CLEVELAND GLADIATORS CHATTER  

GLADIATORS DEFENSIVE LINEMAN ANTHONY HOKE

[On importance of game and being at home]

“It definitely helps a lot playing at home. It’s extremely important because we want to get into the playoffs and play in a home game here in Cleveland. It would be great for the city. We’ve been doing well all year and we just want to finish strong with a good ending to our season.”

[On playing on NFL Network]

“I don’t think it’s more nervous than any other game.  I don’t really feel any extra pressure. It’s great that more fans get to watch, which is an added bonus. It’s even better if you have a good game. You want to do your best every game, so I don’t think it should add any additional pressure.”

[On slowing down Bernard Morris]

“We plan on staying in our lanes and playing gap assignment. We all need to do our individual job. We can’t do things like criss-cross over each other and arm tackles. We have to wrap them up with multiple guys around the ball. We just have to maintain Morris in the pocket.”

GLADIATORS QUARTERBACK KURT ROCCO

[On what it’s going to take to get a win against Pittsburgh]

“On offense, we have to make limited mistakes, make no turnovers and score on every drive. And on defense, we have to make a few key stops.”

[On preparations this week after tough loss]

 “It’s kind of good that we made our mistakes a week early before our Division championship game. We were able to have a full week to look at the film and correct our mistakes. That definitely helped out. We made some changes around the offense and realized what we need to do more consistently.”

[On success in rookie season]

“I really just try to go out there and play football. In the end, it’s just football. It is a bit of a transition from the outdoor game to the indoor game, but the coaches and players have all been helping me out. They all realize that I am a rookie this season and they keep me comfortable in the huddle and throughout practice each week.’

[On playing at home this season]

“I guess record-wise you can tell that it helps out a lot. It definitely has been a great help. I guess for some reason we have some sort of extra energy coming into a home game, especially this weekend against Pittsburgh. I would imagine that we are going to come out hard.”

GLADIATORS OFFENSIVE LINEMAN CLIFF LOUIS

[On what it’s going to take as a team to win this weekend]

“This game is extremely important. We just need to do everything that we were coached to do. We all need to understand the offense and defense and execute the best way possible. We just need to do better than they do.  This game is pivotal to us, going into the playoffs and having home-field advantage and all of the other privileges. This game is crucial for us to win.”

[On correcting mistakes from last week’s loss]

“The offensive line has actually worked a lot harder this week. We stayed after practice, we came early and we watched a lot more film. We have gotten together outside of the actual arena itself. We have put ourselves in some awkward positions at times. We had to hone in on our skills and get back to square one. Hopefully that shows in this weekend’s game.”

[On experience in NFL]

“It’s a privilege and an honor to be at the level playing with the Arizona Cardinals and a few other teams that I have played for. It’s not often that a guy from a small school gets an opportunity to do things like that. I was very fortunate to do that. I actually had a friend of mine who played in the AFL as a receiver and he told me that since there was a lockout coming up, that maybe I should play arena ball to hone in on my skills and be a bit more particular on things that I could work on without it costing me a job. In the AFL, it’s very competitive. In the NFL there is a lot more run plays and schemes, while in the AFL it’s more man-on-man and pass protection. The AFL is a great place to work on your pass protection.

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PITTSBURGH POWER CHATTER

POWER HEAD COACH CHRIS SIEGFRIED

[On playing on the road]

“I don’t mind road trips. It does help having your home crowd behind you. We have had a great crowd this season in Pittsburgh, which has definitely been an advantage. When you go to tough places like Cleveland and Orlando, with their great crowds, it definitely is an x-factor for the home team. Road trips are good though, because they bring teams together.

[On main focus this week in practice]

“We just have to execute. We need execution on the offensive end and defensively we need to just stay consistent and make a few key stops. We just have to clean up the mistakes. I think both teams are thinking the same thing when it comes to our performances last week. We have to clean up the mistakes and play our best football. The team with the better football is going to win.”

[On pressure going into tonight’s game]

“I don’t think that we necessarily feel any added pressure. We are in this situation because we lost some games that we felt we should have won. Guys realize that there is no more wiggle room. We have to come out with a lot of intensity if we want to play in the postseason. That has been stressed every day this week.  I think we are ready.”

[On play of Mike Washington this season]

“He has really been a leader by performance.  In the last half of the season, his level of performance has really increased and he has grown up really quickly this year. He is officially a rookie, but he plays like a veteran, trains like a veteran and acts like a veteran. He is kind of the leader of the receiving core and the offensive skilled guys. He’s not an overly vocal guy, but he is definitely vocal enough and guys listen to him.”

[On attacking Cleveland’s tough defense]

“We are going to take care of the ball on offense. We played them before, so we know how good their defense is.  They have a very good pass rush and a very smart, physical secondary. We just have to be efficient on offense and not turn the ball over, like we did the first game.”