Opening Statement: Good morning. We didn't' even practice yet and we're back together again. I can't imagine what you want to talk about today.
Q: How excited are you that you're going to be having the veterans out there tonight?A: I'm very excited. I've been looking forward to this as I'm sure every coach in the league has. Whether you want to focus on the original August 4th date or whether you want to try to ignore it, it was an issue for all of us because even though we have a 90 number, we do have some issues trying to balance everything up and then when you've got a couple of guys, as we do, that go on PUP the numbers are affected and yet you want to develop and move on with your players. You're just hoping that those 16 guys who are standing there watching are learning while they are. So what we'll do this afternoon is, I want to move them all forward at the same time and these people would not be ready to go in pads so we'll put our guys in shells for a couple days and all of our players will participate in practice and they all will get reps and the guys who are stepping out there for the first time this fall will be able to advance accordingly. So we're going to do that and then come back together and put the pads back on in a couple of practices ready to go.
Q: Kiwanuka has been cleared by the doctors. Will there be any caution on your end?A: Not necessarily. No, he's ready to go. He's chomping at the bit. He really is and we've been given medical clearance, period.
Q: You mentioned back in February that you thought Jacobs could've handled more carries last year. Is that still part of the plan?A: I think it is a part of the plan and we'd like to see that happen. I think between our runners we've always had two maybe three around here that have contributed and we're excited about having a chance to do that again.
Q: Travis Beckum lines up at tight end and sometimes moves into the slot. Could he do that full time? Is that a possibility?A: Well it's a possibility. You'd have to change some things in the run game to be able to do that but he had a couple of nice blocks down in the green zone last night that were pretty physical. He has a special skill set and certainly we'd like to take full advantage of that skill set. He's always been a guy that's been on special teams, a personnel combination kind of a player that you used accordingly. We've brought him inside to the fullback position this fall, we've put him on the edge and done that with him and then we've lined him up at the point. You certainly don't want to do that all the time and run the power or whatever right at him but he can do it.
*Q: He seemed to have a really good practice last night. *A: He had two or three real outstanding plays and I was glad to see that. In addition Ballard came along. He had a nice night. He blocked well last night. We're going to need people to be very good at what they do when called upon to do it.
Q: Are you any closer to signing Prince?A: I don't know what's going on today. From what I gathered yesterday, for example, we were prepared to have him in here right away. So I don't know, I haven't talked to anybody yet today.
Q: It has only been a couple of days but what have you seen from Herzlich?A: He's playing in the Mike spot. He has moved pretty well. I think he's moving better perhaps than he did a year ago. He's smart, competitive, he has played special teams so it's all about advancing. It's advancing for him. Everybody's cheering for him.
Q: Is he somewhere between where he was last year and before his diagnosis?A: Well I won't know that until we practice a little bit more. As you know he was a great college player. He had all the numbers to go with it.
Q: You finally got to wear full pads and now you're going back to shells? Is that something you just have to be flexible with? Has that been inconvenient?A: Well, once we knew about this August 4th thing I didn't focus on the guys not practicing. I focused on the guys practicing. When it came down to ok, these people are going to be available, now we've got to be smart about that, too. We try to be smart about everything else. So here's what we'll do so that we can integrate the whole group, move forward, advance, let these guys take snaps without standing around saying wait a minute you can't go, you're not ready for that play, you're out. I'm not going to get into that. We're going to do the smart thing.
Q: If the CBA is not approved do you have a plan?A: You've been pulling a bunch of that this fall. Here's what I think, Tuck asked me that, what's the plan if we don't, I said we're approving the CBA and you guys are all practicing today. I'm not going to look at that one. In other words, I changed this schedule in order to accommodate everybody and I have another schedule which, God forbid if we have to go back to, but we'll do it.
Q: Any updates on Osi practicing tonight?A: Nothing that I can report, no.
Q: Kevin Boss is out in Oakland right now. Are you hoping he comes back?A: Hope so. I hope so. The message is Kevin, come on, get in here.
Q: Have you talked to Boss since yesterday?A: We went back and forth. I left him a message. He left me a message. I left him a message and then I didn't hear back from him.
