CoMoChief
06-20-2006, 04:26 PM
Q&A with Herm Edwards
Jun 20, 2006, 4:00:01 PM
EDWARDS: “I thought today was probably one of our better practices in the sense that I always gauge practice on how our offensive linemen and defensive linemen compete. I thought the first groups really set the tempo in practice today, and that’s what you have to do if you are going to be a better football team. You’ve got to compete within the groups they set the tempo at very competitive, but not combative, in the sense that is was physical play, but it was clean play. It was guys moving very quickly. I think when I look at this team now compared to when we started our first mini-camp; we’re in pretty good condition all of a sudden. These guys are understanding the tempo of practice and the way that they compete in practice, you can tell in the later parts of practice, how they continue to go fast and that’s very, very important. That’s what we want to be, we want to be a speed team who that is very conditioned. I think their minds are getting conditioned that that’s the way we are going to practice and so it was good to see today.”
Q: Why didn’t LB Kawika Mitchell practice?
EDWARDS: “His back tightened up on him, so we kept him out today. You’ll come out on Thursday and there will be a lot of guys, especially starters, that won’t participate a whole lot. We’re going to let those young guys have about 85 percent of the practice. We don’t want to keep holding those guys up, because we have to make some decisions. We still have to cut probably seven players before we go to camp, because we haven’t signed any of our draft choices. We’ve still got some hard decisions to make, so we want to make sure we get everyone on tape so we can evaluate them properly.”
Q: Can you talk about CB Jerald Brown?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, he was the Player of the Year in the Arena League and he’s a kid who has intercepted a lot of balls and went to a Division II school, Glenville State in West Virginia, he’s played in the Arena League a couple of years. We haven’t signed him yet, but we’re looking at him and we’ll see.”
Q: This is the first time we’ve talked to you since T John Welbourn retired. How big of a loss is that?
EDWARDS: “Obviously anytime you lose good players there is a void, but then again, I always say that when one door closes another door opens for somebody. That’s what’s good about football; you give another guy an opportunity. We have been pretty fortunate that we have a bunch of young offensive linemen. So they are going to get a chance to play and compete for a job. You hate to see good players decide to retire, but that was his choice at this point. There’s nothing to say a guy can’t un-retire and come back, I’ve seen guys do that. We’ll see what happens, but right now we’re moving on without him and we’ll see what happens.”
Q: Which draft picks have impressed you the most?
EDWARDS: “I would say that the two safeties have done a nice job for us. I’m not going to say #91 (DE Tamba Hali) because he is what he is. What you saw in college, he’s doing the same thing out here. He doesn’t impress me; we expected that out of him. Obviously some of our young receivers we drafted, they’ve done a pretty good job of flashing. There have been a couple of free agent guys who have done a pretty good job too. The young guys are getting opportunities, the coaches are doing a good job of coaching them, and they’re taking advantage of their opportunity.”
Q: How is FB Ronnie Cruz coming along, he’s got some big shoes to fill?
EDWARDS: “Yeah he does, but I think he doesn’t have to fill them by himself. There’s going to be a lot of ways that we utilize guys in that position and he’s doing very well. I think he’s enjoying the opportunity right now to maybe be the starting fullback and right now he is the starting fullback. He’s done a good job.”
Q: A lot of the veteran receivers have been out of the mix, how many receivers have a chance to make the team?
EDWARDS: “On the 53-man roster, the way it shakes out, you’ll probably going to keep four guys and you’ll probably keep a couple practice squad guys. There’s a fourth receiver who really needs to shake loose and be the guy. There’s about three or four guys in competition for that, which is good. You can justify some things right now and take a look at guys who we all know look really good in shorts, but when the pads come on all of a sudden you start getting hit and the guys that maybe aren’t as athletic show up a little bit more. At the end, I’ve always said that we are going to keep the best 53 players and that’s what we get to evaluate when the preseason starts.”
Q: What’s your take on WR Dante Hall, is he focusing more on the special teams side?
