THOUSAND OAKS, Calif. -- Los Angeles Rams coach Jeff Fisher said he is "not concerned" about his job even though so much negativity has surrounded him during the team's 4-7 season.
On Sunday, there was the Rams' 49-21 blowout loss to the New Orleans Saints, their sixth defeat in a span of seven games. On Monday and Tuesday, there was a public spat with Rams legend Eric Dickerson that went viral, with Dickerson vowing to never attend games so long as Fisher is the team's coach. On Wednesday, Fisher was ridiculed by New England Patriots reporters who came away thinking he could not name the team's running backs on a conference call.
Meanwhile, fans and pundits everywhere continue to clamor for his firing and continue to reference his infamous comments in an episode of HBO's "Hard Knocks," in which he vowed to not put up with "7-9 bulls---."
Fisher's Rams would be lucky to even finish 7-9.
"We opened our world to 'Hard Knocks,'" Fisher said when asked about those comments after Wednesday's practice. "Those comments came after a couple of issues that we had. I've never been satisfied with 7-9 or 8-8. I've had a number of winning seasons. I'm not concerned. I don't look over my shoulder, like I've said over and over again. I'm not concerned about my job. I have a great relationship with [Rams owner Stan Kroenke]. He understands the difficulties that were placed on this organization as far as the move is concerned. And I'm moving forward optimistically with this team."
A deal might not officially be in place, but the expectation remains that Fisher will be back next season, along with general manager Les Snead, who also is in the final year of his contract.
Fisher's Rams have finished no better than 7-8-1 since he arrived in 2012, though the organization lost 65 of 80 games in the five seasons leading up to that. In 14 of his 20 full seasons as an NFL head coach, Fisher's teams have failed to sport a winning record. He now has 163 career losses, two away from tying Dan Reeves for the NFL record with five games remaining this season.
But the Rams' higher-ups have given him the benefit of the doubt, privately throughout the year and publicly recently.
"Everybody will want to judge Jeff through the prism of just the record, but that's totally unfair when you look at the set of circumstances he was handed this year," Rams COO Kevin Demoff told NFL.com. "It was different than any team in the NFL. ... We moved halfway across the country, then had [organized team activities] in Oxnard. Training camp was in Irvine, now we're in Thousand Oaks. We moved coaches and players and families. To provide leadership and consistency, he's done a model job."
Fans who already were getting fed up with the team's perpetual mediocrity were set off when Dickerson revealed that Fisher, in his mind, banned him from being on the sideline during games because his comments made players "uncomfortable." That prompted analysts throughout the country to loudly proclaim that Fisher needs to be let go.
And as if that wasn't enough, Fisher used the names "Brandon" and "Danny" when talking about the Patriots running backs beyond LeGarrette Blount in a conference call with Patriots reporters on Wednesday, even though the group consists of James White and Dion Lewis. "Brandon" is Brandon Bolden, a running back who plays exclusively on special teams, and "Danny" is Danny Amendola, a receiver.
Fisher knows Amendola is a receiver, of course, and he was probably just lumping him in with all the other dynamic players on the Patriots. But it has just been that kind of week for him.
"Over the years, I've learned to realize that the most important thing is to be consistent," Fisher said. "You need to be consistent to do this. Consistency through the wins, consistency through the losses, and just keep moving your team forward. You guys have been out here, you've seen these guys. They love to practice, they like each other.
"We went through some trying things over time. I had a player in particular who lost his grandfather last night. And I had a coach that his son gave birth to his grandson. As a family, you stress those things, and you stress the importance of coming to work every day and how lucky we are. We had a good example of the circle of life today with respects to our team."