(Is Morency good to go?)
Yes. Mo will go.
(What about Miree?)
He struggled a little bit today, so we'll wait and see.
(Is Morency available for the normal amount of carries he had before he got hurt, or will he be limited in any way?)
The pace of the game will declare that more than anything. But Noah has done a good job. It's good to have him back.
(Are you reluctant to use him on kickoff returns?)
Probably not. Probably not reluctant to use him.
(Will you put Herron back there too?)
He's worked back there, yes.
(What does it tell you about a team, their toughness and ability to handle hostile environments, when you see they've won six in a row on the road?)
I think the first thing that jumps out is their maturity. They're able to deal with the noise, being the road, traveling, things like that. They're a good football team, very talented obviously. I think a lot of it goes back to the experience they have on defense, and the quarterback handling it. I think it's just a sign of their maturity, and they've been very successful obviously this year and the two games last year.
(Are you going to go with 52 players or bring up another guy?)
Actually Ted and I will meet on that today, probably again in the morning.
(What are the points you hammered home this week?)
I think the first step was to build off what we accomplished and focusing on the positive things we've done in all three phases. Starting with special teams, the importance of field position. That was something in the Buffalo game that really got away from us, and we accomplished that in the Minnesota game. Just building off winning field position. Because frankly when you have 100 yards of field position, that could be the equivalent of another touchdown, so that's our goal. Defensively, just stay away from the explosive gains because we're really getting after them up front. The strength of the pass rush and stopping the run has really been the staple of how we've been able to be successful on defense. So just staying after that. Offensively just really staying the course running the football, play-action pass off that, when the situation is there. So we really strengthened the positives, and as you take that, you apply it to this football team. This is a veteran football team, they've won a lot of games, they have a lot of depth. Our focus is to be very physical with this football team because we expect them to try to come in here and be physical with us.
(Did Jenkins have a setback?)
His ankle is bothering him today so we rested him.
(Will he be downgraded do you think?)
No, we probably won't downgrade him. I'm going to go check on him. He went through rehab today.
(How did Blackmon look?)
He practiced today. Better, he's just very sore. Just sore. So I'll see how he is when I get back in there with Pepper. We're a banged up football team. We've just got a number of guys sore. I think the next 48 hours will help the guys that are close, and I'm hopeful they all play.
(How did Brett move the last couple days?)
He's sore today too. His groin really bothered him. He was limited today.
(When did he hurt that?)
Yesterday.
(Did he take all the reps?)
Some of them. Not all of them. But we don't do that with him on Fridays anyways.
(How did he hurt his groin?)
Just practice, old age, whatever. We're sore. It's not a story, I'm not trying to hide anything. We've got guys that just need a little extra time in the training room. We'll be fine.
(Are you comfortable with Francies again as the No. 4 receiver?)
Yes. Chris is a guy that's continually improved. In training camp I thought he made a lot of strides, particularly early there for a young guy. We were very excited about him, and now he's been given an opportunity. He had the big play in the Miami game, so yeah, we're comfortable with Chris and he'll have a good opportunity this week.
(Are you at all leery about Brett being able to move around well enough in this game?)
No. I've talked to him at length today. He doesn't think it's a big deal.
(Did David Martin practice?)
Yes. David practiced today.
(Al Harris OK?)
Yeah. Al was sick, so he took every rep today.
(Martin will play Sunday?)
Yeah, unless we have a setback between today and Sunday. So do you all work for New England? This is unbelievable.
{sportsad300}(How do you feel about your kickoff coverage? Penalty or not, I'm sure you weren't real happy with that return last week.)
Actually Mike and I looked at it again today. We're just talking about different combinations of players. It's like anything, lane integrity, getting off blocks, things like that. It's all fixable. That's the good thing about it. I thought they had an excellent week of practice. The coverage units were a major emphasis, more than we normally do, this week. I feel good about it. Once again, we've talked about the speed and the body types that we have on our special teams. They're young and enthusiastic and I just think they're going to continue to get better.
(Can Bigby help you at all?)
I think so. I think that's definitely a strength of Bigby. I'm excited for him and he's had a very good week of practice.
(Do you go into this game anticipating them trying to attack Tony Moll?)
I'm sure he's going to be tested, but once again, that's our job as coaches to keep him in positions to be successful. Tony is a battler. He's played games already this year, so he'll be in there fighting, and we'll make sure we ask him to do things he's fully capable of doing. So I'm not concerned about it.
(Are you encouraged by how Jennings practiced this week?)
Yeah, he's been solid. It's a different hurdle for him to overcome, playing with this injury. He's gotten more and more comfortable as the week has gone on.
(Is that rare for a rookie to tough it out through an injury the way he has?)
I wouldn't think it's normal for an everyday rookie to come in and even play the way he has, let alone ... everybody is different, everybody handles injuries different. But he's responded to every challenge that has been put in front of him. I just hope he keeps going.
(Will Jennings be out there more than Ruvell Martin this week?)
I anticipate that.
(Did you hear about Mike Nolan's suit?)
I didn't see it. I heard he's going to put one on. It was something he started last year. Mike likes to wear a suit.
(How about you?)
I like to wear a suit too, when I have to. If our equipment guy puts one in my locker, I'll wear it. That's the way I look at those things.
