Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: How's (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers)?

BRIAN DABOLL: He won't practice today. He's got a hip flexor (injury).

Q: Is he out Sunday?

BRIAN DABOLL: He's not ruled out, no.

Q: Different than the groin (injury)?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, it's his other side.

Q: So, it's not the same thing that it was a couple weeks ago? It's the other…

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.

Q: What about the other guys that haven't practiced this week?

BRIAN DABOLL: (Cornerback Deonte) Banks won't practice, (inside linebacker) Bobby (Okereke) won't practice, (defensive lineman) Nacho (Rakeem Nuñez-Roches) won't practice.

Q: Fair to say they're not going to play?

BRIAN DABOLL: We'll see.

Q: Where are you at with (tackle) Jermaine (Eluemunor) and (tackle) Evan (Neal)?

BRIAN DABOLL: Both will do a little bit more today. Can't say they'll be ready to play. Can't say they won't yet.

Q: So, what gives you hope that (Malik) Nabers maybe could play if he's seemingly trending down?

BRIAN DABOLL: I didn't say that. I didn't say he was seemingly going that way. I just said he's got a hip flexor (injury). He just got looked at by the doctors. He got an MRI. He's in there with (Head Athletic Trainer) Ronnie (Barnes) right now and they're not ruling him out right now.

Q: That's what I meant. He was limited and then DNP.

BRIAN DABOLL: I'm with you. He's not going to practice today but they did not say, I actually just spoke to him a few minutes ago when he got back, that he's going to be out.

Q: What gives the three guys that haven't practiced at all this week a chance, in your mind?

BRIAN DABOLL: Well, veterans. So, we'll see. I'm not saying they're definitely going to play and I'm not saying they're not. We'll see how it goes.

Q: (Safety Tyler) Nubin and (safety Dane) Belton were added. Is that…?

BRIAN DABOLL: (Dane) Belton will be okay. Who was the other one?

Q: (Tyler) Nubin.

BRIAN DABOLL: He'll be okay.

Q: What did the MRI show?

BRIAN DABOLL: I just talked to him. He's got a hip flexor.

Q: Is this something that he aggregated in the game?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, it was in practice yesterday.

Q: Yesterday?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.

Q: He mentioned that he had had a history of a nagging groin issue in college that he's had to manage. I know that those aren't the exact same but they're close. So, have you guys kind of worked that throughout the year, maintenance and stuff?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yesterday it happened in practice. Again, every injury is a little bit different. Hopeful that he'll be ready to play but can't say he will be or not.

Q: With all the injury questions that you have going into this week, I know you deal with it every week, but is there an extra emphasis on guys to be ready for an opportunity on Sunday?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, they're getting all the reps. So, I'd say the practice squad guys on the defensive line are basically taking every rep and they'll have to be ready. If guys like (defensive lineman D.J.) Davidson… He'll be on the injury report. I'm not sure if he's going to be ready to go or not going to be ready to go. So, guys like (defensive lineman Elijah) Garcia, (defensive tackle) Casey Rogers, obviously (defensive tackle Cory) Durden, who we just signed. They're getting a lot of reps these last couple days and they're going to have to be ready to go.

Q: Is it difficult for players to compete when they see the top names and the biggest stars on the team falling off and getting hurt? Dexter (Lawrence II), Bobby (Okereke), Malik (Nabers). Does that make it more difficult to go out there on Sunday?

BRIAN DABOLL: I think for guys that are getting opportunity that maybe haven't had an opportunity, they're excited about the opportunity for some of these young guys that haven't played a lot of football just in the NFL in general. So, I think each person is focused on what they can do, practice how they need to practice, prepare how they need to prepare, so they can go out there and put their best stuff on tape each and every week. Whether it's, again, a guy like (defensive tackle) Casey Rogers, who's a practice squad defensive lineman, or (Cory) Durden, who just got here, or some of the tackles that we've been repping in there. We wish we had Dexter (Lawrence II) and (tackle) Andrew Thomas and those guys, but we don't. That's the reality of the NFL. So, they're looking forward to the opportunity, which will be a big challenge.

Q: It's a small detail, but we talked about it on Wednesday with the captains. If you only have one captain, are you going to name others to kind of go out there?

BRIAN DABOLL: I'll have some guys that go out there with him (long snapper Casey Kreiter). Guys that have been in leadership, that I have meetings with and talk to. I'll talk to these guys here after. Some older guys that we've had that have played some football that have been good for us in terms of being in the locker room and out on the field.

Q: What kind of other guys do you usually include in those meetings?

BRIAN DABOLL: Besides the captains?

Q: Yeah.

BRIAN DABOLL: Some of the guys that had some votes for captain earlier on in the season when they voted. Guys that maybe didn't have as many votes as some of the other guys but have played a lot of football and that have been productive, whether it was on other teams or have been here for this year.

Q: (Malik) Nabers had said to us before that the groin was something he's been dealing with since college. Now he has this hip flexor, is there any conversation about shutting him down? Is it that serious or no?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, I literally just talked to the trainers five minutes before I came out here. He just came back. They said they wouldn't rule him out. They're going to see how he's doing. Again, it happened in practice yesterday. But that's what I got right now for you.

Q: Was it during that individual portion when we were still there?

BRIAN DABOLL: It was during one-on-ones.

Q: One-on-ones?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah.

Q: (Defensive Line Coach) Andre Patterson was talking about just the idea of relying on younger guys, practice squad guys, and said, 'If we just started this week with coaching those guys, it might be even more of a challenge.' But he said, in his specific room, he makes sure he's coaching those guys through the entire season. Do you ask, expect that of your position rooms to know that the guys who maybe aren't out there on the weekends to coach them up for circumstances like this?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, absolutely. Whether it's (Assistant Defensive Line Coach) Bryan Cox, whether it's (Assistant Offensive Line Coach) James Ferentz, whether it's guys that are the assistants of the position guys, they do a great job with those guys of going back, looking at show team stuff, meeting with them extra and making sure that they're prepared if their opportunity comes up. You never know when that's going to happen. It's just so happened it's been at one position. But it has been on a few different positions. All those young guys have got to be ready to go, stay focused and dialed in on the things that they need to accomplish.

Q: Do you know (New Orleans Saints Interim Head Coach Darren) Rizzi well?

BRIAN DABOLL: I do. I know him well.

Q: What do you like about him? Where have you known him from?

BRIAN DABOLL: Well, I worked with him at Miami. So, we became pretty close. Obviously, he's a New Jersey guy, Bergen Catholic. I got a lot of respect for him. He's been a good friend here for, I'd say, the last almost 15 years. Good football coach, good special teams coach and done a nice job since he's been down there. Him, his family, he's got a lot of kids, too. So, a good man.