Q. In retrospect, how much did the situation with A.J. have to do with last season? Looking ahead, how do you replace his capabilities on your offense?
COACH RICHT: I don't know how much A.J. not playing the first four games made a difference. I mean, we were 1-3 after that. I mean, I think we probably would have had a little better record if he was there the whole time. The other thing that was frustrating, not only was he not there, week by week we weren't sure if he was going to play the first game, the second game, whatever it was. You're trying to halfway prepare with him thinking he might get the word he could play. It did change the dynamic of the game plan quite a bit. Absolutely not making an excuse. Those teams we played, they whooped us. We played Colorado. He came back and Colorado whooped us. It wasn't like as soon as A.J. showed up, we were going to win every game. That's not the case. But to replace him, and Kris Durham by the way, a third- or fourth-round pick, whatever Kris was, a lot of offensive balls being thrown to A.J. and Kris, now they're gone. You have a bunch of guys that have opportunities to make plays. When you have Matthew Stafford, when you have Knowshon Moreno, you have A. J. Green, I think there's a tendency for the teammates to look at those guys and to say, A.J. is going to win the game for us, Stafford is going to win the game for us. Now those guys are gone, these 'superstars' are gone. Now everybody is thinking, I have to pull my weight, my opportunity is coming. I've got to do my part. I think that's going to be real healthy for us.
Didn't we hear those last few lines almost word for word in 2009 when Stafford and Knowshon left?
Quinton
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