Highlights

Q: This being the last home game is this a bigger game?

TODD HALEY: “Every week is so, so important to us. If I felt differently this week than I do next week or the previous week…every game is of equal importance. It really can’t be any more important. I told the guys that this is the time of year there are a lot of distractions. We can’t be distracted by anything; our complete focus has to be on the Cleveland Browns. 100%. That’s all we can all be worried about. And then next week it’s the Cincinnati Bengals, the same thing.”

Q: Did you address your players at all about what happened in Cincinnati with the death of Chris Henry?

HALEY: “Those are talks between me and the team. But it was addressed and I want to personally say my prayers go out to his family. It’s just an awful, awful thing and we are all so lucky – the people that are in this business. It can be taken away so fast. How important it is to cherish every day and do everything you can to be the best you can be. When you see something like that it’s an awful, awful thing.”

Q: Are you able to cherish every day when so much of your focus is on this football team.

HALEY: “I love what I’m doing. That’s what I mean. We’ve got the greatest jobs in the world and I can’t wait every day to get at it and go again. It’s important everybody involved feels the same way because sometimes it does feel like a grind to some people when you’re not having success. I don’t ever look at it that way. It’s a chance to get better every single day and when you see something like that again, I’ve got five kids and you see the pictures. I met Chris a few times when he was coming out into the draft and he seemed a quiet, nice guy that could really play. It’s just really unfortunate.”

Q: You’ve talked about all the fourth-and-ones and twos you’ve faced, but it doesn’t seem to be getting that much better for you.

HALEY: “Flashes of improvement. Again, it’s where we are as a team. Anytime we let an opportunity go by to get a first down when it’s first, second or third down and [we need to] get an additional yard we need to get it. It’s a mindset and the good teams do it a lot of the time. The saying is how many times do you have to get hit in the face with a skunk before you know it stinks. That’s come back to haunt us over and over again. So, when we have the opportunity to get that additional yard or half-yard on first, second or third down we just need to do it.

“There are a lot of different factors but when it comes down to the ball carrier with the ball in his hands and he’s got an opportunity to get that ball across the line or take that extra step on the sideline and the awareness to know where those sticks are at, that’s what good teams do. We have not done that nearly well enough and it’s come back to bite us over and over again.”

Q: Is that why going for fourth down is why the losing teams do it more often because they’re struggling to make something happen?

HALEY: “I don’t know that. There are decisions you have to make in the game and all head coaches have to make and there are a lot of different factors involved. Sometimes it’s how do we think we’re playing overall and that may be a positive or negative thing. We may feel like we’re getting great movement and we can get a yard, other times we’re struggling a little bit on defense and we need to take advantage of this opportunity. There are a lot of different factors that come into those decisions. You go with what you feel.”

Q: Is your team well equipped to convert on those short yardage situations?

HALEY: “I think we’re doing a pretty good job at times. At other times it’s a missed block here or a miss-read. We’ve been unable to get above it. Now, overall on fourth down going into the last game I’d like to add fourth down into third down and we’d be up the list a little bit. Those haven’t all been short yardage situations. We’ve converted some fourth-and-longs and have done a pretty good job.

“You just like to stay out of those situations. But when you’re struggling a little bit you find yourself in those a lot more.”

Q: How much of it is that’s just what you believe in?

HALEY: “That aside, those are decisions you’ve got to make and you’ve got to make off what your team is doing on that particular day. I don’t think it’s anything you can necessarily pre-determine what you’re going to do because you don’t know what the situation is going to be and when it’s going to be upon you.”

Q: When you’re putting together game-plans do you have a lot of things you feel comfortable with on short yardage? Or is it a challenge?

HALEY: “We do a great deal and always have whatever staff I’ve been on. Generally that’s Wednesday night when you do short yardage and goal-line. We’ve got some well experienced staff that has some thoughts you’re pretty excited about using. I wouldn’t say it’s any greater challenge than any other year I’ve been involved. You need a yard and there’s some attitude involved and, at the same time, we’ve got some guys in a Coach Muir and Coach Mo [Carthon] who have been around for some time and are pretty excited when we practice it.”

Q: Last week after Chris Chambers dropped that ball near the end of the game you had a fourth-and-long and were down six [points], did you think about kicking the field goal there?

HALEY: “Yeah, definitely thought about it and had a brief little discussion and we just felt like we were just far enough out that it was not a sure thing and we had a play that we liked after the time-out. We felt like we had a very good chance to get the first and it would be a very good opportunity for us.

“You talk about Jamaal’s [Charles] run and he has a real good chance to score. That throw is no different [on the fourth down] and their linebacker, #43, made a great play. But he did make a great play and it’s a game of inches and little things that we could do better. If we execute just a little cleaner we probably would have had a first down and have had at least three or more shots at it.

“As it is, I have no regrets about the decision. We got the ball back and had another shot at it. We had our opportunities.”

Q: What’s Dwayne’s progress right now and do you believe he will start?

HALEY: “He made it through yesterday and I think he’s done a good job of keeping himself in shape while he was away. Just as important he’s picking up a handful of new stuff that we’ve evolved into since the suspension. I’m encouraged by where he’s at after two days.”