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HEAD COACH KEN WHISENHUNT**
(On playing the starters longer in the third preseason game)
We'll decide on Saturday, which we've been doing and tell them the day of the game.
(On the advantages of playing starters into the second half)
They've got to play in the games, so that's all I'm concerned about. I'm not concerned about advantages or disadvantages of doing that thing. We're trying to get our guys ready to play, and whatever we feel like we need to do, we'll work on that day.
(On rotating Blidi Wreh-Wilson and Coty Sensabaugh at cornerback against the Falcons)
We'll have a rotation, like we've had in the previous games. We'll figure that out probably Saturday and see how it goes. I don't know how we'll rotate them, by a certain amount of time or if we'll do it by series. We'll figure it out. The competition's still going.
(On competition in training camp)
I hope that there's always competition. I hope guys are thinking if they do well enough, they have a chance to play. I think that's what we're trying to foster here. That's the case. I recognize that we have some players that are listed as your starters, but when you guys asked me about depth charts a long time ago, I said that doesn't really mean anything. We're trying to find out the best 53 players. We're going to be consistent with that message, because competition is what makes these guys better.
(On Wesley Woodyard communicating to the defense)
He's what we thought he was. He's a good player. We're excited that we've got him.
(On Chase Coffman's progress)
Chase (Coffman) has gotten some opportunities, and I think coming in here, missing a lot of time and trying to get speed is not always easy, but he's made some plays in the game. One of the things that we wanted him to work on is blocking, and he's working at it. You like to see that.
(On Chase Coffman playing on special teams)
He's played some. Just like his offense, he's been working at it, trying to get better. That's what you have to do in that role. If you're in a position where he is, he's got to do as much as he can to make himself valuable, and special teams is certainly part of that.
(On Chase Coffman's pass game)
That's one of the things that you really liked about him coming out. He's got such a good feel on the pass game.
(On Daimion Stafford)
I think he's more familiar with what we're trying to do now. He's one of those guys that when you talk about competition and stepping up, he's done that. It was very evident in the first game, he made a couple of big hits against the Packers. His consistency is what's really been pleasing. More than anything, he's an athletic guy, but early in the OTAs he was inconsistent and making mistakes. I give him credit, he's worked very hard to correct that, and I've been very pleased with what we see from him.
(On evaluating players on overall body of work versus individual games)
I think the biggest consideration is body of work. Everybody can have a bad game, everybody can have one great game, but you try to look at everything. How they've practiced, how they've prepared, what you're seeing consistently out of them. Hopefully it's a tough decision. Hopefully you have enough guys that are working hard and competing that it makes that tough.
(On cutting players from the roster)
I hate it. I don't like it one bit, but that's part of the business. I've been on both ends of it, and neither one of them is very pleasant. You've been with these young men for a long time. We've gone through a lot together, so to essentially say goodbye is tough.
(On kickoff returners)
We'll see with the rotation. We've got a plan for it. We got Marc (Mariani) a chance last week after the rain game, so we'll have to see how the situations go. At some point, we're going to get Leon (Washington) and Dexter (McCluster) some reps, just because they're pretty good at it.
(On playing against the Falcons offense)
We're getting plenty of chances to evaluate our players in situations. This is one of the better offenses in the league, it has been for a number of years. They've got talented players. We have to play our scheme well to compete against them. Hopefully we'll understand that and raise our level of play.
(On the pass rush)
It's preseason. You're looking at a lot of one-on-one matchups that you can get evaluations of guys. I think we've been close. I think we've played two offenses that have been in their system for a number of years, and they get the ball out pretty quickly. I know we were close a couple of times the last game. You've just got to keep working at it. Hopefully we'll start getting home and having some success there.
