Good morning. As you prepare to face the Oakland Raiders, you can't help but see some very, very obvious things, arguably the best kicking game in football. (Shane) Lechler, (Sebastian) Janikowski, strong, strong legs; guys that boom the ball. They change field position on you. The punter, last week against Houston, after a safety he punts the ball from the 20-yard line to the five. And of course it is run back for a touchdown. But you talk about booming the ball. And the kicker is showing versatility in terms of how he kicks it, where he kicks it, etc.; outstanding return game. (Johnnie Lee) Higgins had the big year at the end of last year. A lot of team speed; tremendous team speed. Playing very similar to the way Al Davis likes to play. In terms of their speed, they have complemented with the two young guys on the outside offensively with great speed. (Louis) Murphy being a guy that has become a go-to for the quarterback along with Miller the tight end. Defensively the two corners and the way that they run; the outstanding front. They have done some things to really help themselves. And of course, (Richard) Seymour and (Greg) Ellis have really helped them; Ellis with four sacks; outstanding speed at the linebacker position. (Michael) Huff, the young safety with three interceptions and a really good nose for the ball. So an awful lot of things. The defense is ranked eighth. They have a bunch of takeaways. They have a bunch of sacks. So a lot of things to get the attention of our football team as we begin to study and prepare for the Oakland Raiders.
Q: Will you have 11 on each side?
A: We are going to try.
Q. What is Eli's status or what's the plan for today?
* *A: Eli is not going to practice and he is not going to be out there. They think he would be much better off to be treating him during the course of practice. So he will stay inside and Kevin Boss will stay inside and Michael Boley will stay inside. And they will all be treated during the course of the practice.
Q. How is Kevin Boss?
A: He is sore. Better than he was yesterday. Out of the boot but he is still sore.
Q. Did you get a chance to check with Eli about how he felt?
A: I did, real early this morning. And he felt better than he did yesterday.
Q. You said yesterday that treatment was going to be really big. How did he come in yesterday?
A: He came in feeling better about the situation than he did the day before. And today he feels the same way. So he is making progress, there is no doubt.
Q. Do you anticipate it going all the way until game time?
A: It could very well. When we say day to day it is not only day to day, it is not only those feelings of how good he feels. But then the doctors have to go along and tell us what they think he can do, if anything, that day. He is anxious. He wants to go out there and practice. He would like to take some snaps. But this is the smarter move.
Q. He said on the radio that he won't likely make it worse by playing. Is that what you have been told?
A: Well, I would continue to ask that question as we move along. But that is the initial impression that I have, yes.
Q. Any chance you will bring up Rhett Bomar?
A: We'll see. Those decisions will be made later.
Q. How has Rhett Bomar been since camp?
A: He has been a safety. He has been a wide receiver. He has been a running back. When you are on the practice squad you have to have a lot of hats. He has taken a couple of snaps every day as the quarterback and he is going to get a lot of work this week. He will have to be the opponent's quarterback this week and do an outstanding job. Obviously what they like to do is throw it down the field.
Q. Is that good for him?
A: It is good for him. And obviously he is very interested in what is going on also – this week.
Q. How do you feel about where David Carr is?
A: He has had some good weeks, now; some very good weeks. He takes a lot of pride in being the scout team quarterback. And he is into it. He is throwing the ball well. And so he is focused as well.
Q. If he ends up being your starter, can you still do everything?
A: I think we can. The game plan is not going to be adjusted. He has been a starter in this league. He has been very much into what we have done from the standpoint of a plan each week. We wouldn't taper a whole lot, no.
Q. Is there any scenario where two quarterbacks could split the game?
A: We'll see where we are at the end of the week. That is a little bit out there for me right now.
Q. Bryan Kehl, is there anything he can do this week?
A: Yes. He is telling me he wants to practice. But he is also holding this thing (his hand) up in the air. It looks like he has a basketball on the end of one of his fingers. We will wait again to get clearance from the doctors as to when. He thinks he can put a cast on it and practice. It is just a shame that this thing was in the position that it was in. Otherwise he would have probably been able to tape and go.
Q. It's in a weird position in his hand?
A: No, no. It is just the fact that it was a break – fracture – and they had to go in and put the screw in.
Q. Do you know when it happened?
A: I don't know when it happened, really. Because he has been having a little issue with it a couple of weeks ago. And then it was worse. The way he played, it certainly didn't stop him from doing the things he had to do.
Q. Logistically speaking, how difficult is it for you to do what you want to do when this list of injuries continues to grow?
A: We have certain things that have to happen. And the first thing that has to happen, of course, is we have to understand exactly what the status of each player is and where they stand and what the projection is and if there is a possibility. When they can practice, how much they can practice. And then quite frankly, we have to put a practice together that allows everyone to have an opportunity to be prepared. And sometimes there is a little stress that goes with that.
Q. What's Lawrence Tyne's status?
A: He is our kicker. He is our kicker.
Q. Was bringing the kickers in for a tryout more of a function of seeing what's out there?
A: It is an ongoing thing. We are going to try to keep ourselves informed as to the availability of who is out there – no matter what. We do have an issue that we have to get corrected, let's face it. We have to stop --- these three points are going to be so critical coming forward.
Q. Steve Smith was talking about going up against Nnamdi Asomugha, what do you expect going up against him?
A: Both corners are very fast, very good. Twenty-one has the long arms and outstanding speed. Both guys are challengers, playing basically the way the Raiders want to play – whether you call it zone or man. They are both good corners and our guys are going to have to work. It will be a good challenge.
Q. Is Steve Smith starting to get the attention of defenses?
A: Yes.
Q. How much does that open things up for everybody else?
A: Hopefully we will be able to take advantage of some of that.
Q. RE: Chris Canty or Aaron Ross
A: Not Ross. Canty is doing more each day with the trainers. What that translates into, I am not prepared to say just yet.
Q. Domenik Hixon?
* *A: He is going to take not only individual but some of the team stuff. And then we will see. He feels good about it. It is just a matter of moving and advancing him along.
Q. Ahmad Bradshaw?
* *A: Same kind of schedule. He won't work. Probably at the end of the week he will get some snaps. He actually feels pretty good today.
Q. Danny Ware?
A: He is going to practice. The thing that we have to worry about there is how – he does have a brace and how bulky is it. Can it be controlled and can he take a hit? And so on and so forth. There are a lot of things that have to be worked out, though. He is very excited about having a chance to practice.
Q. Will he go back to the special teams role?
* *A: We'll see. We can't say that just now.
Q. Clint Sintim?
A: Sintim is going to get advanced, and seems to be ready to do that. They took him out yesterday and ran him. He felt real good. There was nothing negative about it as far as the overnight. So hopefully he will be able to work back in.
Q. Does Chase Blackburn go into Boley's spot?
A: We'll see. We will have two or three guys ready. Chase will have all of the roles. We will see what it is at the end of the week.
Q. You will have three guys ready?
A: We always do. Outside backers flip around and can play different spots.
Q. Can Eli go a whole week of missing practice and still play in the game?
A: He has done it before. He will know everything. While he is in here today, he will have a machine in front of him. His tape time will probably be as good as or maybe more than a normal week. Yeah, he will study hard.
