(Good to have B.J. back out there?)
Nice to have B.J. out here. I thought he got off to a good start out today. I'm curious to see what it looks like on film. The big test will be how he feels in the morning. The information leading up to today's practice, they meaning the strength and conditioning staff feel he is in good shape. But we've just got to be smart with his reps in this first week.
(How will you limit his reps?)
The plan for B.J. this week, he would be in a one-a-day mindset, so tomorrow he will practice in the evening. He will not practice in the morning. Just with his reps in the team period, if it is a 10-play period, he'll probably have three to four reps. Once again, just want to build up his reps as we go through the week. Hopefully if everything goes as planned, we'll maybe see him against Buffalo.
(Do you think Barnett is still a week away from getting ready for a game?)
Nick's plan is to go through the individual this week, the one-a-day schedule. We really do not want him in any potential pileups, meaning the team drills. We'll go through Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, Friday with Nick and we'll evaluate him and then have a plan for him next week. I do not see him playing against Buffalo.
(Did he go through another physical?)
Passed his physical today; that's why he was out there today.
(Same with Brad Jones?)
Brad Jones passed his physical today. We'll put him on a one-a-day schedule, very similar plan to B.J. Raji.
(Could Raji play on Saturday?)
Potentially play against Buffalo, yes.
(Anything from the film on Saturday night jump out at you?)
The positives I felt were the tempo that our team played in Week 1. The game management was a positive pretty much all the way through. I thought the defense was excellent, especially for the first time taking the field as a staff and as a team as far as their substitutions and so forth. I thought we controlled the line of scrimmage on both sides of the ball. There is always the little things, the technical aspect that we need to improve on. The pre-snap penalties were unacceptable, five pre-snap penalties, and too many mental errors were the negatives. That's what we worked on today. Today was pretty much a correction of Cleveland game in our jog-through and some of our pre-practice periods, so we're going to just keep cleaning that up and getting ready for Buffalo on Thursday.
(Can you talk about Lumpkin and Sutton and how hard it will be for them to make the team?)
They are both very strong runners as far as their lower halves, Sutton in particular. He has excellent lower body strength. I think they both see the hole very well. Lumpkin definitely benefits from being a year. He is very comfortable in all aspects of what we ask him to do. You can see him pick up the harder blitzes in the blitz pickup. Sutton still needs to work on that. He needs some experience in that area, but I think they are both very young players that have been very productive with their opportunities.
(What is James Jones' injury?)
James Jones has a hamstring injury.
(Did it happen in the game?)
In the game, yes.
(Was Giacomini taking more reps with the No. 1 line today?)
Yes, we're basically splitting the reps between Allen and Breno. That's an adjustment we made for today's practice, coming off the film evaluation.
(Was that based off of the game film?)
Well, just not the one game. It's something we've been building up to, and we feel it's time to split those two guys down the middle and compete.
(Is that a function of the improvement that Giacomini has shown?)
I'd say it's a function of the improvement of Breno because of where he started at the beginning of training camp. He was coming off of the injury list and was in the one-a-day mindset when he started camp, and he's really picked it up. I think Allen has been very solid. We feel comfortable with Allen. There's some technical things he needs to work on as far as his game evaluation, but I think he's been pretty consistent and very physical. I thought his back-side blocking was something that was well-done. He was a big participant in that in this particular game. I think it's going to be a very good competition as we move forward here in the next couple weeks.
{sportsad300}(Are you thinking of starting Giacomini on Saturday?)
I don't have an answer for you yet on the starting position, particularly right tackle, for Saturday.
(What are you thinking about the reps at center?)
Just trying to keep that as balanced as we've been up to this point. Scott had a winning performance and Jason Spitz had a winning performance, so that's a very tight competition.
(How do Clay Matthews and Jeremy Thompson look for this week?)
I'd say questionable if you're looking to put a tag on it. It's not where they are, it's just that they're injuries that are re-occurring. The medical staff has to be cautious with both of those guys.
(How about James Jones?)
I don't have an answer for you. He's in a day-to-day classification.
(Will Havner's versatility help him in his bid to make the roster?)
No question. Spencer Havner played very well on special teams. He had the one miscue on offense early in the game, but played well on defense for practicing at outside linebacker I think two practices. Spencer is definitely making a case to be on the football team.
(So could he be a two-way player during the regular season?)
That's what we're training him to do. Three-way player.
