(Give us the status on Tory Humphrey)
Tory has an ankle (injury). I'll have a final analysis when I see Dr. McKenzie. I know they sent him up there for x-rays and so forth, so I'll get the final analysis when I get up there.
(Are you thinking the worst on that?)
It didn't look very good. He was in a lot of pain, so we'll see what happens.
(Did you see the play?)
I did not see him specifically, so I don't know if he was in space. He was on the edge, and the feedback that I got was that he was in space, so obviously the film will show us clearly what happened.
(Not a position where you can afford to lose someone, especially this early)
Individually, you feel bad for Tory because of the type of spring he's had. I feel bad for him, but once again it's a part of our game. It's unfortunate but it just gives guys other opportunities. So we'll see how long he'll be out, and we'll clear that picture up. You hate to see something like that happen anytime, but more importantly on the first day.
(What did the doctors say about Harrell when they examined him?)
He passed his physical so he's able to practice; that's a positive. The weight and the feedback from the strength staff and the medical staff, they felt he was ready to go.
(How long is it going to take to get him up to full speed?)
I'll have more information after the film today. We actually got a lot of work done with Justin in the OTAs at the end of practice, so he had a lot of individual work. Once again, there's nothing like the padded group work, and all of our rookies need as much work as possible.
(He wasn't quite ready to go with the 1's today?)
We talked about it yesterday - I'm not real concerned who runs out there and who doesn't, especially four defensive tackles practicing right now.
(What were your first impressions of Harrell today?)
(I) didn't watch him a whole lot because of my involvement with the offense. I had a chance to see him a little bit in the individual drills, but he's everything we thought he was. At 320 pounds, he'll be a physical presence in there. I'm glad we have him.
(Is he behind in conditioning or strength because of his limitations?)
I don't think any rookie really knows exactly what it's like until they get into the heat of an NFL camp. Our tempo today was outstanding. We finished the practice 13 minutes ahead of schedule, so that's the type of conditioning none of our players have really gone through and that's what they refer to when they talk about being in 'football shape'. I'm sure like all of our rookies, it will be an adjustment for him.
(Why was Donald Driver in shorts?)
Donald Driver did not pass his physical. He has a reoccurring injury with the shoulder that he hurt last year, so he'll be day-to-day.
(Do you expect him back soon? Are you concerned?)
I'm not concerned because I think like all of us know that Donald keeps himself in excellent shape all year round. This is something that bothered him coming into camp, so we're just being cautious him.
{sportsad300}(Pickett and Jolly?)
Pickett and Jolly - we put them on NFI (non-football injury). Their conditioning was not where it needed to be. They are day-to-day; they have not passed their physical.
(Is that the running test?)
Exactly, that's part of the physical. We have the medical part with the medical staff just like everybody else, and passing the run test is part of that.
(Are you disappointed?)
I'm not happy about it.
(DeShawn Wynn?)
DeShawn Wynn is also NFI with an illness. He has a pretty significant stomach virus, so we're trying to get him healthy.
(Is there any type of injury to Pickett?)
No.
(Were Favre's reps about where they'll be?)
Last time I counted, we try to keep him under 50 throws. That has kind of been the history with Brett over the last 10 years I guess. Last I checked he was in the low 40s, so that's about a normal day of work for him.
(Any feedback with the shoulder?)
I did not get any feedback.
(What did you think of the first day with the running backs?)
It's always good to see them in pads, especially with the team run and see them pour it up in there. I like what I saw from putting their foot down and accelerating through the crease. I thought they all did a pretty good job of that. The decision making is something you always grade. I thought we missed a couple of them, but I thought it was a group that did a nice job. Vernand Morency had a knee there at the end, so we'll see how he feels when we get up top, but as a group I thought they got off to a good start.
(Brandon is supposed to be pretty good catching out of the backfield. Did he just have a rough go of it today?)
A lot of that is timing. I don't think it reflects on his ability to catch the ball. He has shown good hands. This is real football. This is as close as we can get to live games, and I think you'll see all the little things that need to be worked on.
(Were you champing at the bit to get out here today?)
This is what it's all about. This is the environment you like to work in. I've got a wire on, I can't wait to take it off. That's the part I don't like. But this is definitely where I like to be. This is what you wait for. This is the first of our installation, fundamental stage. We'll find out a lot about our football team. It was exciting to be out here today. I really missed the group hug thing here, too. It's been a while.
(Are you mixing and matching in the backfield with the fullbacks and halfbacks, or are you just throwing guys in to fill spots?)
That's a good question. We're doing two halfbacks, and we're looking for the versatility of the halfback that can play the fullback. Because we don't go out and run the power scheme all day, so it isn't like we need to have that pounding fullback. It's the same philosophy with the tight ends. The more they can do, the more flexibility they have, and it carries over to special teams. That's something we've been doing more here of late.
(The way you ended last season, is there still some carry-over with the guys?)
I think it's very obvious, just the energy in the air. The energy we had in the meetings yesterday. Everybody is excited I think as a whole. I think our football team came back at a very high level of conditioning. I'm excited about that. I thought the enthusiasm was good here today. The execution level was high because you didn't see a lot of repeated plays and things like that. We had too many pre-snap penalties. We had six pre-snap penalties, four drops. Those are things we have to continue to work on. I thought we got off to a good start, and there's a lot of energy in the air. It's a great opportunity and we're going to take full advantage of it.
(When you addressed the team yesterday, how would you sum up your message?)
Really three steps. Clearly identified the destination, and that's to win the world's championship. Identify the direction that we're going to take to win the world's championship, and the discipline that's going to be involved to win that world championship.
