Clay Matthews III Quotes

I think you have to go deep into the bag of tricks, so to speak, to try and slow down the quarterback.

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.

A little more movement of the defensive side of the ball, some rules that will be unnoticed, but a big rule will be allowing the jack linebacker to move out of the box sideline to sideline.

Rex Ryan does a lot of the same kind of stuff that we do in terms of how they play in the secondary and what they do.

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

I want to get to the quarterback and stop the run.

Tackling and playing well in space against any spread offense is very important.

I love getting after that quarterback! That's my deal: sacking the quarterback.

Any team, if you can rattle the quarterback you have an opportunity to win the game.

It's always a danger when you've got a great quarterback that throws the ball well, that scrambles well. You may push him into his asset. You may force him to do what he does best. So you've got to be able to throw curveballs and stop the pass as much as stop the run.

You know what? For myself, I kind of like the spy because it takes another guy out of coverage or another guy out of rushing.

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.

When you've got a quarterback's rhythm in the game, you can be a pretty deadly pass rusher.

I think a goalkeeper has to participate at the back of the defence and come off the line to play.

That's the only way you can stop a guy like Cam Newton. Hit him. He's unstoppable, so whenever he does try to run like a running back, you got to punish him.

The thing that's always struck me about Coach Marinelli's defenses is how fast and aggressive they play.

Never throw into double coverage.

The best place to defend is in the opposition penalty box.

It actually took me a year to learn how to play running back - to understand what they were doing defensively and then what our guys were doing every single play.

The most deceptive course in football is straight at the goalposts.

I want to learn more about the game as a whole and about the finer points of technique across the line of scrimmage. I want to learn more about coverages and blitzes so I can kind of see the game before it happens.

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

You see some of these guys that lead in sacks every year, but they only play on third down or only play in certain situations.

I would prefer to play for and against an attacking team, but I am now used to playing against defensive teams.

You can't be wrong in the three-tech position. I like that. It allows a lot of freedom.