**
 |
SUNDAY, AUGUST 16, 2009
(on if they have David Stewart's test results)
We have not, no. It's nothing serious, it may just require him to back down for a few days. It's nothing serious.
(on Kenny Britt's ankle)
I'm assuming Kenny's going to be ok. He didn't show up for treatments and if you don't show up for treatments you usually have to practice the next day. I'm assuming he's okay.
(on Mike Otto's performance)
Mike did a good job. I think he was a little anxious to start with but I think he settled down after a few plays and was solid. He's a real smart young man and communicates well. He's had a good camp so it's nice to know that we potentially have a swing tackle that can go in and play and protect the quarterback.
(on seeing game changing plays from the rookies)
I think you have to expect those kinds of plays out of them. Like I said last night, when you're drafting players in skill positions that are handling the ball, they're receivers, running backs and DB's, you expect that. When they happen it's good to see, especially in the second half.
(on if he's worried by the performance of the offense early in the preseason)
As we said, we didn't do much from a game plan standpoint. There were a lot of folks around the line of scrimmage and a lot of stunting, slanting and corner support. They played very aggressive. We called runs because we wanted to call runs. I think if you get in the regular season and you get in that situation, you pick it up and push the ball down the field consistently.
(on the preparation for the defense)
The next three weeks we're going to play an odd-front defense which is great preparation for the opener. Dallas' defense is very stout and we're going to clearly have to prepare a little bit for the difference in the defensive front. We will later on in the week. From a playtime standpoint we haven't got there. As you know we've graduated and continue to increase the number of reps. This will be a great experience for us Friday night. I think it will be real good preparation for the younger guys, that would include the rookies, to be in that kind of environment. This is as close to matching the environment, the emotion and the intensity that you're going to get in the opener.
(on William Hayes' performance)
He's really coming along. He's at the point now where we can play him more. I feel like we're going to get a lot of big plays out of him. Not only in run defense but also from the pass rush standpoint.
(on where to play William Hayes)
He's an end. If he lines up at tackle, it's because there's something unique going on. He's a defensive end. He's a left defensive end.
(on Vince Young's confidence last night)
He hadn't played in quite a while and we didn't have a lot of things in the game plan last week at Buffalo. We added some things. We put him in position to make plays and he made them. He made good decisions, knew what was going on, knew when he had some protection issues. As I said, he's been having a good camp.
(on how much last night's game helps Vince Young's confidence)
Anytime a player, regardless of your experience or age, goes out and plays well in preseason it is good to see. It's certainly better than the alternative.
(On William Hayes pushing Jevon Kearse for playing time)
We'll evaluate our guys and we'll have a rotation like we did. The question or the decision that we're going to have is do we keep four ends and three tackles or four and four or five and three. Those will be good problems to have. Right now we have a group of guys on the defensive line that can help.
(on being more comfortable with defensive end or defensive tackle)
They're all productive. I have confidence in both positions. I'd like to get J.J. (Jason Jones) back. I'd like to get Jacob Ford back and get them going again. Once that happens, then we'll be solid.
(on if Vince Young will be starting this week against Dallas)
We'll go ahead and start Kerry. There's a chance Vince could get in with the starters, with the first group of offensive players. I said, I would consider it but the important thing at the end of the day is that he gets to play with the starting offense. Whether he starts the game and takes the first snap or comes in after a couple series, if we're playing the starting offense through the half, then he'll get that opportunity.
(on the number of penalties in the game)
Last week was not the beginning of a trend. We got them down. We still had a few. We had a couple that were unnecessary. The Tony Brown penalty was a difficult penalty but things are happening so fast and he's reaching up and just happens to grab the face mask. That took points off the board. There are things to learn from it. I think we could have avoided the hold in the end zone. Slowing down and looking at the (Kevin) Vickerson hit and the Vickerson penalty on the quarterback, I think if that was our quarterback I would like to have that called. If you look at it from a coaching tape standpoint, again it happened real quick and Byron (Leftwich) was backing away and throwing the ball out of bounds and Vick just drove through him. There was a little twist at the bottom. Now that I've looked at it that should be called. It's unfortunate but it should be called. We need to protect our passers.
