. See is so far in over his head that he has lost touch with reality. Up until today I was thinking that it would be a mistake to fire him during the season, but at this point the idea of firing Zorn and making Blache interim HC sounds rather appealing.

Unless the FO decided to make Blache the HC for at least the next season or two, it would be suicide to get rid of Zorn throughout the regular season.

No self-respecting coach would take a job from Snyder. Still, no self-respecting individual might even under different circumstances but that is another story.