COACH DICK JAURON
Wednesday, November 07, 2007
Opening statement
The injury report, John DiGiorgio did not practice. Roscoe [Parrish] did not with a thigh and Derek Schouman did not with the ankle. And then limited was Trent [Edwards] and Leon Joe. And Ashton [Youboty] fully participated today so that's where we are with those. It was a good day of work. We had a good first day, Wednesday's are always a little difficult because there's new stuff in there. There are some errors that are made and you work through it, but they were upbeat, worked hard and got some of the soreness out and along we go.
On being back at .500 and having a chance at postseason
Yes, it really is. It definitely is. We know there's a long way to go. There's a lot of football in front of us, but as I think we said on Monday, those guys deserve a lot of credit for struggling through the things we went through and for fighting their way back to .500. We're at the halfway point so it's not early in the season. It's not late, but here we are. And like I said, I give them a credit for how they've hung in there, made the plays they had to make particularly recently, but it does not get any easier. We'll see where it goes.
On if JP is the quarterback for the rest of the year
I don't know that we want to talk about the rest of the year. We're just talking about the Miami Dolphins, we're focused on them and that's where we're going to stay. The quarterbacks though that we have, again I said a lot of times, couldn't be happier with the way they performed, the way they've grown in the position. They're two young guys; one's younger than the other. I like our third too, I don't know as much about him yet but I like our whole situation. What's happened to this point has kind of been dictated by injury and then by performance. I think we'll just keep moving along here and hopefully we won't change a lot, but we don't know. We don't know the answer to that. Again, just really it's not like we're looking for a quarterback. We feel like we have at least two that we think can play and hopefully win in this league.
On the three defensive tackles: Larry Tripplett, John McCargo and Kyle Williams
Larry is the most veteran of the three of them. He knows how to play. He's got the most experience. He's a tremendous asset on the field and in the locker room. Every down, you know what you're going to get from him on the field. He's going to give it to you all the time. He's got a big motor. He's a good athlete. He's got the ability to slip blocks and we've seen it out there on the field. I would refer to him as a quiet leader. He's not real vocal, but he's not silent. He leads, I believe, more by example than anything else. He just plays, very professional in his approach. John as we know has gone through a lot, missing almost all of last year. We had great expectations for him. It looks like on the field now he's starting to fulfill some of those. We do believe there's a lot more upside with John. He's got a ways to go but he's just learning how to play. He's willing to give you the effort and he's got good size. He's got the physique that you're looking for with some quickness to go with it. He's a good size man for inside. Our tackles aren't huge, but he's good size. He's also got quickness so he can take you on in a couple of ways. Kyle is just really a good football player. He probably doesn't get enough credit for his athleticism. He's very athletic. I would venture to believe that he was probably good in a lot of other sports. He's a 300-pound man; he moves well, he moves fluidly. He's got a terrific feel for the game around him, knows what's happeneing, very smart and he's a playmaker. We're really happy with that situation.
On the internal leadership in the locker room
I haven't been around that long, but I have said, probably more than you care to hear, how good I do feel about that group of guys and how they do get along. They seem to be moving in the same direction most of the time. I don't want to say all of the time because we know that's hardly ever true with a group that big. But they like each other, they work hard, they seem to, I don't socialize with them, but I do believe they probably socialize together in groups. It's good.
On the progress of Trent Edwards' wrist
Well he's made a lot of progress. There's no doubt about that because really last week he couldn't really grip a football. This week he can grip it and throw it. He was out at practice. He participated on a limited basis. He threw the ball pretty well. He's not back to where he needs to be to participate probably to play in a game. I'm not sure he'd be confident in going out on the field right now and trying to play a National Football League game. Maybe by the end of the week he might be, because he's come a long way and I think Bud [Carpenter] believed that at some point it would get better fast so we progressed a lot in the last three days and we'll just have to see where it goes. But he's not back to playing shape.
On if JP's performance last week was a factor in his decision this week
JP's performance was a big factor. There's no need or reason to talk around that and then the injuries are always a factor. They're a factor in all our decision. They've been a big factor in the changes to this point.
On if the starting quarterback is based on performance
Yes. It's kind of like every position on our team which we've said a lot too. It's always performance oriented in our business.
On if the play calling changes for Lee Evans if JP or Trent is at quarterback
To some degree, but not totally. The plays are not significantly different when they're called. The quarterbacks will see things differently on the field. The progression of reads they may read them a little bit differently. They may decide to hold the ball a little longer to stay on a read or not. But the play calling for the most part has not changed significantly.
On if he is worried his team will overlook the Dolphins
No I don't. We're just struggling. We're struggling to win a game and every week is a new game for us. We're very familiar with Miami and we're certainly familiar with them this year. They have all of our tape; we have all of their tape. We've studied them. They've lost four games by a field goal in each case. They're capable of beating anybody and they're certainly capable of beating us. We have a lot of respect for their athletes. We have a good healthy rivalry so there's no chance of that.
On having a sense of knowing where Miami is coming from at 0-8
When we started people didn't think we'd win a game so here we are. You just have to keep fighting. You just have to keep fighting every week and try to win that game. Do everything you can to win that game.
On if teams have more of a advantage after their bye week
I think it's an advantage, I don't know how much. We played the Ravens coming off our bye and they did not have a bye prior to that so I think we probably had an advantage in terms of rest, but I don't know how much. There's got to be some. If you're playing well I guess, if you're playing really well I'm not sure you'd want the bye. You'd probably just want to keep playing. If you're playing as well as New England I'm not sure it matters to them, because they're a little different right now than almost everybody in the league. But I think there is an advantage there. You get rested; you get some healthy players back.
On if you spend more time on your next opponent during your team's bye week from a strategic standpoint
You spend more. How much more? I don't know how much more you can really spend and get a substantial amount of it. You spend so much time getting ready for an opponent. You cut them up so many different ways and for your team. I think particularly when you get into the rhythm of a season, I've always thought you have to be a little bit careful with how many days you spent preparing for that one opponent and keep talking about them. Because the guys were in a rhythm to play in and then the game doesn't come and it doesn't come and it doesn't come, but everybody is different I'm sure in how they approach it. But you definitely spend more time. How much more? I don't know and how much of it is productive, who knows? Sometimes you start chasing all the ghosts and sometimes that's not real productive.
On playing New England after their bye week for the fourth straight year
He [Coach Belichick] doesn't need three weeks, does he? I don't know. I didn't know that though.
