ESPN NFL

Posted by ESPN.com's Bill Williamson

Here are samplings of Chargers coach Norv Turner and Broncos coach Mike Shanahan from their Monday press conferences:

Norv Turner
Opening Statements:
"I'll give you an injury update from the standpoint of anything that's new. I think the guys who have been hurt and been on the list are making strides and are getting better so I won't bore you with all that. Luis Castillo has a little bit of a bicep strain, Chris Chambers is making progress. Darren Sproles has an ankle sprain and Jyles Tucker is making progress. Eric Weddle has a strain in his shoulder. Right now I would not expect any of that to keep any of those guys from missing. The guys that haven't been playing-Jyles and Chris- that will be day to day as we go through the week and see how they are.

"When we met in here last week the one thing I talked about was that I thought we needed to play better in all three phases. That's something I think we were able to accomplish. One of the things we thought we needed to do was to be a more physical team and I think we did that. I think our kick-off coverage set a tempo for that. We talked all week long about the match up, the teams that have played well against New England, the match up of the defensive front against our offensive line, teams had won that match up that had played New England close while beating New England and I certainly think that was a match up that went in our favor. We talked all week to our players about the match up of our wide receivers against their secondary, particularly their corners. We thought that was a match up that was in our favor and that was certainly one that was to our advantage. We've been talking about being a more complete team, playing a more complete game and we did better. We're not where we want to be but we did better. There's critical situations, there's critical times rising up and doing something exceptional and I thought that's what we did on the goal line stand. We had great efforts- Jamal Williams got a lot of attention because of his plays down there but I thought we got great efforts from everyone who was down in there both in coverage and in the physical part of defending the run."

Are you closer to the offensive consistency you're looking for after the performance last night?
"The one thing that we just need to keep growing and getting better, and that happens keeping consistency of the same guys in there, not only the entire game but in Wednesday, Thursday, Friday in practice. We had fewer guys miss practice last week than any week but the one thing about it is that we've been a big play team all season. In most of our games we've made big plays. We're still looking for more consistency offensively in terms of continuing to run the ball better and being more consistent with our third down conversions."

Did getting that big play off the bat relax the team and make them play better?
"I don't know if that emotion relaxes you or gets you excited, making a big play early like that, its no question. You want production. The week before in Miami we kind of had a methodical drive that ended like this drive did with a field goal. I think that one of the things that we know and we have to do is that we have to play great at home and we have to win our home games if we're going to be a play off team that's the number one thing we have to do. Now we have to find a way to go win on the road."

Does it make you happy that two of your wide receivers were out and you were still able to put 30 on the board?
"Vincent Jackson has grown so much over the last year and a half and I think everyone saw it half way through the year. He's just playing with such great confidence and Philip has such a good feel for him. Philip has always had a good feel for Malcom and he's kind of been the forgotten guy for a number of reasons. He had an outstanding camp and plays a similar style to Chris Chambers and Chris has been so productive that we haven't used Malcom but Malcom stepped up big and we're going to find a way to use him. We're going to find a way to include him in the game with Chambers and with Vincent Jackson, the three of them in the game together."

Do you think that the few games coming up are going to be even tougher than what you've seen so far?
"We have one game coming up. I've never had to play a doubleheader in this league. We go to Buffalo and play Buffalo. Buffalo is a tough place to play, they're playing extremely well. They're 4-1. They're explosive, they've got great speed guys, they're a very physical run defense and it's going to be a challenge. There's a reason they are 4-1 and we're going to have to get ready to play like we did last night, play our best football."

Did you feel that if you could get on top of New England it would be difficult for them to come back with Cassel at quarterback rather than Brady?
"I think that you always want to get ahead. If you get ahead you limit the things the other team can do. They became a one dimensional team. Their backs were hurt and they weren't playing so we felt that's what they would want to do- throw the football more. The goal line stand, getting ahead, whatever the things were that gave us an opportunity to get ahead, no question. If you make a team one dimensional it helps your pass rush."

