Jones-Drew Discusses Ballroom Dancing, Offense, & Respect

Maurice Jones-Drew: “I don't like to be embarrassed, so I do get upset about it. You lead by actions. You can only say so much. You can talk to somebody until you're blue in the face and they're not going to do anything. But if you go out there and show why you're upset and you try to do something to correct your mistakes, then they'll pay attention.”

“We have to figure out a way to be consistent. The running game is like chess. The running game is your pawns. They don't really mean that much in the beginning, but at the end, they surround the king and it's check mate. That's what the running game is. We're not going to break 30-yard runs every play. You're going to get 2, 3 yards a pop. You might get a negative run, but [defenses are] going to respect the run game and that's going to open up the pass game and open up the run game later on, where you're going to be breaking 10-, 15-yard chunks.”

“It just seems like now if we don't get 30 yards [rushing], we just go away from it. I've never been a part of a team like that. I don't know what it is. We're still trying to figure out what our identity is right now. As soon as we figure that out, I'll gladly be able to let you guys know. That's a big issue. How can you get continuity, how can you get chemistry going on when guys are rotating in and out? That doesn't happen.”

“It's like ballroom dancing. You have to be able to move one way or another at the same time, fluently, otherwise you're going to step on her toes and she's going to step on yours. When your left tackle and left guard have been working together all week, and they're starting to get this chemistry buildup ... then you throw a guy in or you move a guy from here to here, you're throwing off something.”

“Respect is all you can gain now. It's all about the respect. It's not even about anything else. Do they respect us as an offense? That's the question. And right now, no one respects us. We just got blown out. We didn't put up no points. ... Who respects that? What do you think St. Louis is going to come in here and do? We have to go back and gain the respect of everybody in this league this week.”