EDWARDS: “No, he’s going to the get the ball in our offense, trust me. He’s not going to be just a punt returner. He’s too explosive; we need to get the ball in his hands. And we say that he’s too small, I don’t think he’s too small, I believe you just need to design plays for the guy, get him in space. If we get him in space in the secondary, he’s hard to tackle, so he can make big plays. Obviously we’d like teams to punt five or six times and maybe he can return three for sure and get some positive yardage. Then we need to get him the ball on offense three or four times a game. You need him to touch the ball because he’s a home run guy, and he can make guys miss. He understands that he’s going to be part of this offense.”
Q: Is there any chance you go with five receivers or is four the number that you like?
EDWARDS: “For now it’s the best 53, but if the fifth guy is a better special teams guy then say a linebacker or a defensive back, then you keep five, but at the end you’re only going to dress 46. 53 is the number you have to get and there’s a lot of way you can get to that number.”
Q: How concerned are you about the time off for the guys before training camp?
EDWARDS: “Well that’s the whole key. I think when you look at (Colts coach) Tony Dungy and those guys, they were done last week. So he’s generally on the same schedule that I am, it’s just he didn’t give them week off, he’s a week ahead and they won’t come back until July. We’ve always been on this schedule; I’ve always done it this way. What we’re going to do is make sure some of these rookies stay here a little longer and I think the veteran guys understand the tempo that’s going to be demanded of them when we come to camp. So I’ve got a feeling that when they come to camp, they know right now, ‘hey I’m not coming into camp to get into shape, if I’m not in shape I’m in trouble.’ They’ve got themselves into a pretty good position now without pads. I think for the most part, these guys will come into camp and they’ll be ready to go.”
Q: T Kevin Sampson is a guy who has been a starter in the past and then he got hurt, how is he looking in there?
EDWARDS: “He’s done a pretty good job and he’s battling in there to continue to try and start. That’s good competition at that position. You’re right, he was a starter and that’s a good thing. We’ve got some guys who have played a lot of football on our offensive line, which is good and we’ve got some guys who can play a couple positions, which is good, too.”
Jun 20, 2006, 4:00:01 PM
EDWARDS: “I thought today was probably one of our better practices in the sense that I always gauge practice on how our offensive linemen and defensive linemen compete. I thought the first groups really set the tempo in practice today, and that’s what you have to do if you are going to be a better football team. You’ve got to compete within the groups they set the tempo at very competitive, but not combative, in the sense that is was physical play, but it was clean play. It was guys moving very quickly. I think when I look at this team now compared to when we started our first mini-camp; we’re in pretty good condition all of a sudden. These guys are understanding the tempo of practice and the way that they compete in practice, you can tell in the later parts of practice, how they continue to go fast and that’s very, very important. That’s what we want to be, we want to be a speed team who that is very conditioned. I think their minds are getting conditioned that that’s the way we are going to practice and so it was good to see today.”
Q: Why didn’t LB Kawika Mitchell practice?
EDWARDS: “His back tightened up on him, so we kept him out today. You’ll come out on Thursday and there will be a lot of guys, especially starters, that won’t participate a whole lot. We’re going to let those young guys have about 85 percent of the practice. We don’t want to keep holding those guys up, because we have to make some decisions. We still have to cut probably seven players before we go to camp, because we haven’t signed any of our draft choices. We’ve still got some hard decisions to make, so we want to make sure we get everyone on tape so we can evaluate them properly.”
Q: Can you talk about CB Jerald Brown?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, he was the Player of the Year in the Arena League and he’s a kid who has intercepted a lot of balls and went to a Division II school, Glenville State in West Virginia, he’s played in the Arena League a couple of years. We haven’t signed him yet, but we’re looking at him and we’ll see.”
Q: This is the first time we’ve talked to you since T John Welbourn retired. How big of a loss is that?
