COACH DICK JAURON
Practice – August 27, 2007
On Kiwaukee Thomas and Langston Walker leaving practice early…
Langston [Walker] just had a stomach problem, disorder. I guess something he ate. It wasn't the heat. That's what I was concerned with. It wasn't the heat. Kiwaukee [Thomas] dislocated the finger. Bud [Carpenter] is so experienced, our training staff is, but he looked at it and he knew it wasn't one that you wanted to fool around with. So he needed to send him to the emergency room so they could get a picture of it before they set it, before they straighten it back out. So that was unfortunate. But hopefully they'll be fine.
On if he knows what kind of break Ryan Denney had…
No I don't know the technical name for it. But I know they felt good about the surgery and the repair and he's doing fine with it. But you'd have to get from Bud the technical name.
On if he would still out Kiwaukee Thomas on Thursday…
I would anticipate that he'll be fine for the game. Now I haven't talked to Bud and I would guess that he's back, but I don't know that.
On Terrence McGee's status…
Terrence McGee will not play. There are protocols that we will follow there but he will not play.
On how close the middle linebacker starting job is and what will determine who starts…
We'll determine it on their overall body of work. And it's still going. They'll both play and they'll both play in this game on Thursday and then we'll sit down as do all the time. We've got a couple days to talk about things and then we'll make a determination around all those things.
On if the job could be lost by one of the guys in Thursday's game…
Absolutely it could be, yes.
On why the coaching staff and player seemed to be on the right page today…
I would say that this was a normal day for us. Everybody's personality is a little bit different on a staff as is anywhere is a little bit different. Generally we're on them pretty good, but we know that we need improvement. We've got a ways to go. I like our staff. I like the way they coach. I think they coach pretty much the same everyday. That doesn't mean they don't emphasize things a little more which is probably true today.
On the type of attitude the players brought to practice today…
The players have always been good. As group, they accept responsibility for what they do and what they don't do. And really one of the beauties of sport in general and this sport in particular is because there's so much study in terms of the tapes and the videos now that there's really no place to hide. You either do it or you don't and we can show that to them on tape. So there real good about understanding what they need to do and they're also good about accepting responsibility for when they don't do it.
On if Friday night was a wakeup call for some of them…
I think we were disappointed. We were disappointed but there are also a lot of good things that occurred in that game when you watch the tape. But yes, I guess for a number of players I'd say that you're probably right, it probably was a wakeup call. We tend to remind them though on a daily basis because we watch practice tape too. So we're constantly talking to them, showing them, drilling them. We all have to improve. I've got to do a better job of getting them ready to play and then they have to do a better job of playing.
On the performance of the offensive line with Melvin Fowler back…
It's good to have Melvin [Fowler] back. I think Melvin's a real good play and a solid leader for us both in his attitude and also just in his demeanor. He does a real nice job for us in practice and in the games he's very smart, makes calls. Certainly nothing against Duke [Preston] or Christian [Gaddis] but Melvin is our guy. He's our center.
On what concerns him about Marshawn Lynch's nine carries for nine yards on Friday and what needs to get that unit going…
I wish we had more time. We just need time. I'm a big believer that we have the right guys. Now we just need to get them out there and get them playing together. Then get them productive. The more they do it the better they get it. And that includes timing it up with Marshawn [Lynch] and Anthony [Thomas] or whoever we have in there. But getting it all timed up. Unfortunately we don't have a lot of time. We're coming up to two weeks and we open this thing up for real. We've got a lot of work to do and it is a short period of time but that's the thing. I believe in our people, we just got to keep working at it, doing it over and over again and not lose faith in it.
On if the offensive line will play a little longer this game than any other fourth preseason game…
We'd like to see them in a maybe couple of series, but probably not more
