(Are you concerned about Charles?)
Charles Woodson was excused today for a personal matter. He'll be back and ready to go tomorrow.
(Did Newhouse hurt his back at practice?)
Yeah, Marshall hurt his back yesterday at practice and we had to hold him today.
(It doesn't look like a long-term thing?)
Marshall? I don't think so.
(Did Poppinga have his knee surgery the other day?)
Yes. Brady had knee surgery. Actually they found a little more than we expected, so he'll obviously be out for the next couple weeks. But we're gathering more information on the long-term diagnosis for Brady.
(Did Chillar bounce back well?)
I thought he practiced good today. I watched Brandon a bunch. He's making progress.
(What's your feel for Clay after two days?)
Clay participated in some of the team periods today, so he's also progressing, and we'll see where he is tomorrow. We're heading in the right direction, that's for sure.
(On Monday you said Tauscher was a ways away. Out there now, is he just trying to get acclimated?)
Well, he's been working in pads all week just to work with the shoulder harness. He's making progress also. If I had to put him in a category for this week, I would say he's between questionable and doubtful.
(Is that a pain thing or needing to get strength back in the shoulder?)
All those types of injuries are pain issues, but it's really the strength. Strength of the joint. Anytime you have a joint issue, it's to get the stability back to where he can compete at a normal level.
(The forecast for Sunday is iffy, possibly rain all day …)
40 percent.
(How does that affect things? Do you have two game plans ready?)
I don't think it really affects you as much as I think people think it does, because it depends on the type of rain. I've played in storms where just the exchange was an issue. I don't see that type of forecast. You really adjust on the move with that. You always have a bad-weather plan within your plan. I don't turn a page on my call sheet and go in that direction. I've seen it done that way, but it's really the plan within the plan, your bad-weather plan. That's a weekly conversation anytime you play outside.
(Do you always keep close tabs on the weather?)
Yeah, but it's like anything else in this business. It changes every day.
(You haven't played too much in bad weather …)
No, we haven't in our time here.
(Are you still doing the wet ball drill?)
Periodically. In training camp we do it once a week, and it's always something you hit on the bye week and so forth. I think you see that we spend a lot of time on quarterback-center exchange. It's an emphasis that we do every day. So I'm comfortable with the amount of time that those guys spend doing that.
(What's your concern level with Driver?)
You always count on Donald, and we were actually talking before practice. He hasn't missed too many practice days in his career. He tells me he's going to be ready, and I trust Donald. We'll see where he is tomorrow. Knowing his history, he'll probably want to get some work tomorrow.
(Did that spring up in practice last week or was it something different from the game?)
It was a carry-over. It's been bothering him for a while, and it flared up on him in practice and then it happened again in the game.
(What's the outlook on Al and Atari, and when will you make a decision?)
Going day to day. Atari had a nice interception in practice today. Al I think has looked more and more comfortable. He's still jumping routes, particularly in the team periods. It's good to have them out there. But I had a chance to watch them on film. We'll continue to evaluate those guys, day to day, week to week.
(When's the latest you could activate them? Saturday?)
Yeah, Saturday would be the day we'd do it.