EDWARDS: “Obviously anytime you lose good players there is a void, but then again, I always say that when one door closes another door opens for somebody. That’s what’s good about football; you give another guy an opportunity. We have been pretty fortunate that we have a bunch of young offensive linemen. So they are going to get a chance to play and compete for a job. You hate to see good players decide to retire, but that was his choice at this point. There’s nothing to say a guy can’t un-retire and come back, I’ve seen guys do that. We’ll see what happens, but right now we’re moving on without him and we’ll see what happens.”
Q: Which draft picks have impressed you the most?
EDWARDS: “I would say that the two safeties have done a nice job for us. I’m not going to say #91 (DE Tamba Hali) because he is what he is. What you saw in college, he’s doing the same thing out here. He doesn’t impress me; we expected that out of him. Obviously some of our young receivers we drafted, they’ve done a pretty good job of flashing. There have been a couple of free agent guys who have done a pretty good job too. The young guys are getting opportunities, the coaches are doing a good job of coaching them, and they’re taking advantage of their opportunity.”
Q: How is FB Ronnie Cruz coming along, he’s got some big shoes to fill?
EDWARDS: “Yeah he does, but I think he doesn’t have to fill them by himself. There’s going to be a lot of ways that we utilize guys in that position and he’s doing very well. I think he’s enjoying the opportunity right now to maybe be the starting fullback and right now he is the starting fullback. He’s done a good job.”
Q: A lot of the veteran receivers have been out of the mix, how many receivers have a chance to make the team?
EDWARDS: “On the 53-man roster, the way it shakes out, you’ll probably going to keep four guys and you’ll probably keep a couple practice squad guys. There’s a fourth receiver who really needs to shake loose and be the guy. There’s about three or four guys in competition for that, which is good. You can justify some things right now and take a look at guys who we all know look really good in shorts, but when the pads come on all of a sudden you start getting hit and the guys that maybe aren’t as athletic show up a little bit more. At the end, I’ve always said that we are going to keep the best 53 players and that’s what we get to evaluate when the preseason starts.”
Q: What’s your take on WR Dante Hall, is he focusing more on the special teams side?
EDWARDS: “No, he’s going to the get the ball in our offense, trust me. He’s not going to be just a punt returner. He’s too explosive; we need to get the ball in his hands. And we say that he’s too small, I don’t think he’s too small, I believe you just need to design plays for the guy, get him in space. If we get him in space in the secondary, he’s hard to tackle, so he can make big plays. Obviously we’d like teams to punt five or six times and maybe he can return three for sure and get some positive yardage. Then we need to get him the ball on offense three or four times a game. You need him to touch the ball because he’s a home run guy, and he can make guys miss. He understands that he’s going to be part of this offense.”
Q: Is there any chance you go with five receivers or is four the number that you like?
EDWARDS: “For now it’s the best 53, but if the fifth guy is a better special teams guy then say a linebacker or a defensive back, then you keep five, but at the end you’re only going to dress 46. 53 is the number you have to get and there’s a lot of way you can get to that number.”
Q: How concerned are you about the time off for the guys before training camp?
EDWARDS: “Well that’s the whole key. I think when you look at (Colts coach) Tony Dungy and those guys, they were done last week. So he’s generally on the same schedule that I am, it’s just he didn’t give them week off, he’s a week ahead and they won’t come back until July. We’ve always been on this schedule; I’ve always done it this way. What we’re going to do is make sure some of these rookies stay here a little longer and I think the veteran guys understand the tempo that’s going to be demanded of them when we come to camp. So I’ve got a feeling that when they come to camp, they know right now, ‘hey I’m not coming into camp to get into shape, if I’m not in shape I’m in trouble.’ They’ve got themselves into a pretty good position now without pads. I think for the most part, these guys will come into camp and they’ll be ready to go.”
Q: T Kevin Sampson is a guy who has been a starter in the past and then he got hurt, how is he looking in there?
EDWARDS: “He’s done a pretty good job and he’s battling in there to continue to try and start. That’s good competition at that position. You’re right, he was a starter and that’s a good thing. We’ve got some guys who have played a lot of football on our offensive line, which is good and we’ve got some guys who can play a couple positions, which is good, too.”