What They're Saying: Colts-Browns, Week 5

Here’s what the Indianapolis Colts (3-1) and Cleveland Browns (3-1) had to say before Sunday’s 4:25 p.m. kickoff at FirstEnergy Stadium in Cleveland.

Colts head coach Frank Reich, on if Browns are toughest challenge yet: “I think this is our toughest in all three phases as a team. I think this team that we’re playing is good in all three phases. For us as an offense, we just need to be on it. This is another team that is very good against the run. They allow less than 100 yards rushing a game. And they have an explosive offense. Like we said earlier in the week, I’m anticipating our defense is going to play great and maybe we’ll hold them down to 11 points or less again and that would be fantastic. I just think as an offense we need to go out there, get some rhythm in what we’re doing, get some confidence in what we’re doing. We’ll look to do that this week against a very good defense.”

Reich, on his confidence in backup left tackle Le’Raven Clark, who is replacing the injured Anthony Castonzo: “Yeah, I’m excited to see Le’Raven play. He came in here this year – I thought he had his best training camp. He’s looked as good as he has looked in the three years I’ve been here. I really think he is going to come in and play well. He is a very athletic guy, smart guy, tough guy. What I appreciate about Le’Raven (is) even during this stretch where all of our guys have stayed healthy, he’s stays locked in and he’s always getting himself mentally and physically ready. I have a lot of confidence in Le’Raven.”

Colts wide receiver T.Y. Hilton, on how he’s playing: “I can only control what I can control and when the ball comes my way, I’ll be ready. Whatever my team needs a play, I’m always there to make a play. I’m out there having fun.”

Colts cornerback Rock Ya-Sin, on defense sustaining its solid play: “I feel like we’re just focused on getting better every day. We want to be the best at getting better. That is kind of our saying in our room as a unit and a defense. We’re just trying to continue to get better. Last week was last week. We’re focused on the task at hand, and that’s getting better every day and beating the Cleveland Browns.”

Colts quarterback Philip Rivers, on how conscious he is of a great pass-rusher like the Browns’ Myles Garrett: “I think much like last week with Khalil Mack, and Myles (Garrett) is the same kind of guy from a game-wrecker standpoint. This Cleveland defense really flies around. Obviously, they’ve created a lot of turnovers so it’s not just one guy. It’s a heck of a defensive group. I played these guys last year or two years ago. Shoot, now the years are running together, but with a different scheme. It is different obviously with Joe Woods as the coordinator. I obviously spent a lot of time there in Denver. Some similarities, not necessarily. Myles is a heck of player and again, the defense collectively is taking the ball away and their offense is scoring a lot of points. That’s usually a good combination. It will be a heck of challenge for us.”

Rivers, on confidence from winning games despite offense not clicking in some areas: “Yeah definitely. You always want to keep improving and getting better and if you can win along the way, then that’s a pretty good sign. We’re doing a lot of things good. Sometimes certain categories and statistics can be a little bit deceiving because we’re doing a lot of good things. But certainly not as good as we want to do them and not as good as we’re going to need to do them as we progress through the season. To answer your question, yes. If you went along the way – I don’t know if you’re ever going to walk off the field going, ‘Hey, we played a perfect game,’ because there have been a lot of things to clean up in each of these games. The alternative to what we’ve done the last three weeks isn’t a heck of a lot of fun. Finding a way to win, do the things necessary to win, I think those are all good traits of a team that has a chance to improve and do something special. We have a long way to go, but I like the direction we’re headed. I think we’re focusing – head down and keep getting to work. I’ve been a part of teams that have been number one in third downs. Hopefully we’ll end up right there in the top-five in third down. But I’ve been a part of teams that have been in the top-three in third down and won four games. Those years aren’t any fun. We don’t walk around high fiving for being top-three in third down and winning four games. This is about finding a way to have one more point than the other team at the end of the day. We’ve done that three out of four. Let’s see if we can do it for our fourth one on Sunday.”

Colts defensive end Justin Houston, on building momentum with pass rush: “It’s definitely starting over every week. Every week is a new opponent, so you just have to restart every week. Every tackle you go against isn’t the same, so you have to make adjustments week in and week out to continue to put pressure on the quarterback.”

Colts cornerback Xavier Rhodes, on facing Browns’ No. 1-ranked rushing attack: “Yeah, we just have to get to them, get to them fast. Don’t let the running back start up. Once they touch the ball, we have to get to them as fast as possible because they have some great runners, some hard runners. They do break tackles and they do find the hole, so they can get those explosive runs. We have to be sound in our gaps, corners have to be able to correct plays mighty fast and not allow the running backs to get up the field.”

Colts tight end Jack Doyle, on what’s not worked in run game: “Running the ball in the NFL is hard, it is hard. I feel like sometimes you get a two-yard run sometimes on a fourth-and-one – that’s a huge run. Sometimes you give up losses because they’re coming through and on forced blocks and we can get to that guy, they’re going against the run game hard. I think sometimes the run game is just tough sledding. Thinking of this last game, we ran the ball well when we needed to there in the fourth quarter to bleed some clock and move the ball down the field. But yeah, it definitely needs to get better. We definitely have talked about that and know that. That falls on all of us. And it will, we just have to keep working and keep grinding it out. We’ve got the right guys obviously. So yeah, it will get better but it hasn’t been up to our standard yet. We have a long way to go and we’ll get there.”

Browns wide receiver Odell Beckham Jr., on the team’s 3-1 start: “You look at the games that we won, and it was not like it was a fluke.”

Beckham, on having three-touchdown game at Dallas last Sunday: “I’ve just been waiting. I know what I can do. I know what I am capable of. Just trying to find ways to keep this train rolling. This is probably one of the best spots I have been in.”

Browns head coach Kevin Stefanski on facing Colts: “Talking about these Colts, a really good football team. I know our guys looking forward to the challenge. Two 3-1 teams. Really should be a great game. When you watch the tape on these guys, you see a very well-coached team – no surprise with Coach Reich. They do a great job on offense and can hurt you in multiple ways on defense. It is a very, very sound scheme. They are attacking. I think you guys have seen the tape and see the stats, and they are outstanding. The same on special teams. They do a really nice job. Quite the challenge for us. We have to have a great week of preparation.”

Stefanski, on Browns rushing game not falling off with Kareem Hunt starting for injured running back Nick Chubb: “I am confident in our entire running back room. I fully understand the caliber player that Nick is and we would love to have Nick out there, but in the meantime, he is going to be hanging out with (Senior Vice President of Player Health & Development) Joe Sheehan and the training staff and getting ready to get back out there. I really think we have guys that understand the scheme and guys that can contribute in the run and the pass. I am really excited for those guys. I think they are well-coached. I think (run game coordinator/running backs coach) Stump (Mitchell) is excited for the challenge and these guys. We will have to make do until Nick gets back.”

Stefanski, on Colts defense: “Team speed. Effort. (Colts DT) DeForest Buckner was a great addition for them playing their 3-technique. He gets up the field. He is long, active. The linebacker corps can really run. Like I said, they are sound. They do not beat themselves. They are where they are supposed to be. Really impressive on tape.”

(Phillip B. Wilson has covered the Indianapolis Colts for more than two decades and authored the 2013 book 100 Things Colts Fans Should Know & Do Before They Die. He’s on Twitter @pwilson24, on Facebook at @allcoltswithphilb and @100thingscoltsfans, and his email is phillipbwilson24@yahoo.com.)

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