I didn't have a chance yesterday to compile some of the better quotes from Tim Ruskell's press conference, where he spoke of last season and next. The entire presser ran about 44 minutes. You can watch it at Seahawks.com.

Some things Ruskell mentioned: Matt will be the QB for 2009. He would like to resign Bobby Engram, and Leroy Hill could see the franchise tag. Also, Gill Haskell could stay on as a consultant. The TNT put together a longer list of quotes, you can read them here. Okay, here are some of the statements that stood out to me:

On 2008

"Our rush was just never consistent all year long. Whether it was from the four-man or in the blitz packages. We were not getting to the quarterback, and quarterbacks were having way too much time and were way too comfortable running their pass offense."

"I'm not a believer in the size. We have some small players, but do we get rid of Lofa Tatupu and Leroy Hill? That's not it. It's the coordination. The synchronization of the defense, everybody doing their job and putting guys in the positions -- based on their skills -- to be productive. We've got to do a better job of that, and we will do a better job."

"I think 4-12 will be the absolute motivation, certainly on the players' part, to say, We are better than that, and we know that, and we will have to do everything that we possibly can starting immediately to make sure that doesn't happen again. Everybody's pride was hurt. It's a prideful group."

On 2009

"They (Mora and Knapp) were together in Atlanta, with Jim as the head coach. Greg will call the plays, but Jim will have a lot of influence.. What they're going to do a really good job of is based on the personnel....Obviously, with some of the things that we've done with the people we've brought in with the run game, with the addition of Mike Solari and Greg Knapp -- those two guys worked together in San Francisco -- I think we continue to improve our run game. I'm very much a believer in the run game, as is Jim, and if you get the run game going, and the defense, you look at a lot of these playoff teams -- that's a formula that works."

"Matt's our quarterback. We're very happy that he is."

"We like what we're seeing in the draft. There's really no position that's out or in yet. You always have to look at that group and say, Where are we at? Are we getting too old? Same with the defensive line. You don't want to let those slip because they drive the train behind it...(of the No. 4 pick)...I'd still rather pick 32nd."

---