(What's going on with Wells?)
Wells missed practice today. He has a sinus infection and we sent him home. But we anticipate that he'll be ready to go Monday.
(So he'll make the start there?)
We anticipate that, yes.
(How's Coston?)
He's in the rehab. He's still in the rehab program for his ankle.
(Does it look like Spitz is going to start?)
He's taken all the reps, but we've got a lot of time and we'll talk about him Monday. But if we played today, Spitz would be the starting guard, yes.
(Are you looking at some alternatives there at right guard other than Spitz?)
No. Jason is ready to go, and with Scott being sick we kind of rolled a couple of those guys through there. Allen Barbre has gotten a big dose of reps. Just all the different combinations that you have to prepare for. But nothing out of the norm.
(How much does it help to have Jason's versatility?)
Very important. I think he illustrated that in the Washington Redskins game to go in there and play the way he did at center. We really didn't miss a beat as far as the identification and the decision-making of the center position, and also that carries over to the guard, which really helps you on the road, because we train our guards just like our centers for crowd noise and helping the center with their vision, seeing the different fronts, the safety rotation, things like that.
(Are you going to play Koren Robinson?)
I haven't made a decision yet there. We'll probably take that up to gameday, which will be on Monday.
(Is it a matter of how the 45 works out or is it just a matter of Koren being ready?)
It's a combination of all those things. It's a combination of Koren being ready, it's a combination of the plan for the game. Also you factor in special teams. So we've given Koren the opportunity as far as reps with the special teams and with the receiver and Ruvell Martin missing a couple days of practice, it kind of worked itself out. So we're just trying to be smart there.
(Aside from the 45, is he physically ready to go?)
I think so. He really struggled. He was struggling Wednesday and Thursday with some soreness. He looked better out there today. It was a cut-back practice too. I'll talk to him again in the morning and we'll see where he is physically. Everything we just talked about will factor into the decision.
(With Harrell out do you go back to Cole or give Muir a shot this week?)
Colin Cole is ready to go. He actually had a very good week of practice. He's a big part of the way we play inside particularly versus this scheme. He's definitely a candidate to be up.
(What's the extent of Harrell's injury?)
It's an ankle sprain and my understanding is it could be a couple weeks.
(Does he have a knee issue as well or is it just an ankle?)
It's mostly the ankle.
(Has the defense changed under Bob Sanders from what was done under Jim Bates?)
Our defense today? The foundation is the same. Bob has changed a number of things as far as communication and cutting back on some calls, the volume. Just like every coordinator does, you put your own blueprint on it, and that's basically what Bob has. He's really tilted the scheme, the system toward what he believes in and what fits our players best.
(Was this the system you would have run or was it just the circumstance of Bob being in place?)
It's a system that fits my philosophy of how you play football. I believe to win the world championship you need to challenge the opponent. I feel we do that on offense, I feel we do that on special teams, and this system of defense definitely challenges the opponent. We have the ability to choke an opponent. We're a two-gap scheme. We don't play the gap control and contain the run. It's more of a mentality and philosophical belief of how you play and this system, without getting into the specifics of bump-and-run and all the things I'm sure you're well aware of, that's why I made the decision to go that way.
(How much progress did Krause make in practice?)
I thought he had a good week of practice. He's ready to go. He looks comfortable. He benefited from being here. He'll play Monday night.
(When you look back on the Javon Walker trade, how did you make out?)
I haven't even looked back on it. I'm very comfortable with all our transactions since the day I've been here. It's about acquiring players that fit your organization. Whatever happened with Javon is something that, why or when the relationship went south, we made a decision to move on and I'm very happy with the players we have here.
{sportsad300}(When you worked in Kansas City, how much did you prepare for the altitude, or is more being made of it than should be?)
I think a lot more is being made out of it than should be, and I think they want you to talk about it also. My only experience with being in Denver with Kansas City, I want to say it was 97, we went up there and opened up there. It was the home opener for Denver, and it was a real close game. I think they beat us 9-7, something like that. It was a hot day. It was hot, and that's the only time that I felt when we rolled out of there as a football team that the conditions were really tough, being up there. We've had the opportunity to talk about it as a team. Mike Eayrs does an excellent job as far as researching all the different elements of our opponent, from where we play, their field and so forth, and he presented it to the team on Friday, so we feel like we're ready for the altitude.
(Is there anything you can really do?)
No, we just refer to Mike's talk, he talked about how your body acclimates in the first three hours that you're there, and how important it is to get out and walk around the first five to six hours when you're in the city. There's a reason why he gives those talks and not me because it's way over my head. He usually tells us to eat yogurt on the plane because it's good for you, and we do that, and then he tells us to walk around when we get there, so we all do that. We just do what he tells us to do, and we feel good about it.
(Hydration?)
Big-time. Hydration and rest is very important. Which is always important, but with the schedule we're on, Monday Night Football, and being in the hotel all day Monday, the rest and the hydration is really, really a priority this week.
(Are you going to do anything with the whole day Monday?)
We're going to have a walk-through at 11:30 on Monday, which is not our normal schedule. But our day-before schedule is exactly the same, when we travel and what we do the night before.
(You can't get into the stadium to do that, can you?)
No, we'll do it in a ballroom. We have the two big ballrooms.
(Did you get anything out of Jenkins today?)
Yes, he practiced today. I've only talked to Bob briefly. We have our management meeting here when I go up top, but both Bob and Pepper felt he's really improved this week as the week went on, so we're hopeful he can go.
