SmootSmack
07-23-2009, 04:32 PM
Chris Cooley was on Colin Cowherd's show today. You can hear the interview at espnradio.com but I did a little transcribing of some of the key points (not word for word)
Cooley: I think Jason's fine, halfway through the year no one is going to feel sorry for the guy. He's really prepared. Yeah he's gone through some stuff and it's been a little bit tough with ownership but the players are behind him, the coaches are behind him. I think he'll have an outstanding season
Cowherd: He struggled at the end of last season. Why?
Cooley: We struggled as an entire offense. Obviously Jason was part of it. We had a lot of injuries up front with the line. The pressure he dealt with was terrible. We didn't run the ball very well. We weren't making big plays for him
Cowherd: You were also losing to Pittsburgh, Giants, Baltimore..you were losing close games to good teams. What's the one area you'll be better at this year than last?
Cooley: 2nd year in our offense, I feel more comfortable. Campbell and Zorn more comfortable. We'll be better all around. You look at last year. Philly and Arizona in the NFC Championship, both teams we beat. But we also lost to the Rams and we lost to the Bengals. So we win those two games and we're in the playoffs. You have to beat St. Louis at home. And the way Cincinnati was playing all last year, you have to be able to go to Cincy and beat them.
Cowherd: Jason Campbell, it should be noted, made a lot of big plays in both Philadelphia wins. Have you talked to him about any of the offseason stuff?
Cooley: Yeah, we did. We went to lunch a couple of times right before OTAs started. Initially he was dealing with it fine. And he was in with Zorn and he was saying "Your our guy. We're behind you." But towards the end, especially with the Sanchez talk, Jason became frustrated and he should have. And everyone said how well he dealt with it, but I was actually proud that he said "Listen, you bring in Sanchez and I'm not going to be your guy then I want out of here." And I think that's the right thing for him to do. He had to take a stand at some point. When that went away, he's such a team guy he just took back over as the QB and he's the guy for the job.
Cowherd: Season around the corner, brutal NFC East. Who do you consider your rival?
Cooley: Well, I think it goes both ways. For the fans and for what gets the most hype it's definitely Dallas. The atmosphere is crazy around DC when we play Dallas. For us Dallas is a big game of course, but New York and Philadelphia are both extremely tough and they have been since I joined the Redskins so all three of those teams are really big rivals for me. And for us to make the playoffs, we got to win more than half of those games.
Cooley: I think Jason's fine, halfway through the year no one is going to feel sorry for the guy. He's really prepared. Yeah he's gone through some stuff and it's been a little bit tough with ownership but the players are behind him, the coaches are behind him. I think he'll have an outstanding season
Cowherd: He struggled at the end of last season. Why?
Cooley: We struggled as an entire offense. Obviously Jason was part of it. We had a lot of injuries up front with the line. The pressure he dealt with was terrible. We didn't run the ball very well. We weren't making big plays for him
Cowherd: You were also losing to Pittsburgh, Giants, Baltimore..you were losing close games to good teams. What's the one area you'll be better at this year than last?
Cooley: 2nd year in our offense, I feel more comfortable. Campbell and Zorn more comfortable. We'll be better all around. You look at last year. Philly and Arizona in the NFC Championship, both teams we beat. But we also lost to the Rams and we lost to the Bengals. So we win those two games and we're in the playoffs. You have to beat St. Louis at home. And the way Cincinnati was playing all last year, you have to be able to go to Cincy and beat them.
Cowherd: Jason Campbell, it should be noted, made a lot of big plays in both Philadelphia wins. Have you talked to him about any of the offseason stuff?
Cooley: Yeah, we did. We went to lunch a couple of times right before OTAs started. Initially he was dealing with it fine. And he was in with Zorn and he was saying "Your our guy. We're behind you." But towards the end, especially with the Sanchez talk, Jason became frustrated and he should have. And everyone said how well he dealt with it, but I was actually proud that he said "Listen, you bring in Sanchez and I'm not going to be your guy then I want out of here." And I think that's the right thing for him to do. He had to take a stand at some point. When that went away, he's such a team guy he just took back over as the QB and he's the guy for the job.
Cowherd: Season around the corner, brutal NFC East. Who do you consider your rival?
Cooley: Well, I think it goes both ways. For the fans and for what gets the most hype it's definitely Dallas. The atmosphere is crazy around DC when we play Dallas. For us Dallas is a big game of course, but New York and Philadelphia are both extremely tough and they have been since I joined the Redskins so all three of those teams are really big rivals for me. And for us to make the playoffs, we got to win more than half of those games.