Joe Gibbs Last Quotations

I was starting all over. It's a tough road up here and last year, for whatever reason, I probably deserved it (the criticism).

Last year we saw rookies play extremely well at quarterback, and they beat us; Pittsburgh beat us soundly.

From Mark's standpoint, when he was playing last year we weren't as good certainly as we are now, ... I think we're better now. And hopefully that will prove out to be the case.

When he played last year, personnel-wise we weren't as good as we are now.

He has fantastic long-ball, and ball reactions, ... Very few people can snatch a ball right out of the air like that quick. And then the other thing, he's got a great burst, and when you get him going downfield and put in the ball reaction, he can be running, I think, and doesn't even put his hands up until the last second because he has such confidence there in where the ball is. Even though he's a shorter receiver, I think he's very much a downfield threat because of that, and then, of course, he's got great speed.

His role hasn't changed. He's an important part of what we do. The last week or two we haven't been very successful on offense. He's a big part of what we do, and he's in every pass play, and we'd like to get him the ball as much as we can.

He's frustrated with the situation over the last couple years.

I think he feels more pressure the second year to get better, ... We definitely don't want to repeat last year. No one does here.

I think it's a confidence thing, hopefully, ... and I think the guys believe. They know what you're capable off. Certainly, I think our play has stepped up as we've kind of gone here. Hopefully, it carries over. Last year was so hard for us. We couldn't get a big play like we've had in these games. We just couldn't get a big one when we had to have it.

We certainly accomplished a lot this year. We were 6-10 last year, and the facts speak for themselves this year. We got a lot of good things done.

We'd had three tough losses in a row and everybody was down. I think our players said to themselves: 'Our backs are up against the wall and we've got no other option other than just to win, and if we lose another game we're probably out.' So they kind of took it as this last stand, and it was that way every week . . .somehow we found a way to win those last five.

Being what we are, human beings, the natural tendency is that when everybody brags about you, they write good things, you kind of read about it and you back off a little bit. We couldn't play with them last time.

The good thing about it is the cast covers his thumb but your fingers are out, ... He played extremely well with one last week and I asked him, 'Hey, does it bother you?' And he said, 'Not really.' So that's good.

We always want to get him in the game plan. We always want to get him the ball. Last week against Dallas, he only had three catches, but they were all big. He was one of the keys to us offensively and we try to work hard to get him the ball.

You hate to see him go through something like this, ... and we have to go through it, so it's a tough deal. But I think we've just got to deal with it. His injury this time, they said if last year was a 10, this year is a 2. It's not nearly as bad.

We had so many injuries last year. I was kind of praying that we'd be much more in a good-health situation when we got to the regular season.

The thing about Ray is, he's not going to panic. He's been around forever. He was able to play tackle for us last year and now he's come in to play guard. He's a pretty unusual person. He's been given a great body, but with Ray, it's also about character.

When Mark was playing last year, we weren't as good personnel-wise as we are now.

You're always nervous about (losing Taylor). It would be real struggle for us (without him). I know what Sean says happened and what his group says happened. I think he is concerned about it and I think he felt like there is not much he can do about it now. He's kind of put it in other people's hands. You look a guy that big and that mature-looking and (you forget that) he's really young. He was real cooperative, much more open and friendly last year, and I think he had a heck of a year. I think he genuinely thought about (skipping the 2005 off-season workout program) and won't make some of those mistakes.

I'm just happy for him that he is playing well, ... A lot of times up here you go through tough things. At any one time in the NFL, you're going to have a number of players on a team who are going through tough situations. A lot of times the way they handle it is a measure of someone's character. I think that was Mark's situation last year and Patrick's situation now. The way you go through the tough times leads you to improvement and great performance in the future. It's a test of character when you go through that.

I like it that after that first Monday, it's all Sundays until the last Saturday, but I think they should have a rule that if you play on Monday night, you should get to play at home the next week.

No. I think I know what his feeling is and he knows ours. He's a very important guy and we've invested a lot in him. But we can say he's frustrated with the situation over the last couple years with us. We've had a good game plan talking things over and we're moving ahead with it and we'll see where it ends. I wouldn't have a guess if something is going to work out or not.

If you make a lot of yards and you turn the ball over, then you don't score points, ... So that's a tough lesson to learn. Maybe I'm looking at the good side of it Maybe it's good we get the lesson now. Last year, we started out the season and that's exactly what haunted us -- we turned the ball over and right now we're next to last in the league in terms of giveaways and takeaways.

In order to have a great rivalry, ... you've got to have two teams that are beating each other, and it's been one-sided. So I don't know. I can't speak for the rivalry part of it, but certainly we haven't been doing our part is the best way of putting it. And I think they're a much improved football team over last year from what I've seen on film. I think they've got a new system there on defense, and they're obviously very, very well-coached, and I have great respect there for Coach Parcells.

I'll probably address this for the last time,

He's tough-minded. He's got a tough, disciplined way of doing things, ... I know from going against him out here, it's extremely tough. You've got to be ready for a little of everything. It's a scheme I admire. You've got to have a lot of admiration for what they did last year. A new staff, third best in the league stat-wise, and we didn't do what we should do on offense to support him.

He's tough-minded. He's got a tough, disciplined way of doing things. I know from going against him out here, it's extremely tough. You've got to be ready for a little of everything. It's a scheme I admire. You've got to have a lot of admiration for what they did last year. A new staff, third best in the league stat-wise, and we didn't do what we should do on offense to support him.

All three games came down to the last play,

We wish the last two years had been smoother. We wish there had been no injuries. We wish he could have played more and played back to the standard where he wanted to be. I know he was totally frustrated by it.

He's got a great burst. He can be running, and he doesn't even put his hands up until the last second because he's got such confidence. Even though he's a shorter receiver, he's very much a downfield threat because of that.