COACH DICK JAURON
Practice – August 21, 2007
On if there is any word as to why Sam Aiken and Jason Whittle left practice early…
No, I'll have to go inside. I think that in Jason's (Whittle) he just felt a little sick so we sent him in and probably just took him in and laid him down; rested for a while. And see if he's feeling better. I anticipate he will be. Sam (Aiken), I'm not certain. I'll find out from Bud (Carpenter) in a little while.
On good hitting today…
Well, we wear the pads but it's not a lot. But we do get a lot of thudding done, that's what we call it. We play full-thud. We don't wrap up the back and take him down. We do shoulder him and then down the field we don't hit them but we do tag them off. We try to get our defenders to tag up. We get work done as fast as we can and as hard as we can while trying to stay as healthy as we can.
On the 45-second drill at the end and if it is getting everything done for that period in a game…
That's it.
On if the 45-second drill includes looking at the time factor…
Well it's a two-minute. That's all it is. That's all we're working on. It's not hurry up or it's not no huddle. It is two-minute. That's what that drill was.
On if the team is anxious to wrap up camp…
They're very anxious. It's a long camp. We've had a four week training camp. I think with a veteran team I'm a proponent of three (weeks). With this team, we needed the whole four weeks and we need a lot of work still. But they've come a long way. They've worked really hard. I still like what I see, but they understand and I know that we've got a ways to go. But it's time to break camp. It does get old being away from home. This is the best training camp, facility-wise in terms of where their quarters are in relationship to the meeting rooms, in relationship to the dining hall, in relationship to the locker room and the field. It really is a great facility for us and everything else is good too. People treat us really well and the food is outstanding. But it's time to break and go home.
On how Dwayne Wright fits in on this team…
He's getting better all the time. (It's a) totally different game for him, the protection scheme is different for him. He's getting them down. He's feeling more and more comfortable. I believe we'll try to get him more action this week, get him into the game more, get him the ball more if we can and even get him more comfortable. We like what he is. He's a big back. We believe he's got good balance and I believe he does a pretty nice job picking a hole and getting his feet up and down through it. We're looking for really positive things from Dwayne (Wright).
On how Brad Cieslak and Ryan Neufeld have filled the role of fullback…
It has worked pretty well and we actually, I believe on our depth chart, now we've just put them down as fullback because it seemed like it really threw everybody for a loop. So we're just calling them fullbacks now. Occasionally they'll play tight end. They've done a real nice job as has Derek (Schouman).
On players in their second year here having a better idea of their role…
I can only guess that everybody is a little more comfortable with everybody else. We know each other. We're at least a year better so that could be a part of it. Hopefully they're really optimistic and confident in themselves and the team.
On the importance of Anthony Thomas and on what he has provided thus far…
I know Anthony (Thomas) better than anybody here and I've just seen him do it and seen him do it well. You saw him do it last year in three games he really started in, he performed at a really high level. He's a confident guy. He's very good person. He works hard with the younger players, but he also works hard at his role and he takes it very seriously.
On the importance of the offensive line and this third preseason game…
It's getting close. You know we've only got two more games until our opener so it's important for everybody that we improve. It's hard to tell how critically important it is that the right guard position for example is settled. I've got confidence in a number of the players that are vying for that so-called starting job. We'll just wait and see how that shapes out. It's critical that we're ready for the start of our season because it's going to be very difficult. The opening regular season game against a tremendous organization, a tremendous football team and it doesn't get any easier as we move. We're getting ready for that and we need to get better.
On if Brad Butler is starting to get back in the race…
He was definitely in that mix. Hopefully he'll be back. I'm not optimistic it'll be this week, but hopefully at least for the last game.
On if Craig Nall will go in after JP Losman this week…
We're going to play that by ear and see where that one goes.
