Mike McCarthy press conference - Friday, December 1, 2006
OK, I'll start with the injury report. Nick Collins - we're going to upgrade him to questionable. He did practice today. Mark Tauscher will stay the same. He did not practice today, so he's doubtful. Ben Taylor did practice today, so we'll move him up to questionable. Nick Barnett practiced again today. He looks good. David Martin did not practice today, so he stays the same. P.J. Pope did not practice today, so he'll stay the same at questionable. Chad Clifton is still probable; he practiced. Favre is fine; he practiced. Ahman Green practiced, and he practiced also. Cullen Jenkins, frankly, you can take him off because he's over his illness. Charles Woodson practiced today, and he looks like he's ready to go.
(What did you see from Collins? Hopeful he can go?)
I'm more interested to see what they say in the training room now. In talking with Pepper after practice, he felt good from what he saw. We'll see with the soreness probably tomorrow morning, but it was good to see him get out there and go.
(How important is his presence?)
Well, he's a starter. He's a playmaker, a decision maker for us back there. I think he's an up-and-coming player not only for our football team but in the NFL. He's a big part of our secondary.
(What do you do if he can't go?)
Bigby had an excellent week in practice, and also Culver did a nice job. We're talking about all those guys. We're holding out to see if Nick (Collins) goes, but we haven't made a final decision on which way we'll go there.
(How much was Collins able to do?)
I didn't count the reps, but he didn't take the whole thing. He was limited. He felt good. Friday's practice as you know, particularly in the back end, they are taught to avoid the collisions. He looked like he broke on the ball well. I was more interested to see him make the adjustments and the things for the particular game plan. He looked like he moved fine.
(Barnett ahead of where he was last week?)
He's clearly ahead of where he was last week. He feels good about it. We talked at the beginning of practice about it. He's more concerned with what it looks like as far as the way he's using it. Heck, he broke up another pass or two today, and he's moving very well. I think he's just got to get used to it because it is fairly large.
(Will he have to wear the club on his season for the remainder of the season?)
My understanding is that it will get smaller as he moves on. I would estimate that he'd probably wear some form of protection throughout the remainder of the season.
(What did you hear from the NFL about the Jenkins hit?)
We go through that every week as far as the report. I had an opportunity to talk to Mike (Pereira) up in the league office. As we all know, those conversations are confidential. I was comfortable with our conversation, and we talked through a number of things that went on in the game.
(Does it matter at this point?)
Frankly, I'm not one to really get caught up in what was called and what wasn't called because that doesn't fall under the category of things you can control. I can't control that. I'm more interested in the procedures of how you go about game day officiating and the whole process of everyone being on the same page and getting it right. My job is to make sure it's communicated to the players properly in training in these tough officiating situations. When something like that happens, you have a problem. I'm more interested in getting it right from a communication standpoint, and that was really the basis of our conversation.
(From that, are you going to be teaching anything different?)
No, I think Cullen Jenkins was fine.
(Did they reiterate what they want to stress on that play?)
We talked more about specifics in that play - what we've seen and so forth.
(Where was Cullen wrong on that play?)
Frankly, I don't need to go there. I don't know what the limits are, and I don't want to dangle on the line. I was comfortable with our conversation.
{sportsad300}(How has Jon Ryan held up the last few days?)
Jon is going through a tough time with his personal situation. I don't feel it's my place to talk about people's personal situations, but his father did pass this morning. He's dealing with that, and we're dealing with that. He did practice today, and I hope you can respect where he's at today in lieu of what he's going through. That's where he is as far as his personal situation. I think he's held up extremely well. We had a conversation this morning, and we're doing everything in his best interests and his family's best interests.
(Do you think you will have him Sunday?)
Based on our conversation, I anticipate him playing Sunday. That's still open.
(Would Ingle Martin be your punter without him?)
Ingle Martin would be our punter. I'd feel just like I felt about every other guy that's had to play; that's the way you go. I'll be honest: I've been impressed with Ingle Martin. I didn't realize he was that good of a punter. Doing it in a game is a different story. We're all aware of that. He definitely has some natural punting talent and ability.
(How much of a role does the team play in a situation like this?)
In establishing a program and how you deal with situations, I stand up in front of players, and I've told them since day one, when it comes to personal issues it's clearly family first. That's how we approached Jon's situation. I can't speak for him, but I'm sure he appreciates what we've done. These are things that take a back seat to nothing. That's been our outlook during his struggle.
(Did you encourage him in either way ?)
I think that's a conversation for him and his family. We talked about it, and I'll respect any decision he has. Once again, it's clearly family first when you are dealing with family situations like that. That will be our priority.