Do you think that L.T. picked it up a little more?
"He's getting better I think on a week to week basis. I think in the two games before he showed signs of that at different times, it wasn't a 25 yard run but it was 10, 12, 15, making people miss and there's no question that from my standpoint, and I go by appearance, I think he was the best he's been and I think he's close to getting to where he can go longer periods of time without pain."

You didn't mention Buster Davis, what's his status today?
"Buster Davis has a strained groin. He will be the same thing, a day to day type of deal."

Did that give Malcom more opportunities?
"Malcom was going to play regardless. We had a plan to rotate them Buster's groin got real bad in the pre-game and he wasn't able to go so obviously that's why Malcom started."

What was the difference in the amount of pressure you were able to get on the quarterback yesterday? Did you do something different?
"Sometimes it's maybe we have a game or two that are different. Sometimes it's the matchup. As I said, I thought our guys matched up awfully well against their guys. Then as the game went on and they're throwing the ball every down, it does give you opportunities to just play the pass and rush the passer."

Do you think you've gotten to the point where you can make teams one dimensional?
"Every game is different and every team you're playing is different. Teams work hard to not be in that position. It's a week to week thing and I know this: we're going to have to stop the run. We're going to have to work hard to stop the run and defend the run. That will be a big priority going into Buffalo. They've got an outstanding offensive line, an outstanding runner. That takes away some of that. You like to get a team in that situation. I'm sure they're going to do everything they can to stay out of that situation."

Do you think good defenses separate and define the good teams in the NFL?
"I think that what everyone's trying to do, you want to play great defense but the teams that have been there at the end and have been the most successful are the teams that are the most complete team. We've talked about that from the day that I got here. We're trying to become the most complete team we can be. That's playing great special teams because our special teams jump start us. Talk about getting off to a fast start, field position is a big part of it and playing great defensive and then being a complete offensive football team. I just go back and look at the teams that end up winning their division, end up having success in the playoffs and end up winning Super Bowls, they're the teams that play at a high level in all three phases."

Considering what happened with Carolina and Denver, was it important for your team to slam the door and put them away like you did?
"No question. That's the thing, and again when you play these night games, we had the Monday night game, the Sunday night game, you end up watching more football than you probably should from a coach or player's standpoint. You get the Direct TV and you can watch every game that's being played. My brother coaches in Chicago. With 11 seconds left I walked away from the TV thinking they'd won the game and Atlanta goes and scores. These games, they just don't seem to ever be over and you'd better stay after it in all areas and you've got to finish games."

Is that why you left LT in late?
"We had an unfortunate situation. Darren (Sproles) sprained his ankle and Jacob (Hester) gets a first carry, fumbled the ball. We had a situation with five minutes left, I wanted to finish the game off. He made the great run on the swing pass. Then we took him out."

What kind of challenges does this long road trip present to you with the travel and logistics?
"My biggest concentration is going to be on this week and keeping this week as normal as possible, getting our work done today, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and having great preparation for this football game. We have spent a lot of time planning and we spent this summer and we know exactly what we want to do in terms of after we play Buffalo. Really none of that is a thought for me and I just want to make sure that the things we have to do when you plan to go somewhere for an extended period of time, 11 days, that we don't let those be a distraction for this week. I think our guys will handle anything that they have to handle."

When a team is coming off a bye, does that affect your preparation?
"It's an interesting thing and this is the second (time we've done it). We played Miami after coming off a bye and they had great preparation for us and they had some things that were very affective. We know Buffalo has had an extra week. They'll be fresh. They'll be ready and we'll have to prepare for any new wrinkles they may present because they've had some extra time."

Mike Shanahan
On WR Brandon Stokley's condition
"We will get a better indication on Wednesday on where he is at. He is going through all the test that you normally go through. He has had a concussion before, so he has had some tests previous to this. They have got a pretty good log on him and where he is at."

On RB Michael Pittman taking advantage of his opportunity to start
"I thought Michael did a great job. He ran the ball extremely well and passed protected well. He took advantage of his opportunity. Everything that you want him to do, he did."

On if Pittman may keep the starting role
"If you play like that, you get the opportunity to have more playing time. One of the reasons he got as much playing time as he did is because of the way he played last week. He sure didn't hurt himself in this game."

