Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: (Safety/linebacker) Isaiah Simmons, what does he bring for you guys?

A: I'd say it's obviously pretty early. (General manager) Joe (Schoen)'s done a good job with his staff of, again, just evaluating and keeping conversations open about a number of players, him being one of them. Again, he's almost 6'4", around 240, explosive, high pick. So, just got off the phone with him a little while ago, said hello to him, introduced ourselves. We'll put him in our system and start teaching him our stuff.

Q: Where will you put him in your system? Where do you envision him? Do you see him as a guy you can move around, or do you want to keep him in one spot? I know he's done a lot.

A: I'd say let's get him here first and then kind of see what he does. I think he has some multiple-role potential, but again, we've got to see it.

Q: Did you study him? I know you were on the offensive side of the ball when he was coming out, but do you remember studying film on him? Did you view him coming to the NFL as linebacker or safety or like you said, multiple?

A: He could do a lot of different things. Explosive, athletic. That's why he was picked where he was picked. Again, we'll get him here and see how he looks and start teaching him our stuff, but excited to have him.

Q: How much does (defensive coordinator) Wink (Martindale) having a positionless defense seem to be a better fit for a player like that?

A: Again, that's one of the reasons why we made the trade. We thought there's some upside there. Again, we'll put him in, we'll ask him to do probably quite a bit of things just to see what he takes to. A guy that's, again, athletic, explosive, has good size. I've seen him do some multiple things. So again, until we get him here, I'll give you a better answer, but certainly happy to have him.

Q: How is (tight end) Tommy (Sweeney) doing?

A: He's good. I mean, he's still going through some evaluations. I'm not going to get into anything specific but appreciate you asking. But he's still going through some stuff.

Q: We don't know why he was missing from a couple days before. Is it anything related?

A: I'm just going to say we put our statement out, he's still getting looked at and just kind of leave it at that and keep the specifics in-house.

Q: How scary, though, is that when something like that happens on the field? We saw you go over there; Joe went over there. A lot of guys were going over there, like "what's going on?"

A: Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah, anytime somebody goes down, it's always a scary thing.

Q: At any point did he have to be hospitalized or at least go the hospital to be checked out?
A: Again, with all due respect, I'm going to keep all that in-house here.

Q: You pulled everybody together before you started practice. Was it to talk about that?

A: It was. I just wanted everybody to know that he was fine. I mean, he was in the training room, his dad was actually in the crowd. So, L.Y. (director of coaching operations Laura Young) saw him, we brought him in there, he was doing okay. I don't want to say he's okay because I'm not a physician, but I saw him this morning and he was walking around. He's fine. I just wanted to let everybody know that he was in good spirits, and he was doing okay.

Q: He's here today?

A: He was, yeah. Yeah, he was here. I saw him this morning.

Q: We know that (Jets quarterback) Aaron Rodgers and the Jets' guys are going to play. Do you plan on having your guys out there this week, (quarterback) Daniel (Jones) and a lot of the first-team guys?

A: Today's Friday for us, so we'll go out there and practice and talk about it after practice.

You knew that was coming, didn't you?

Q: Have you guys made a decision on captains? Did you do a vote yet?

A: We have not, no. I'll do that once we decide who's on the ballclub and then we'll do a player vote like we always do. That will be sometime next week, toward the end of it.

Q: Are any of the guys who were out yesterday injury concerns like (defensive lineman) A'Shawn (Robinson), (inside linebacker) Darrian Beavers?

A: I'll just give it to you guys. So, (guard) Tyre (Phillips) will continue practicing. (Offensive lineman) Marcus (McKethan) will practice. (Wide receiver) Cole (Beasley) will still do some stuff. (Wide receiver) Parris (Campbell) will practice. Who else was out? Beavers will practice some. (Tight end Darren) Waller will practice. A'Shawn will practice.

Q: Were Waller and Campbell injuries? And A'Shawn?

