(Why didn't Charles Woodson and Al Harris play?)
We just felt that it was very important to get the young corners as much work as possible. When I put Al down I decided to put Charles down. It was done to make sure that we got enough reps with the young players and also being smart with our veterans.
(What happened to P.J. Pope?)
P.J. went down with a knee. I haven't had a chance to talk to (head trainer) Pepper (Burress) yet but (Pope) went down with a knee early in the scrimmage. I don't have a final diagnosis on him.
(What did you see out of the young corners?)
Tramon Williams had a big hit. (Will) Blackmon showed up. I got a chance to watch the defense. I have to learn to not watch the offense. That's going to be very competitive. I thought Frank Walker made a couple good plays. I'm excited to look at the film. That was our objective, to get those corners as much work as possible. The same holds for the safeties too.
(What was your impression of the first offensive group?)
I thought the play calling was exceptional. I thought the execution was good. I thought Brett (Favre) was in a good rhythm. I thought he had a polished evening. He had one mistake in the two-minute (drill). Brett looked very sharp. I liked the tempo of the first offense. I was very pleased with the performance of the first offense.
(How has the team progressed with the zone blocking scheme?)
It's obvious to all of us. Last year we had three rookies competing for two positions and we put in a new scheme. I think our guys are very comfortable. They've had a full year of training. The training in the run-blocking system is the most important, the way we do the drills, the tempo of the drills. Now you're seeing the effects on the game film. I thought the tempo and the way they get off the ball, the wedge attack, those are the things you're looking for in a zone scheme. We're clearly way ahead of where we were last year.
(How did Jackson look?)
I thought Brandon had a nice evening. He made some good plays. I'm really looking forward to see what he did in the special teams work. We had a bunch of extra work in special teams. We wanted to make sure we got a look at all of that, particularly the young guys. I thought he did some good things on offense but I want to see his special teams work too.
(Can you talk about the two-minute drives with only one field goal?)
You don't want to throw interceptions in the end zone. Brett had it at the line, the play on third-and-one. He and the receiver to the left weren't on the same page as far as the signal and he under-threw the vertical route in the back of the end zone that Nick Collins got. Aaron (Rodgers') interception was more a result of the penalties, which you can't do. I thought the actual mechanics and functioning of the drill was very good. There were throws and catches made; we were a lot more efficient. The defense was very sound and didn't panic. I thought the first two groups were very sound in the two-minutes on both sides.
(What was the problem on Favre's interception?)
Just based on the communication, I was standing behind him, it was more of an under-throw.
(How did the defense do in its tackling?)
I didn't see a bunch of missed tackles jump out at me. Those are things that I'll have a better opinion on once I watch the film. As I stand here tonight I thought it was okay. We had a couple good hits. Atari Bigby had a good form hit in the open field. We'll have that for you when we watch the film.
(Were you upset when Jackson didn't get out of bounds in the two-minute drill?)
Especially with the situation, once again, you have a guy in the open field with one player to make miss to score the touchdown. We could sit here and applaud him if he keeps his balance and goes in. The right thing to do in that situation is to go out of bounds.
[inaudible question]
Not that I recall. We had him in there with the ones. He split the time there with Noah (Herron) in the two-minute.
(What's your assessment of Rodgers?)
I thought he threw the ball very well. I thought he looked sharp. He had a couple of pressure situations. I'll know more when I watch the film. I thought on the one sack he came out a little too early. Standing behind him I thought he threw the ball very well. He threw into tight spots. His decision making was good. I think he passed up one completion on third down but I'll clarify that when I watch the film, based on the angle that I saw. I thought our first two quarterbacks were very sharp tonight. I was very pleased with both quarterbacks play.
{sportsad300}(What are you doing about the tight end situation?)
It was better than I thought it was going to be, last night when we were talking about the play time. Zac Alcorn's feet are just a mess. He really gutted it out tonight. That's the kind of kid he is. Donald Lee did some nice things and Joe (Werner's) learning as we go. We had some more three-receiver, two-backs, and four-receiver, one-back, than we normally would have in an opening scrimmage like that. But that's okay. We were very base concept on offense. On defense the most important thing was to get the execution, timing and playing the live environment. I thought the crowd was unbelievable. We wanted a little noise in the kicking competition and we got the YMCA wave going around. That was outstanding. That will be great for our kickers. I'm very pleased with the amount of work we got done tonight. I thought it was an excellent scrimmage. We got a lot more work done tonight than when I stood here last year. I feel better about our football time than I did at this time last year.
(Will you continue to use Tony Moll at tight end in goal line?)
That's what Tory (Humphrey) played last year. It didn't happen in the game. He's the fourth player in that rotation. When you get into those situations with specific personnel at this time of year, the tryouts are over. Those are decisions we made in the spring. We need to make that we're rep-ing the right guys. Tony played tight end in college. He'll be the fourth or fifth type of tight end in that situation.
(Who's winning the kicking competition?)
It's going to be a close competition. We have two very talented young kickers. Ted Thompson and I talked about the specialists in this part of the country. I think it's vital to have a strong leg for the winter months and with the wind in this part of the country. I think Dave (Rayner) and Mason (Crosby) both have that. Dave has a longer swing and can generate leg speed. Mason has a little more punch. I think it's going to be a very good competition. Hopefully we can get them some work in the game. We'll work them in practice. We might not throw as much water on them as we did the other night. It's going to be a very good competition throughout training camp.
(Did you want Rodgers to take that shot on the interception?)
The situation was two-minute and you needed a touchdown. We used the exact same situation in all three drills. There was two minutes on the clock, two timeouts left and you needed a touchdown. He had nine seconds left and took the one-on-one runner. That's what happened there.
(If it has been higher would it have been caught?)
I'll have to look at it. Two guys went up one-on-one and other guy went down. That's how I saw it. It may be different once I watch the film tomorrow. When you're throwing a go route in that situation, especially when the DB is able to play you square up with his vision to the ball, the most important thing is to hold that safety and ensure the one-on-one. It's the receiver's job to go get that football. I would say, as I stand here today, that I might have been more on the receiver. But I have to watch the film. There was a one-on-one situation there.
(Did David Clowney really score on the kickoff?)
I know someone had a hand on him because we were going thud. I was excited about it. He went really fast going down the sideline and he enjoyed it. We can't work on that enough, the open-field blocking. The biggest emphasis in the return game is finishing the blocks. We can't get enough work at that. I thought we had excellent special teams work tonight.
(What is the importance of having a good returner?)
Field position, absolutely. I thought (Shaun) Bodiford did some good things. We liked him last year in the short time we saw him before he broke his leg. David has an ability change. Blackmon's another guy. We have some good candidates that have to step up and take advantage of their opportunity.
(How is Walker playing?)
I think Frank went through an adjustment period. He's very explosive and quick. He's a tough guy. He's been a little up and down but he's right in the thick of it. We're going to have some tough choices to make here, particularly with that group of corners.
(Anyone get hurt?)
Yes, Brandon Miree had a stinger. P.J. Pope had a knee. (Abdul) Hodge and (Desmond) Bishop both had dislocated fingers.
(Do you know the severities?)
No, I haven't been in the training room yet.
(Why did you go with the ones vs. the twos instead of ones vs. ones?)
I did it that way last year. I guess it's a good way to do it. I don't have a definite reason for it.
