Good afternoon, the first I would say is that at the half I was asked by CBS what the status of Prince Amukamara was, and to be honest with you, all I knew at that time was that there was no fracture. Come to find out that they're calling it a high ankle sprain, a moderate high-ankle sprain. The information was not available to me at that time, subsequently, when it was discovered, our people released it to the media. It is what they're calling a moderate high-ankle sprain.
Q: Any indication of how long this will be?A: I don't know these things. Unfortunately they're longer than you would like them to be. Depending on how much damage there is, and how much he can tolerate. There are always some lingering effects there. We'll see, I really don't know, I don't have the answer to that.
Q: Will you look for outside help at cornerback?A: Well, you've got a bunch of guys that you've worked with since day one, some played well the other night, some didn't. I thought Michael Coe played well for the opportunity that he had. In particular, coming off of a hamstring. We knew we were going to play him, but we weren't sure how much. He did well when he had the opportunity. We'll always scan and look and try to find if there are people out there that can help us. It's that time of year. It's difficult to assess if there are people out there that can help us. We will continue to be vigilant. A lot of what has to happen has to come from the inside here.
Q: Thoughts on Bruce Johnson, and him being told to have a speedy recovery from coaches:A: That's probably coming from the defensive side of the ball, I haven't stated that directly to Bruce. We've all tried to encourage Bruce to engage and make some plays, to let us see some positive things here to move forward. We've challenged literally all of those guys that are playing the gunner position, the defensive backs, to play tighter coverage even when it's zone. There's a lot of challenging going on, we like to see it done. It can be and has been specific. It's speaking to the entire position as well.
Q: Any idea on the timetable for Terrell Thomas?A: No. No.
Q: He wrote on his blog that he wants to play in the opener. Is that realistic?A: Not according to what I'm reading. No. I think you always have to give way to hope.
Q: Is Kiwanuka ok?A: He's sore; he's had a similar injury to this in the past. Hopefully it's not going to be too long, I don't know what his status is going to be for this game that's coming so quickly. We would project for the opener and get this under control.
Q: What about Will Beatty?A: He's had four good days in a row. They feel pretty good about his strength, the direction he's headed in. He'll probably get some individual time early in this week to see where he is, and hopefully he can tolerate that, and we can increase the workload.
Q: How big of a concern are the cornerbacks?A: Well, all you have to do is look around and take the number and count them. We started out with what we thought was a lot of people for camp, and good quality, and I was telling you last night, Prince stayed in the game for one more play and made a tackle. When I looked at the tape today, I could see him pulling his foot out, which somebody goes down low on him, and then he kind of picks his foot up and then limps a little bit, like they caught him on the side. Next thing you know, they're X-raying the entire leg. It's football. You go as hard as you can go. I don't have any idea why these things continue to happen at this position, but they do. Certainly have for the past couple years for us. Like I said, we started out with a lot of numbers. Those numbers are dwindled now; it's getting close to where they will diminish more. We're certainly concerned. 'Concerned' is a very modest word.
Q: Do you think Terrell Thomas can help this year?A: These things are in the hands of the doctors. I don't have information other than where we are. He's been working hard with the trainers in the training room. He feels confident that his knee has improved. I can't tell you. No one has come to me and said he'll be ready to go by this time, no medical people. We can continue to encourage and be optimistic, but other than that, there's not much we can do.
Q: What typically happens with a high-ankle sprain?A: You see some of them go on a long time. You see some come relatively quickly. It's pain tolerance, it's the position circumstances, and there are a lot of things that go along with it. This position needs to be able to open up quickly and run very, very fast, be able to start and stop quickly, be able to change directions on a dime. These young men playing this spot really need to have their legs under them. I don't know, I'm not even going to throw one (a date) out there, because it isn't documented by any medical people. If I were to say two weeks or three weeks, I would just be guessing.
Q: Thoughts on moving safeties to corner:A: We've done that with Antrel (Rolle) before, but I would like to leave Antrel where he is, to let him play in that spot, a spot he plays very well. I would not think that's an option, although we'd be open to try it. Anything.
Q: Update on Marvin Austin:A: He was doing well, and then he had a little setback. It's an issue again.
Q: Thoughts on Locklear's performance:A: Pretty good, pretty well.
Q: If he has to play, will you move David Diehl to left tackle?A: I wouldn't be speaking about that right now. In the present time, Diehl is on the right, and Locklear is on the left.
Q: Thoughts on your rookies' play:A: We tried to be in a position where David Wilson could be more involved. He had a chance to play with the ones. He did do some nice things. We have some issues in some areas, but he did show his quickness and his speed. I wish he could've broke one, he was close a couple of times, so that was good. Markus Kuhn played in a rotation with the first defense, and he did turn in a good game as well. I think those were the two guys that stood out from the rookie class, and performed at a pretty high level. There were some other guys, Da'Rel Scott with the blocked punt, played very well; I'm just speaking about guys that played well. Bennett probably played his best game. Ramses Barden played well, and we're encouraged by that. There were many encouraging things to go along with a few disappointments.
Q: Thoughts on Barden:A: I liked the way he defined his routes, and the utilization of his hands, and the position of his hands, to make a really nice catch on a low ball, to make a really nice catch on a high ball. Secured the ball, put it away, drew a penalty which put the ball down to the one-yard line. He was also involved in two special teams, which he's done a pretty good job with the kickoff team, and the punt return team. He contributed last night and made a strong statement.
Q: Update on Hosley:A: Nope, hopefully they're going to get him out of the boot, and maybe see what he can do in terms of light running. Hopefully shortly, in a day or two he'll be doing that. I don't have anything else to report.
Q: On Jacquian Williams sitting out:A: No, it was just a decision to sit him.
Q: Nothing health related?A: Well, he's in the process. He hasn't played or practiced in quite some time. We expect that he'll practice, and be ready to go tomorrow. Everything is pointing in that direction, and he did practice at the end of last week as well.
Q: Do you expect Bradshaw to be ready next week?A: We'll see. His hand is definitely improving, not as fast as he would like, but what it is. We'll have to see where he's at as we get started this week.
Q: Thoughts on special teams breakdowns the last few weeks:A: People making foolish mistakes. Errors being made in punt protection, for example, which causes the ball to be deflected two weeks in a row. Different people, different circumstances, different situation, but nevertheless fundamentally unsolved, principles being applied. Just enough to drive you crazy. This an area we take great pride in. We've done an exceptional job in this particular area, but we've had some people flat out make some foolish mistakes. Just being beat one on one is basically what it is.
Q: Any goals for last preseason game:A: Yeah, look for people (to step up). There's going to be ample playing time for a lot of people who are in position to prove whether or not they can help us. People that we can utilize their skill level. They have another opportunity against another good opponent to prove this, and there is going to be a lot of playing time for these people, whether they're young, they're rookies, whatever status they are. Opportunities for them to truly prove that they can contribute. From that standpoint, we're always looking and always evaluating and always challenging. And there will be some tremendous challenges. We'll come back this Wednesday night, and for example, there were probably three occasions with our first offense alone where we left, truly left, points on the board. We really challenged them to score touchdowns, and the first time we get down there we get a holding penalty, from the 12-yard line. Then there were two other times, with a third and one, and a third and two, where a simple conversion would've led to points, and there was a ball on the ground on kickoff coverage where two individuals: one's trying to scoop and score, and can't score anyway. Just cover the ball up. You have these kinds of things that allow us to continue to challenge for improvement and individuals who can function in these challenges will sit well.
