Q: How are things feeling so far this camp?
A: I feel good. My body is good. I feel fast. I'm just coming in and getting some work in, and getting a little sweat going. I'm trying to get ready for the long grind that is coming up.
Q: How much can you really tell about yourself since there isn't a lot of hitting going on right now?
A: You can tell by, when you get to the point of attack, how fast you react. When we're out in shells and we're running around, it's more of a mental practice than a physical practice. As a running back, you need to be able to react at the point of attack, faster than the defense.
Q: Has Hedgecock looked healthy?
A: He looks good. He's not complaining about anything. He looks normal to me. A lot of the guys are good. Ahmad is good, Danny [Ware] is good. We are all just getting in and trying to get some work.
Q: I haven't seen that "Free #17" shirt anywhere before:
A: The shirt I have on? You won't see that anywhere unless you go and get it made just like I did. I just had it made. It only took a couple minutes, so you can get one, too.
Q: Have you spoken to him?
A: We talked once a week before camp started. I'm just hoping for the best for him and his family. Hopefully, he can get out and continue his career.
Q: How much better do you feel this year?
A: I feel better this year than I have felt since my third year in the league. I feel really good. I've done a couple things this offseason to prepare myself for the season, and doing certain core work and hip flexibilities. Things that I need to do. I don't want to work on too much strength because I'm getting older and I don't need strength. I'm getting older, and I want to keep my body durable and flexible to do this grind.
Q: Of the team periods, Ahmad seems to always get the first carry. Any reason for that?
A: I have no idea. I don't know the reason, I really don't know anything about it. I'm just out here to try and help us win. That's about it. No matter who gets the first carry or what. I'm still there and I'm not dead, so we still have a chance to win it.
Q: Both you and Ahmad were banged up last season, and Ahmad said you guys are roommates and talk a lot about coming back strong together:
A: No question. Every night we sit there, we play Call of Duty, and talk about us coming back and being a force that we need to be. We want to be up in the top two or three of the league, where we have always been. We built a house on the top of the hill. We need to go back and knock at that door, and New Orleans better let us in again.
Q: Would you say that your numbers were attributable to the fact that you weren't where you wanted to be?
A: I didn't have a good year last year. I wasn't explosive, I was hurt and I couldn't plant my right foot in the ground and push off. I didn't have any strength in it at all. That whole year, I never went out and made an excuse, and I'm not doing that now. I'm just saying we had a bad season.
Q: What made you make a change in your offseason workout?
A: I just realized that all the strength stuff isn't benefitting me: the dead lifts and the power lifts. I'm 28 years old, you know. I came out of the womb strong. I don't need that. You can lift weights to a certain extent to maintain your strength, and that's what I did. I didn't look to build strength, I just looked to maintain strength. I just need to be more flexible. My muscles need to be more flexible so it wouldn't be all the pulling muscles. That's the type of stuff that I decided to work on just because it's a long grind, and you have to last.
Q: This has always been a two-back team. You see that continuing, right?
A: Yes, no question. I definitely see that continuing. If not, that's the decision that they made. I just hope we win.
