Coach Dick Jauron
Press Conference – Wednesday, September 05, 2007
Opening statement…
You know our injury report. We only have two people on it, Ryan Denney and Keith Ellison, and they're both out. We're really anxious obviously to get to the game, to start the regular season. Everybody's excited about it. We're excited about opening at home. Our fans are very loud and they're very aware of when to be loud. Hopefully that'll be a factor in the game. Not much more I can say about that. The start of an NFL season is an unbelievable time if you're in this business. Everybody starts the same. Everybody is 0-0. Everybody is chasing the same goal. Everybody wants to find a spot in the playoffs at the end of the hunt, but it's a long race. It's not a sprint, but it's really, really exciting.
On his confidence in the offensive line…
I'm confident in them. That's not to say that it's going to start out exactly the way we want it to. We don't know that. We'll find out on Sunday. Like anything else, we have to give them a little time together talking about the whole unit, the offensive line and the running backs and our football team. I like these guys. I believe we're better than we were at that position and we'll see what happens.
On if he thinks the run defense will be better than last year…
We're certainly hoping we're better than that and we're going to find that out too. Again, I believe in our people. Now that being said, I don't think there's anybody in this room that's not aware of how young this football team is and the youth that we're counting on to perform at a very high level. I also don't know how many times that I've said before that guys are going to have to play at a higher level than they've ever played in order for us to be a team that wins consistently in this league. And winning consistently is the only way to get yourself into the playoffs. We have a lot of questions to answer. There's not doubt about that. We're playing regular season games against really good opponents. We're in a tremendous division, a very difficult division, here we go.
On Paul Posluszny starting his first game…
Once again, he's a guy that we traded up and drafted him high in the second round because we did believe he was going to be an outstanding player. And we hope he gets there this Sunday. But we know he's going to be a good player for a long time in the National Football League. He's a very intense guy as you probably know, if you talked to him. He's a very bright guy and he works at football. He likes it. He likes it a lot. He likes to practice. He's willing to practice hard, he studies tape. He understands the concepts. Whether he'll be at the top of his game in terms of controlling the calls, making the calls is very difficult to do in your first outing. I have confidence in this young man. I think he's going to be a fine player. He's not going to get any better watching.
On if he is worried about the defensive end rotation…
We do worry about that. That's why we play in our waves and like to play in waves. Clearly our waves have been reduced. There's no way to get around it. We just have to decide on game day how we want to go about playing this game. We won't decide the personnel, numbers and stuff until we get closer to the game. We won't decide maybe until that morning
On if the season opener is difficult to game plan for…
There's no doubt about it. For example, Jim Bates is a tremendous coach. We know him. He's got a track record in the league. You look at his work, other places what he's done, how he's done it and you try to give it your best guess. Our staff is putting a lot of time trying to figure that out but it is a guess. Until you've seen them on two, three or four regular season games, you certainly know you're going to see more than you saw in the preseason from them.
On what makes it difficult to game plan against Mike Shananan…
I think that number one, he's got a good scheme. The scheme works. It's a proven scheme over a number of years and he sticks with it. They know what they want to do. They know how they want to do it. They have a nice mix of run and pass, nice mix of run and play-pass and drop back. They do their things and do them over and do them well. I think that's the key. And then they have real good personnel. When you get that, particularly at the key position, at that quarterback position, you can win games over a time. He does a tremendous job and his staff does a terrific job and they have over a number of years.
On disguising his team…
We'd love to disguise and we'd love to be really good at it. Again, we're a very young football team so we've got to make sure we don't put ourselves in jeopardy making the play. We do work at it and they do a pretty good job of it but we've got to make sure that number one, we get to where were supposed to be and do our a job.
On his impression of Jay Cutler….
I'm impressed by his ability. He's got a very strong arm. He can throw the ball from a lot of different positions, under pressure he gets rid of it well and it still has velocity on it. Very good movement, he can run. He appears to be a very bright guy. Really liked him coming out in the draft. Saw a lot of him then and showed the same kind of skills so we have a lot of respect for him.
On Simeon Rice and Denver's cornerbacks…
I really can't answer that in terms of what he can do there. But in general, Simeon Rice is who he is. Everybody knows he's a tremendous pass rusher. He's had great success in the league rushing the passer. I have no idea whether he'll be ready. My hope is that he's not, that he gets real good down the line somewhere else. Their corners are very talented. They'll have to make that call on Simeon. He's up? I imagine they'll use him rushing the passer. That's what he does. That's how he's made his name.
On what he liked in Coy Wire to move him to linebacker…
I like his natural movement and we do. It's not just me. We like his natural feel at linebacker. It was where he played in college. He seemed to be more at home there. He really likes it, not that he doesn't like safety. He loves just playing the game. You can see him on special teams and safety or defensive linebacker. He's pretty quick to react and is getting quicker on the reads. He's good underneath, good at reading the quarterback, getting a break on the ball. I guess you'd look at his weight and say he's on the small side for a linebacker but he's very compact as you know. He's really put together. He's a very physical guy. He likes to mix it up. He likes to be in the box and that's where linebackers play. Take in all that and our need there to and our scheme, it's not a scheme where you have to be a giant linebacker to play, he really fits in well. We're really lucky to have him.
On if he is uneasy knowing that Wire will be limited on special teams…
Yes, it does. And it's just the nature of what happens with injuries. Unfortunately, and it's no secret, when you lose a player like a Ryan Denney or an Anthony Hargrove, those are a two big special teams players, physically big. When you find guys like that that can run, it's very rare. They're a factor in our special teams. Now we lose them and now we lose Keith [Eliison]. Those are three guys that are taken off our teams that will hurt us and it reduces Coy's roll. A starter can still play special teams, but I don't believe he can play all of them and stay effective. He'll be out there in a select couple. You do worry about it.
On how important it is to stop the run in Week 1…
It's very important for us to be able to play the run a lot better and it's something we'll have to do. Travis Henry is very good and they're good around him too so it just makes it that much tougher.
On if Ryan Denney will be back around the bye week….
A conservative, I would say yes. I would say that was close. That would be good.
On Keith Ellison's timeframe…
The high ankle usually, what they tell me, is 3-5 (weeks). That's a big swing.
On Champ Bailey and teams afraid to throw in his direction…
Well there are not many guys like Champ Bailey. I think he is clearly a tremendously talented athlete. He's just been born with gifts in terms of speed, coordination and maybe a feel for the game. Those kinds of things and it appears that he works at it, because he's also a good football player. He shows heart, he'll tackle. He's not afraid to tackle. There are no slouches out there but he does stand out.
