Read complete transcript of Coles' comments
December 7, 2008
From what I hear, the Laveranues Coles comments about Brett Favre have created a buzz back in New York. Here is a complete transcript of the conference call. You will notice that most of the so-called inflammatory comments were taken out of context by the San Francisco Chronicle.
Here’s the back story: Moments before Coles did the conference call, he and Favre were joking with each other in the Jets’ locker room. At one point, Favre, jokingly, told Coles to tell the San Francisco media how they don’t get along with each other.
Here’s the complete transcript. You be the judge:
RE: What do you think about Brett Favre professionally?
“Well, I just finished talking to him about it and the first thing he said is ‘Can you all go through an interview without everybody asking you about me.’ And I just told him, no, you’re the first thing off the bat and you opened up and now that is what you asked me. But, I mean it’s just like with anybody else. He’s your quarterback just like every other teammate coming to work every day. You work hard at trying to build your craft.”
RE: Can you compare where you are with him in the offense right now versus at the beginning of the season. Is the chemistry dramatically better than what it was in September?
“I think we’re still learning each other. We didn’t spend a lot of the off-season together. We didn’t get to spend none of the preseason time together working together, because I was injured during the first part of the year. I think each day that we do get the opportunity to work together we’re still trying to figure out what each other’s likes and dislikes are. We’re still trying to learn each other.”
RE: What are the differences in how you’re being used? Is there any difference from how…?
“Well of course, I mean it’s different. Now, we’re in a quarterback-driven offense where he pretty much has control of everything, where before the offense was pretty much driven through me in the past where most of the offense ran through me. Now that we have a lot of guys that can make plays, and now all of our skill positions are making plays, now I just kind of become just a role player instead of a guy that teams had to prepare for. So my role is drastically changed based on the order of importance of the football coming to me.”
RE: And has that been difficult for you to handle?
“No, I’m not a fussy guy. I mean whenever you have guys that can make plays and give us an opportunity to win, just like I feel like I do, then there really isn’t much that you can say. You just sit back and take a role. The coaching staff has been pleased with the way I’ve handled things, and that’s all you can look forward to with that - being looked upon as a great teammate and a great team player.”
RE: What is that role? You said you were a role player but what role do you serve now?
“Basically, you just follow the plays around [Brett Favre]. This is his offense. Our running game has taken off and then when we do throw the ball, there’s really no level of importance, where at one point in time it used to be where I was the guy that was put in the position to get the ball most of the time. Now I just play my role and if the team decides to take me away, we’ve got other guys that make plays. Basically, I just do what I’m supposed to do and that’s my role.”
RE: How challenging is it for a receiver to adjust to a quarterback with his arm strength? Is the ball on you more quickly than you’re used to? Is it harder to catch? That sort of thing.
“No, it’s the same thing. I mean it’s football. Anytime you’re playing ball, a lot of the guys have good arm strength. Kellen Clemens has a strong arm and other guys have strong arms. Day in and day out I catch balls from the Jugs Machine. The ball probably comes out harder from there than it does from anywhere else, so there’s nothing different about it.”
RE: You guys had been on such a roll for about a month or so. What happened last Sunday?
“We lost, we ended up losing.”
RE: Was there a letdown after the Tennessee game?
“We lost. We lost.”
RE: Well, is there an explanation for the result?
“What type of explanation are you looking for other than we lost? You lose a game, you lose.”
RE: Coach Mangini said that he didn’t think that you guys prepared well enough. Did you see it that way?
“Well, I mean all I can do is focus on my preparation and the way I prepare for a ballgame, and that’s all each individual can do and say that he can look at himself and say ‘Did I go out and do the same things that I did the week before and the weeks before when we were winning. Did I approach the game the same way? Did I practice the same way? Did I work hard the same way.’ That’s basically all you can do as an individual. You can’t account for what the next person is doing and basically that’s what our captains are for. They wear the C’s on their jerseys to oversee things and if they see guys not going in the right direction, and I think it’s pretty much left up to them to go and say something to them and try to get them going. But, I do know that I prepared the same way and I came out and I did everything that was asked of me.”
RE: Looking at the 49ers secondary last week against Buffalo, what stands out for you there as you look at that?
“Well, of course I played against Nate [Clements] quite a bit when he was in Buffalo, and of course a guy of his talent warranted the contract that he got when he came to San Francisco. So anytime you’re dealing with a guy like Nate you know you’re in for a long day, and I played with Walt (Harris) when I was at Washington. So you have two veteran guys, two All-Pro (Note: actually Pro-Bowl) guys that can just truly outright just play. I think anytime that you have a secondary like that, you know you’re in for a long day. can’t say enough great things about them because I mean when people do make plays on them, they’re right there. They’re just an inch or two away from making those plays so you have two great corners.”
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