Matt LaFleur Quotes

You see Tom Brady, you see Alex Smith, and you see all those guys in the pocket and how quick they are with their footwork and how they get the ball out fast. I have to get like that.

It's one thing as a quarterback to sit there and warm up. And there's one thing to throw routes. And there's another thing when you drop back in the pocket and, when a guy comes open, to really be able to urgently - bam - all of a sudden. That guy's open; your body has to do what your mind's telling you.

Touch is more important than arm strength. You want to really allow the receiver to run underneath the throw. It'll give you a little margin for error if you undershoot it a bit.

When you're throwing the football the way you want to, you're not thinking about it. You're not thinking about your drop or your release point or the trajectory or where your feet are. It's just coming off your hand exactly the way you want it to, fluid and confident.

With any player, especially at quarterback, I don't care if you're talking Tom Brady or Peyton Manning or Drew Brees: you want to make sure to continue to hammer down the fundamentals, and it all starts with your feet. Everything starts with footwork.

I've said for many, many years, as long as I can ever remember, when I'm asked, 'Hey, what do you look for first in a quarterback?' The first thing I look for is accuracy, because the rest of it doesn't matter.

I'm not fast, so I have to be able to throw from the pocket.

I'm good at extending plays and finding throwing lanes.

A guy like Drew Brees is a guy that knows how to undress a defense. Most of the time he knows where he's gonna go before he even gets the ball. So he's ready to deliver that ball almost as soon as it comes to his hands.

Quarterback play starts with your eyes and feet. Those have to be in the right place and have to be on time.

My favorite quarterback is Donovan McNabb. I think he's a complete quarterback. I love the way he can scramble and throw on the run. He can do it all. He can control a game.

I think I could describe the perfect quarterback. Take a little piece of everybody. Take John Elway's arm, Dan Marino's release, maybe Troy Aikman's drop-back, Brett Favre's scrambling ability, Joe Montana's two-minute poise and, naturally, my speed.

It took me a few years to realize that throwing harder wasn't always better.

I like to think I'm pretty close in comparison to Aaron Rodgers. He's very athletic and gets the ball out quickly. He's very knowledgeable of the game, controls the offense totally, and that's something I try to do. Just know the offense inside and out.

I don't believe that you can be too short as a quarterback. It's not about height.

A guy that throws what he intends to throw, that's the definition of a good pitcher.

This quarterback Weeden can drive the ball down field. He's a thing of beauty on throwing a football. His passing motion and his arm, frankly, you won't see a more gifted passer, power, accuracy, the entire aspect of it.

I'm at a point where there isn't any wasted movement in the throwing motion. Everything is consistent and smooth. When I first got into the league, I held the ball really high. That was the standard in college, and it messed up my timing a little bit - the draw, bringing it back, then the release.

As you progress high school, college into the league, you can tell the difference between quarterbacks with their timing and the way the ball comes out of their hand.

Carson Wentz, when you watch him on tape, No. 1, I just like a big guy that has athleticism.

I'm on the record as saying Andrew Luck can be the greatest quarterback who ever played the game of football. I've seen him do some unbelievable things that I still can't believe a quarterback was able to do. I have tremendous respect for that guy.

As a quarterback your job is to drop back and give it to the open receiver, let them run. Obviously, there are times when you get some pressure and you have to make decisions, step up in the pocket and buy time for your receivers and deliver the ball.

Look at guys like Tom Brady and Aaron Rodgers. Those guys have great arms, but people talk about them more as a quarterbacks and the intellectual side of the game and how they really dissect defenses - and then the arm is something else that helps them with that.

The passing game is timing and trust, expecting those guys to be in the right spot at the right time.

In this position I play, it's just repetition and continuing to throw the routes and getting that velocity back that you would throw in game speed.