Head Coach Bobby Petrino
Q: Could you talk about your defensive tackle situation?
A: “(Jonathan) Babineaux is doing a nice job with his technique. He’s been pass rushing and doing a nice job against the run. I think he feels comfortable playing that position. Grady (Jackson) being here is a real plus for us. I am happy about that. He got a lot more reps today which is good to see. I think he felt good. (Darrell Shropshire) has been in there at nose guard. He missed today’s practice because yesterday he suffered a little groin injury. Hopefully he will be here tomorrow. Tommy (Jackson) has been in there battling and doing a good job. He’s doing a nice job understanding his position and keeping the linebackers free. He’s doing a nice job with the blocking schemes.”
Q: Who will be rotating with Jonathan Babineaux?
A: “Trey Lewis has been working in there.”
Q: “How is P.J. Alexander?”
A: He has been taking all the reps with the twos and (Doug) Datish has been playing with the threes. They have been trading on and off every now and then. Datish has been slowed a little bit by a broken finger he suffered in OTAs. He has had a cast on it for every practice which has been bothering him a little bit. P.J. is understanding and picking it up a little better. We have to continue working on his quickness and getting him to the second level.”
Q: How is Lewis Sanders doing at the right cornerback position?
A: Lewis has been doing a real nice job. He understands the game and knows the routes. He knows how to cheat and jumps the routes sometimes. He really does a nice job reading routes. He is also helping Chris (Houston) a lot. The combination of the two of them will be very good for us. Lewis has also been playing a lot of nickel with (Chris) Crocker and Antoine Harris. We really like the fact that he is very experienced.”
Q: Talk about the running and passing game.
A: Well, we have to be able to do both and there is no question about that. We need to be as balanced as we can on first-and-10 between run and pass plays. If we get positive yardage on first down, that will help us out a lot. We can’t just run the ball and we can’t just throw the ball. It would be nice for us to run the ball well early to take some pressure off of Joey (Harrington) and get him into a comfort zone between run and play action. I think it is going to be paramount if we can throw the ball deep too. Teams are going drop safeties down and blitz early on us, so we are going to have to hit some big plays down the field.”
Q: How much time have you spent critiquing the offense from last year?
A: “The only thing that I really watched from last year was the evaluation of the players. I really didn’t look at the schemes or anything they were doing. I was just trying to evaluate the players prior to free agency and the draft.”
Q: How are Roddy White and Laurent Robinson playing?
A: “Roddy is much faster and he’s doing a nice job catching the deep ball. Laurent certainly has the speed and the stride. I think the thing that surprises everyone about Laurent is his stride. He gobbles up the turf quickly on defensive backs. He’s done a nice job adjusting to the ball as well. I think we’ll definitely throw the ball downfield to those two guys. Joe (Horn) has gone deep and he’s been able to catch the ball too.”
Q: What is one of the things Laurent Robinson needs to adjust to?
A: “The main thing is the continual pounding to see if he’ll be able to stand up to it. Like I said yesterday, I like his maturity. He’s very mature and he understands what the position is all about. He doesn’t act like a rookie and he knows how to be in there and play early. It’s about being able to handle the physical play of the defensive backs and knowing that they are going to try to come after him and talk to him. He’s going to have to be able to block all of that out.”
Q: Do you have any concern with the defensive line gelling as a unit?
A: “We’ve been trying not to rotate them in and out as much. We’ve been making them stay out on the field for six plays and then eight plays. We’re going to move the ball here pretty soon and make them stay out for ten plays. Mainly we want them to understand that they won’t be rotating in and out as much every three or four plays. Certainly, Grady Jackson is going to be a guy who plays on first and second down and stops the run. Then we’ll have some substitutions at the nickel position.”
