Matt LaFleur Quotes

The more space you have there, the better it is for the quarterback, because he's got room to move around there to avoid a rush. And also, after the point of contact, if the rusher does beat me, he still has to go another four yards before he makes a sack. Versus if you drop straight back, he only has to go two more yards.

The quarterback gets plenty of protection in the pocket, and he picks up protection out of the pocket; he's got protection down the field on his slides.

It doesn't make much sense to blitz a guy that gets rid of the ball in less than 1.5 seconds.

The quarterback is the most vulnerable one on the field. He's in an awkward position a lot of times when he throws the ball. So he does have to be protected. You lose a quarterback, you're in trouble. I don't know if they can make it too safe. I think health becomes an issue.

When you're dropping back and everything's going on, part of you wants to force it, but you have to make the right decision and not force the ball and sometimes throw it away.

I worked at a place that followed a system where the quarterback was taught to take the sack rather than force the throw. That's kind of an old-school theory, but it has existed in this game.

You can't put a running back in there and have him not know who to pick up. You can't get your quarterback hit.

That's the key to defending any quarterback: to make them throw before they want to throw.

I think I'm very good at reading coverage and knowing where I want to go with the ball before the ball is snapped.

First thing, and it's really one of my favorite things, is the protection part. Who everybody is blocking and where the pressure is coming from. Because if we can't get the ball off, it doesn't matter what you're doing out here.

There is a strike zone in the pocket that's very clear. Can't hit QBs low, can't hit them high.

I think anytime you can take as much off the quarterback as possible, that only helps them out in the long run.

I want to know what coverage it is every single time. I want to line up and be able to read what the defense is trying to do to me so I can get open.

I'm just going out there and doing my job, so whatever it is - if it's a hard slide protection, if it's a double team, or even a triple team or a chip - whatever it is, I'm just finding ways to win, so that's about it.

A lot of the issues of the Dallas Cowboys yesterday having pressure on Tony Romo, came from the outside pressure.

I don't know that the referee can be watching holding on the offensive line and get back to the quarterback. I think watching the quarterback is a full-time job.

Throwaways are OK. When a quarterback throws the ball away in our system, that's a plus. That's a plus decision. That's the way I've always graded it.

The name of the game is 'kill the quarterback.' Every football team tries to knock the guy out of the game that's handling the ball.

The simplest way to win in the National Football League is to knock out the starting quarterback. You know, throughout the years, history has proven if your number one quarterback goes down, your chances for success become very limited.

I know how important it is to have your quarterback standing upright. Matter of fact, I know how important it is not to allow someone hit on him period because I want him to think that this pocket is completely safe, no one is going to get to me and I got all the time in the world to make whatever decisions I need to make.

The quarterback has to get rid of the ball quickly, so there's not a lot of time to make moves to gain separation.

I'd say that, 99 percent of the time at Nevada, I knew what the coverage was and where I was probably going before the ball was snapped. It makes it very easy when I only had to read one person and know that I was going from here to here, and if not, I'm checking it down.

Third down is a big thing with a quarterback: pinpoint accuracy, making good decisions.

The best advice I try to give a young quarterback is, you need to know what you're doing. You need to know what you're doing, because if you know where to go with the football, you can get rid of it and throw it and you won't get hit.

A defensive coordinator is always going to try to throw you something different and get you out of your element, and I have to do better with the pass protection.