A: No. No, they were vet days. Just vet days. A'shawn's still part of the rehab process. Darren's was a vet day. Today, (wide receiver Sterling) Shep(ard) will have a vet day and (defensive lineman) Dex(ter Lawrence II). I think everything else is the same.

Q: One guy you didn't mention was (cornerback) Nick McCloud. How's he doing?

A: He's making progress. He won't be out there, but he's making progress. Day-to-day, I'd say.

Q: Is (cornerback Cor'Dale) Flott a long-term concern?

A: Day-to-day.

Q: Are the Jets a team you follow more closely than others because they're in the same market?

A: No. I will obviously this week because we play them and then whenever it is we play them next. I've got a lot of respect for that organization and the people there, (Jets general manager) Joe (Douglas) and (Jets head coach) Robert (Saleh) and ownership. I've got a lot of respect for them. But we're on our stuff, and again, this week, it's the Jets. It's also finalizing roster spots.

Q: With (wide receiver) Wan'Dale (Robinson), there's a deadline coming up, right, where you have to activate him or he stays on for four weeks? Do you have any inkling which way that might go?

A: Day closer. A day closer.

Q: Would it benefit you in a way if you could keep him on PUP, keep him there and then kind of play it into the season? Do you see a benefit potentially in doing that and giving him the extra time? I think he's right around nine months post-surgery.

A: I'd just say we're not there yet. Discussions that we've had, I'd say, if I give you one thing, it could be another thing. So, we're just getting closer. It's a day closer. So, we'll see how that goes.

Q: Do some of the players you have in that slot position who have experience in the league and have been very successful in the league at that role, does that give you the luxury of taking your time with Wan'Dale?

A: Yeah, I think there's a lot of things that go into play with it. If we feel that he's ready from the rehab process to come out there and start practicing, then we'll make our decision off of that. We're still a few days out. I know it's a few days away, but we'll take it right up to probably when we need to take it to.

Q: When did you decide that (running back) Saquon (Barkley) would not play in the preseason?

A: I just take it week to week.

So, let's plan on giving him about 50 reps this week. We'll see how that goes.

Q: So he might play?

A: No.

Q: He hasn't had any vet days.

A: Yeah, no, he's been good. He's had a couple vet days during the games. Those are vet days.

Q: (Guard Mark) Glowinski hasn't been at left guard in so long and you put him out there. Why and what did you see from him?

A: I just wanted to see if you guys would notice.

Q: We did.

A: Yeah, you guys did good.

Again, it's position flexibility. You have to plan for a lot of contingency plans, too. If this guy goes down, where does this guy play? Has he ever played there? So, you might as well do it now during camp, rather than if you have to do something Week 2 or Week 3, at least there's something to draw back on.

Q: What have you seen from him in his reps?

A: Good, yeah. Pretty seamless. Other hand is in the ground, but pretty seamless. Knows all the schemes. He's been good at it.

Q: With (guard) Ben (Bredeson) seemingly being the No. 2 center, does that change anything if you don't have a guy on the bench that you can plug in? You'd have to potentially move him over?

A: Yeah, there's definitely discussion points with that, sure. If something happens to one person, then you move him or you move him. There's a lot of discussion I'd say that takes place. We've had quite a bit of it here. But again, for us, it's just getting as many reps. I mean, those guys have had over 500-some reps at different spots through OTAs, through training camp. So, they've got a lot of reps iat multiple spots, which is what you need right now.

Q: I don't know if you've said this. When do you expect Simmons to be here?

A: Hopefully tomorrow, but I'd have to check with Joe. I didn't look at itineraries yet. I just welcomed him in. He goes by Zay. I talked to him for a couple of minutes.

He's got some familiarity with some of our players. Dex, worked out with Saquon out there in Arizona, worked out with (wide receiver) Isaiah Hodgins. So, good to have him in. We'll get him going and try to get him up to speed.