(Have you received any feedback on how things went with Nick Barnett?)
Nick Barnett was in Indianapolis this morning. I have not talked to Nick personally. I would assume Dr. McKenzie and the specialist have spoken at some time this morning. I do not have the information on how the visit was going. When I was going into the team meeting, Nick was actually going into testing down there. I'm sure I'll have more information this afternoon and will have an opportunity to sit down with Nick Barnett.
(You have Tauscher as doubtful so you're not ruling him out. Where is he at?)
Mark's doubtful. He's getting stronger. Mark's played a lot of football here. I trust him. If he walked up to me Sunday morning and said he could play, then I would go that way. But T.J. Lang and Bryan have both been preparing to go at right tackle, so that's what we'll discuss when we get upstairs. We'll let those guys know in the morning which direction we're going to go.
(Did you find anything out from Chillar's MRI yesterday?)
Feeling better. Got some positive feedback from his second opinion. I talked to Brandon on the field before practice, and he feels like he's making progress. Do not have a timetable.
(Have you ever had a week as challenging as this, with the number of injuries?)
This is high, no question. It's been a real challenge for the defensive staff, when you try to build your packages on Monday night and Tuesday and then you probably want to times that by five for the special teams. That's really the real challenge. Shawn Slocum is the one who's affected most by these injuries. But once again, no excuses. Everybody goes through it. We just have had a lot come on us so fast. I think the coaches have done a good job of trying to train the players in the different areas of game-planning, trying to cover ourselves and still … I feel very confident about the game plan going into Washington. I thought our practices were productive. We've had to cut them back short, our numbers are down. But I think overall, walking off the field today, I thought it was a quality week of work.
(Long term, are you concerned about how many more injuries your team can absorb and still be a top-notch team?)
I don't concern myself with that. To me, injuries, you feel terrible on a personal level. You don't want to see anybody get hurt because you know how much they put into it and I have such respect for what these men do for a living and what they put themselves through. But my responsibility is to forge forward at all times and make sure we're ready to win games, and that's the way I view it. I'm just hoping that this is our stretch of injuries that we're going through. I'm taking a positive outlook on the situation. We've had a lot here for the first four weeks of the season.
(Where do you think Peprah is at?)
Really, I need to visit with Charlie. I'm curious to see how he came out of today's practice. Charlie, and really the safety, the outside linebacker position, and right tackle, that will be the first few topics we talk about in our game-management meeting. Then in the morning we'll be able to make sure we are set and we'll set our course of who is starting and then how that trickles into special teams.
(If Peprah is healthy, will he start?)
Charlie will have a chance. He is definitely a candidate to start
(He said he is light years of where he was at a couple of years ago; do you see that?)
I would definitely agree with that. I think that was really the way it showed up during training camp, and that's why he is on our football team. I thought Charlie came back and really just took full advantage of his opportunity. He had a really good command of the defense, particularly from a communication standpoint. Playing safety back there, you are pretty much like a quarterback on offense, and that's been a strength of Charlie's since he came back to our football team. That was really a big part of why he made our football team. He's been a good special teams player for us in the past, and we've just got to get him healthy.
(Do you feel good about Nick Collins?)
I feel good about Nick, he practiced today. Charles practiced today, so I have a lot of confidence in those guys. They are veteran players that are able to do what they need to do during the course of the week to get their bodies ready to play. Nick is just going through a tough spot with that knee right now.
(Is Shields quite a ways away from playing?)
He is out this week; that's all I can tell you. I talked to him before practice and he feels like he is making progress. We'll see where he is on Monday.
(What is your confidence level in Bishop?)
Oh, I have a lot of confidence in Desmond. Desmond has been very productive with his opportunities that he has been given in the past, and we will not change anything from an approach standpoint as far as the way we play defense with A.J. and Desmond in there. We're not stepping back. We feel very confident with both of those guys in there.
(What have you decided at kickoff returner?)
Jordy Nelson and Pat (Lee) will be the two kickoff returners, but Jordy will get the nod there.
(Is there a specific thing you tell your team about dealing with all of these injuries?)
I don't even talk about it. Don't blink. I address injuries back in the beginning. It's part of the game. We don't talk about, heck, nobody is going to feel sorry for you. It's an unfortunate part of our business. You do not want to see players get injured because how much they do commit to playing in a season, and particularly when you see a player's season come to an end and you know what he has gone through since March, particularly with all of the offseason and so forth. But it's part of the game, it's part of our business. I don't really talk about it.
