Andy Dalton News Conference
Paul Brown Stadium
September 16, 2015
The Chargers shut down Calvin Johnson last week. How much of that was a function of their plan and how much just their corners being that good?
"I think they have a plan for the star receivers. And so you could tell they were doing certain things to try to take him away. When you've got a guy like Calvin and like we have in A.J. (Green), teams are going to do different things to try to stop those guys."
So what about Jason Verrett?
"He's a Horned Frog. He's got that going for him. Yeah, he's a good player. I watched him all throughout college, just being at TCU, and a little bit last year. He's talented. He can run. He does a lot of really good things."
Have you met him?
"Yeah, I know him just a little bit. He's younger than me, obviously. But I know him a little bit."
If you look back to the playoff game, they have the same defensive coordinator, most of the same players …
"Obviously it's his (coordinator John Pagano's) defense. It's his style of doing stuff. We're going to look back as much as we can to try to see what they're going to do against us. It's similar stuff."
Now that you have a full complement on offense, is it easier to check into a play with all the options?
"It's big. Anytime you have all your guys, and we feel like we've got a lot of talent here and guys that understand what we're trying to do, I've got a lot of confidence in what we're trying to do and the guys that we're doing it with. So it's nice to have everybody back."
Did you do much of that on Sunday?
"There's some stuff. Obviously there's different times where you're trying to do different things and get us in a different play."
Hue (Jackson) puts a lot on everybody, and everybody has to be on the same page, right?
"Yeah, I think it just comes with the preparation and the work we're putting in and making sure guys are getting lined up in the right spots and stuff, so it's what we expect. It's what we're trying to do. It's our offense. So when we go out there on game day, we expect to have perfect execution with it."
Are you doing more pre-snap stuff than a year or two ago?
"It's different. There are times when I'm able to do more and other times when I don't have to do as much. It just kind of depends on what's going on."
Are you surprised at all by how well Tyler Eifert is playing considering his limited NFL experience?
"I'm not surprised at all. We know what kind of talent Tyler is and what he was able to do. I'm happy for him that he's able to come back and have a big game his first one back. I think we trust him to do so many different things just because of how good he can be. I was happy he was able to have a real productive day."
Is this the most put-together you've seen the offense in your time in Cincinnati?
"Yeah, probably the most experience we've had, and being in this system for another year and having all our guys back. We feel really comfortable with what we've got going."
Can you sense uncertainty on the opposing defense when your offense is on a roll?
"Yeah, I think last week they weren't getting lined up, so we were able to take advantage of stuff. So you can definitely feel that out there."
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Did the Chargers give A.J. (Green) a lot of attention in the playoff and regular season games?
"There are certain things they do to try to take him away. It's kind of a weekly thing that A.J.'s going to get. So yeah, there's different stuff that they do."
With Eiftert's big game, do you welcome A.J. getting that kind of attention?
"We feel like they can't take away everybody, so we're confident with what we've got going."
Can you describe the emotion of the home opener?
"It's the start of the new year, new season, and hopefully we'll have the whole city involved, everybody will be here. It'll give us a great atmosphere for the game. It's exciting. Every year, every chance you get to have your home opener, it's a big game."
You spiked the ball in that preseason game here. Will we see more of that out of you?
"It felt right. (Laughs) And so we'll see."
You were on Jimmy Fallon. Does that carry on to the field, do guys lighten up when you do funny stuff on TV?
"I think guys know me, and they know my personality. That's a fun thing, especially with all the different guys they got involved in that. It used to be them just showing a picture of us and saying it, now they stepped it up this year and they have us actually say it. It's fun. Guys like to joke around about it and stuff."
Have your teammates said much about it to you?
"No, nobody really said much."
So nobody knows?
"A couple of them do. But I guess it kind of fits, right? Ed Sheeran with red hair and Firefox?"
Do they let you know the joke ahead of time?
"I read about five or six of them. They kind of picked the best one. But I got to read all of them before. I wasn't going to just agree to anything."
What were the other ones you didn't say?
"I don't know. I don't remember exactly what it was."
Do you talk to Jeremy Hill before the game about his dances?
"On Saturday night, he comes to me and asks me what he should do. I kind of show him what he should do. (Laughs.) No, I'll randomly ask him, 'What you got ready for today?' Sometimes he'll tell me, sometimes he won't. You know, it's fun. It's good to see him in the end zone and its fun to see him dance."
Could you pull off his moves like the 'Dab'?
"I don't even know what the Dab is. I probably couldn't, no."
