OK, I'll start with the injuries. Brett Goode had a blow to the head and did not return, and Brett Swain had a bruised knee and he did return. With that I'll take your questions.
(What did you think of the two punters given the opportunities they had tonight?)
I really didn't watch the actual punting during any particular play; I was really watching the protection because of having a new snapper in there, but that's definitely something we want to evaluate tonight and tomorrow and make sure we do our due diligence.
(Did you like the way Matt Flynn played tonight?)
I like Matt Flynn. I thought Matt has put together a fine preseason, and I thought he did a good job of keeping us in good plays tonight at the line of scrimmage. I thought he missed some throws early in the game where he did not quite have his feet set, but I thought overall for his three quarters he did a very good job.
(Did you turn over the play-calling duties tonight?)
Joe Philbin called the offensive plays tonight and I thought he was a juggernaut, and I am not going to let him do it again because he is too good.
(How did you think Jason Chery handled his opportunities tonight?)
With Jason, I need to watch the tape. Anytime you're in a perimeter position, and you're handling the football, you always start, number one [with ball security], and ball security was not a positive tonight. I thought he did a pretty good job of making the first guy miss, and from the view that I have, I don't know how many opportunities we really gave him as far as the blocking unit in front of him, so we'll take a close look at that.
(Did you gather the information you were looking for to make some of the tough decisions on the roster?)
We have a lot of information, and from that we're going to have to make a decision. Would you like to have more in some instances? I don't really view it that way. We came into Kansas City to win the football game, and we came here to make sure we gave a lot of people as many opportunities as we possibly could, and I thought we accomplished that. The offense played 70-plus plays tonight, the defense had an opportunity to play against the no-huddle, to play against the Wildcat, and our special teams we were able to get more reps in the punt, punt protection and punt contest and we felt like we maxed our opportunities out in the preseason games and from that we'll be able to make the right decisions.
(That said, what do you think Chery's chances are of making the team?)
I'm not picking any roster tonight and I'm not going to get into the roundabout questions. We'll evaluate it and we'll make the decisions. I thought we gave him opportunities that he did not have prior to this game and with that, we'll evaluate it and we'll see where we are.
(How difficult are the next few days with the cuts and things like that?)
It's tough and I think it's the worst time of the year for me personally, and for our whole personnel staff and coaching staff. We spend a lot of time with these players, we're fond of these players and I thought it was the most competitive camp from a personnel standpoint and just the whole environment it has created down there on Nitschke Field. I've been very pleased with the process; I think training camp is the final chapter of the process that starts in March and I liked the amount of work that was done and the way it was done and the information we were able to gain out of that. So with that, we'll form our 2010 team and I'm excited to get to Monday, but between now and then there are tough days for everybody.
(What was it that ultimately led you guys to take Goode out of the game?)
Well, it's a doctor evaluation there. I know they got to him right away and then he was able to go two more plays after that and the doctors felt that it was time for him to go. It's a cut and dried system, and if it's a medical decision, they don't play; there are never any ifs and buts and whats.
(What went into the decision with Rodgers, Clifton and Woodson, and do you feel good coming out of here with healthy starters?)
Clearly a coach's decision. It's something I think about all the time and I feel we came out of the game relatively healthy. Tomorrow morning always gives you a truer picture of the health of your football team. Frankly, with the locker room being kind of small and having a 75-man roster and the ability to have better treatment at home, just our setup there, all those type of factors factor into the decision to leave the number of players home that we did.
(Do you feel ready for the regular season?)
Oh, we're ready. We have no choice. We're ready.
(Where is Will Blackmon with his knee?)
He's had a setback. I'll have more information when we get back. Hopefully he's had productive rehab the last couple days.
(This is potentially something serious if he's had a setback?)
He's coming off a major surgery, and if you sat in on the doctor meetings, this all falls in the normal protocol, particularly a perimeter player that had a significant injury to his knee. He's going through a tough spot right now.
(How will you do the cuts? Do you do a lot of face-to-face stuff?)
I've talked to every single player that's been released in my time here.