On if he planned to rotate Pittman and RB Andre Hall
"No. After he played how he did the week before, I thought he deserved the opportunity to play full time. If he got tired, he was going to take himself out and let Andre (Hall) go in there. He played well enough the week before to give himself the opportunity to keep the job."

On WR Brandon Marshall being fatigued from all the passing against the Jaguars
"Any time you get 14 points behind and you have to throw the ball as much as we did, it is in the nature of a wide receiver to get a little bit tired. We didn't have the substitutions to substitute as much as we would have liked because everybody went down."

On Marshall's fumble while fighting for the extra yard early against the Jaguars
"You just have to tuck the ball away. I think Brandon understands that this is the National Football League, people will be trying to strip the ball and they can't if you carry it to the outside. That is an example for Brandon and Jay (Cutler). He turned up inside and he has to have two hands on that ball as well. We let a couple opportunities pass by and we had a couple turnovers. As we talked about in Kansas City, it is hard to win when you stop yourself."

On QB Jay Cutler's sense of urgency on the field
"Don't misinterpret that for not having a sense of urgency or caring. Jay is a guy that is very competitive, and he knows how important it is to protect the football. Things like that happen and when things like that happen in the future, you're hoping when he does take off, knowing the speed and the quickness of some of those defensive tackles and defensive ends, he knows to put two hands on the ball. That is just the nature of his job and the more experience he gets, the better he is going to be. That does happen because he can make plays with his feet and a lot of quarterbacks can't do that. We don't want to take it away from him. We just want to make sure when he is running down the field he is aware of people reaching for the ball."

On if it is better to speak to Cutler about the turnovers or let it go
"I think it was just one turnover. The interception that you are talking about, he just gave Brandon Marshall a chance and it was a very smart play. It was third down and eight; he threw it up in the air. It was better than a punt. The ball was at the five or six yard line. That is being a smart quarterback. He knew that maybe he should have thrown the ball a couple yards less to give Brandon (Marshall) a better shot at catching the football. His timing was a little bit off but those are things a smart quarterback is going to do, take a shot without caring about the stats and trying to make a play."

On varying between offensive gameplans
"We are making strides. I think you saw it in that first quarter when we had a fumble recovery and the next two possessions we played extremely well. In the fourth quarter I think we had three series (allowing) maybe 25 yards and three punts. Then all of a sudden they control the clock for the last six minutes. We have to get better. We have to improve and we will keep on working at it. We played in segments like the first quarter and parts of the fourth quarter and we just have to build on it."

On whether he thinks there will be a lot of action league wide at the trade deadline
"Usually you don't see very much. Every once in a while you may see
one team do it. Over the years, I haven't seen very many teams make a blockbuster trade or anything like that. They save that for the other sports."

On whether he reviewed the officials' calls after the game
"It's every game. There are probably five or six plays that you can look back on every game. You have to be able to make the plays before. Everybody will go to the obvious-maybe it's a pass interference or a call or a non-call-you have to be able to take advantage much earlier than that. We had a chance to put the game away and we didn't do it. All of a sudden, we found ourselves in a slugfest and we couldn't come away with it."

On CB Dré Bly
"I thought Dré made a couple of plays in that game. He made a couple of good plays and they make some plays themselves. They were very smart not to throw at (CB) Champ (Bailey)."

On defensive blitzes
"When we did blitz, it was effective. We got a couple of turnovers, big turnovers at the time, and they kept us in the game."

On DT Kenny Peterson leading the team with three sacks
"Obviously Kenny with three sacks has done a good job, but sometimes a guy will get sacks-a guy will have one or two sacks and (another) guy won't have any and he's still putting a lot of pressure on the quarterback. (DE) Elvis (Dumervil) didn't get any in the game and yet he put a lot of pressure on the quarterback. Kenny did a good job and had a chance to get another one."

On the offensive problems vs. Jacksonville
"You fumble the ball on the 5-or-6-yard line, you fumble the ball on the 50-yard line, you have a fourth-and-1 that you don't make and there are a number of different scenarios you can go through. Obviously (WR Brandon) Stokley going out of the game (concussion) with one of our packages doesn't help. We had a four wide receiver set, so that was eliminated early in the second quarter."