(on the description of Kevin Vickerson's penalty)
He just kind of shoulder turned a little bit and that's what Ed (Hochuli) saw I think right at the end. He thought that maybe he was trying to forcibly drive him into the ground.
(on Jason Jones and Jacob Ford returning)
I think it's a lot more realistic to say that we will have everybody back working at some capacity on the practice field this week.
(on Javon Ringer recognizing the blitz)
The responsibility of our runners is to scan and to anticipate. To recognize fronts, and recognize cut backs, recognize changes and the perplexity of the defense. They're not just standing back there waiting on the ball. They are scanning because like everybody else, they have to be familiar. He did a very good job as a young guy being able to recognize that there was going to be edge pressure and to be prepared for it. So it was good to see him do that. In addition to the run and the things he's doing on offense, he's improved very quickly there and on special teams.
(on getting more carries for Quinton Ganther and Javon Ringer)
We're going to try to get them some more carries. All of them actually. Javon (Ringer), Chris (Henry), Quinton (Ganther) and Rafael (Little).
(on the muff punt returns by Ryan Mouton and Tuff Harris)
I'm comfortable with it, I don't like to see the ball on the ground, but those things are correctable. Ryan (Mouton) peaked and he can't peak. He took his eye off the catch and looked at the coverage and you just can't do that. He learned the hard way, which fortunately wasn't catastrophic. We put Tuff (Harris) in a tough situation. He ran back to field the punt because he had come from the line of scrimmage and Ryan was out. We replaced Tuff and we sent Tuff back there and he literally ran back and he didn't even get his feet set, lined up distance wise and you know, but he's a very, very good punt catcher. But we do need to get Mark (Jones) back on the field and we need to get Chris (Henry) back on the field and make sure we get them some reps before the regular season.
(on correcting the center snap issues)
Yeah or you just don't go into shotgun, if the center is struggling with it. If the center is struggling with it, and some do, then you're better suited just staying under center. But there's a lot going on up there, the center is making calls and people are moving around and changing protections and knowing what the snap count is and something happens quick and you know sometimes the ball just doesn't come up.
(on if Fernando Velasco was at center)
No that might have been Doug (Datish).
(on Vince Young's lateral play with LenDale White)
Just to fall on the ball. I think in the regular season he'll just fall on the ball, or throw the ball away.
(on LenDale White kicking the ball out of bounds)
You know there's a learning experience there and it's good. If you bat the ball out of bounds backwards you're okay. You've got a fumble out of bounds and a lateral, no foul and the line of scrimmage is there. If you kick the ball out of bounds, they'll decline the penalty and it will go back to the previous spot. It would have to do with timing and all that kind of thing in the ball game. The aspect of timing has changed based on fumbles out of bounds and backward passes.
(on adding more punt returners)
We will continue to look at some of the players. We may look at Kenny (Britt) this week and see how he does. If they're comfortable with him catching punts, then he'll get to do one, two or three.
(on when he decides who will return punts)
Yeah there's plenty of time. I'm not concerned. We have practice and games. The rest of the league just finished their first preseason weekend. We have plenty of time to make those decisions.
(on Rocky Boiman)
He did a nice job on defense, as well as special teams. There was a couple run fit things that we need to get corrected that he hadn't seen, that nobody had seen, so we got them corrected and he adjusted them.
(on if injured players will practice tomorrow)
Well again I think we're going to back Dave Stewart down. I think everybody has a chance, everybody is running. Some may not return to practice full speed. They may return to different aspects of practice, whether an individual part or with seven-on-seven. Some may hold out on contact, but I think everyone has a chance.
(on ranking members of the defensive line)
Well Jacob (Ford) hasn't practiced. He's been hurt. William (Hayes) has practiced, and is productive. Jacob last year was productive for us when he got to play. He made a lot of plays and some sacks. So I'm not going to say whether one is ahead of the other, I'm going to say both of them are playing for it.
