COACH DICK JAURON
PM Practice – August 15, 2007
Opening statement…
The weather has been terrific. Every time we have had a night practice, we've had a beautiful night. Even tonight the wind was blowing a little bit when we came out and it stopped for the practice. The fans were great and as we've said many times before, it really does help push the guys particularly at this time in camp.
On injuries and Angelo Crowell not practicing…
No, I haven't heard anything about Angelo (Crowell) so I'll wait and see what they tell me inside.
On what the two-minute drill is used for…
We've got to get them on same page and obviously from the defensive point of view, you've got to do it fast. Usually we have noise during it to make it even more difficult. We control it and I tell Alex (Van Pelt) 'you make the calls to keep the drill alive.' There are plays that the defense would make and it's pretty clear they make them, but we may give the offense the benefit of the doubt to keep the drill going. The longer it goes the more tired they get and the more they have to communicate the better it is from our point of view. They're very competitive so that both sides want to win. The defense, they know when they've won a down and we don't give it to them and they let us know. It worked out well tonight.
On how much better the offense was tonight than yesterday…
First of all, we took the pads off so we practice a little different without the pads. But they were smarter, they were crisper, they didn't make as many errors so it was a good practice I believe all the way around.
On injury updates of John McCargo and Melvin Fowler…
The same as yesterday, we don't think either one of them are in a serious category. We'll make our errs on the conservative side as we move here through preseason. We'll just have to see how they are in the next couple of days. But we're not, knock on wood, we're not long term concerned right now.
On how Sam Aiken has been able to stick on the roster…
Well there it is. He's a tremendous special team's performer and you've got to have that in NFL. You've got to be good everywhere to have a chance to win and if you don't back your (special) teams with the players to get it done, then you're not going to have very good special teams. Sam (Aiken) has been a special player for us in that area. As a receiver, he's just gotten better and better and he does make plays and he's bigger than most receivers. And he's very tough and a very physical guy. So there's definitely a place for any player playing the game like he does, like for Sam Aiken on this team, he's key.
On what Jason Whittle has brought to the offensive line…
Jason (Whittle) really gives you a comfort level. You know he can play. He has played for a long time, seen him on tape and he plays hard. He's smart and he plays three positions, really both guards and the center and that's pretty good and that's a comfort to have him on our team. As we've said from the very beginning, those three free agent signings on the offensive line hopefully will be meaningful for us as we move forward. It's got to work out of for us.
On Josh Scobey's injury…
Bud (Carpenter) felt very confident that Josh (Scobey) and Brad (Cieslak) would have a chance to be back in practice next week, so we're hopeful.