(Any injuries?)
Injuries, we just had Ruvell Martin with a blow to the head. We just kept him out as a precaution. Just seeing him briefly, it looks like he's going to be OK.
(Was it a concussion?)
I wouldn't say that. I think he's going to be OK.
(What did you think of Aaron Rodgers' performance?)
I thought Aaron did a number of solid things. There was a lot of productivity on offense. I didn't like the start of the whole offense as a unit on the first series with a false start. We had a mental error that resulted in a sack and then we had a dropped ball for an interception. But other than that, I liked the tempo. I thought the productivity was there. I thought Aaron did a very good job with the mechanical part of the game. I thought he threw the ball off his back foot with accuracy. I thought he was decisive. I thought he put together a good performance for us to build off of. Now there's going to be things I'm sure tomorrow, like there always is, it is preseason game number one and we'll correct it accordingly and make sure we build on the positives and fix the things that need to be corrected.
(Aaron is a little bit of an unknown to fans, but do you think tonight maybe they saw some of the things that you guys have seen?)
I would think so. I thought it was a testament to our fans and the kind of fans that we have just when the offense took the field for the first time, the standing ovation. I think that speaks volumes about the Green Bay Packer fans. There's no one that follows the team like our fans do, so they'll watch every move that he makes as well as everybody else on the roster, and they'll learn a lot about our younger players. I think that's more of a product of being a younger football team with younger players playing.
(Could you tell what happened on the play where he overthrew Jones a little?)
Nah, I usually watch the protection and those types of things. I thought we picked it up well and they definitely had the opportunity.
(How would you characterize the backup quarterback spot? Is it an open competition?)
I would think it's a starting point for both of our rookies. We knew coming into the preseason that we had a lot of work to do there. There are going to be things, and I just know from my vantage point, that Brian did some really good things in the game. And we'll build off of that. He was in a bad spot there on his first play of the game on the interception. The route progression wasn't what it was supposed to be and that's something where you have to have the discipline to move on to the next receiver. He will definitely learn from that situation. But once again, the productivity was there. Was it clean? No, it wasn't clean, but there's a number of factors going on. We'll get that cleaned up and I think it was a very good solid first step for the whole quarterback position.
(What is the pecking order of quarterbacks?)
We played one game. There's competition throughout our whole football team. We'll make sure every position is ready to go with more depth than we've ever had here as a football team. The quarterback position has obviously changed. Experience is not the strength like it has been here in the past. Like I said, we have a lot of work to do.
(How would you characterize Aaron's poise, perseverance and temperament?)
I understand the attention around his performance tonight and him playing tonight. But I saw Aaron as like he is every day. I thought he went out there and played with excellent energy, which I always recall him playing with. I think he's done a really good job being consistent. I understand the microscope is on him with all the attention, but those are really external forces that we can't really pay attention to. It was our first preseason game. We were excited as a football team to play a very good team. We have a lot of respect for the Bengals and Marvin Lewis and his coaching staff. We knew the work tonight was something we could definitely benefit from and that's what we'll do tomorrow when we get in here.
(Did he throw the ball exactly where he was supposed to on the interception?)
Yes, it was the primary receiver. It looked like it was a good throw.
{sportsad300}(What was your reaction to Jones' touchdown when his helmet came off?)
It was probably good for national TV. But James Jones is another example of a young player that had an opportunity to play a lot last year and has done a really good job throughout the offseason. I was just very pleased with his play tonight. James is a very powerful young man, especially at the receiver position. You're probably going to see more of him on special teams to. It was a big play in the game. For him to keep his composure and to finish the run after the catch, I think it was a testament to him.
(How about Brandon Jackson?)
Same thing. I thought his second reaction, just breaking tackles, that is the Brandon Jackson that we all know and have watched grow up in front of us, so I think you'll see more of that as we go forward.
(How did the offensive line play tonight?)
That's the hardest group to evaluate without watching film, to be honest. But if you look at the statistics we had too many sacks, so that's something that we'll look at, whether that's the quarterback or the protection units. But I think we're off to a solid start. I'm not jumping up and down. We didn't win the game, number one. Number two, the turnover ratio, we came up on the short side of that. That's not what we're looking for as a football team. We had too many sacks as on offense. Those are negative plays that really factor into your performance and the outcome. But there's a lot of productivity in all three phases and that's what we'll build off of and we'll correct the other things and make sure we don't make the same mistakes twice.
(How did the running backs perform as a group in general?)
I thought number one, Brandon had a nice evening. Noah Herron did some good things with his opportunities. It's good to see him back after missing last year. He's a smart player, always in the right place. Lumpkin did some good things, except for the fumble. DeShawn didn't really get started. He had a slight ankle injury so we held them back. The fullbacks, I really didn't get to watch those guys.
(On the first sack on the blitz, was that Jackson's fault?)
It was a breakdown in communication which resulted in not picking the protection up. So based on who communicated and who didn't get it, those are things you iron out when you watch the film.
