Head Coach Bobby Petrino
Opening Statement:
“We got our first practice in preparing for Carolina. We know our defense is going to have to stop the run. If we have to do two things, it would be stop the run and slow down Steve Smith because he’s certainly as good of a player as there is out there. Offensively, we’d like to build on running the football. We want to get better this week and take off of last week’s performance. We want to be more efficient in the passing game. We didn’t have our completion percentage exactly where we wanted it. We didn’t have negative plays. We had one sack and that was it. If we can continue to have third-and-medium and third-and-short situations, that would be good. Our special teams will be challenged. They are very good on special teams. I felt like we got better on special teams last week. We had some nice punt returns and some nice punts and kicks in critical situations. We need to keep building on that and keep developing our young guys on special teams.”
Q: What is the status of Jerious Norwood for Sunday’s game?
A: “Jerious did not practice today. If he’s able to play we would feel good about him going full speed. If not, Artose Pinner would be the backup. He’s a guy with a lot of experience and he’s been in our offense for a long time. We picked him up right before the first game. He’s a physical runner and he’s big. We would hand him the ball and let him go as the backup.”
On Warrick Dunn practicing today:
A: “Yes he did come out. He’s been practicing on Wednesdays, but he had 27 carries on 55 snaps because of the injury to Jerious (Norwood). I thought this was a good day to rest him, but he’ll take a lot of reps tomorrow.”
Q: What is the status of Alge Crumpler?
A: “Alge participated in practice and we’ll wait and see. He’ll take tomorrow off and come back on Friday. The test will be how he does on Friday.”
Q: What is the status of Todd Weiner?
A: “Todd went the whole day today. He’s excited about it and I thought he looked good. I’m fired up to see him out there.”
On the impact David Irons has made on special teams and him playing for his brother (who is out for the season in Cincinnati):
A: “I wish we had two of him. He’s a guy who is easy to love. He does everything full speed and everything with a smile on his face. He loves the game of football and is fearless. He’s done a great job on special teams for us. It will be fun to see how he does at the cornerback position later on in his career. I think he’ll do a good job at that. Certainly, I know the relationship between him and his brother and how close they are. We feel bad that his brother is not playing too.”
Q: How hard will it be to stop the Carolina running attack with DeShaun Foster?
A: “It will be important. He’s a good running back and they ran the ball well on us in the fourth quarter. I know our guys are fired up for that challenge. They have quarterback issues and the first thing you do when you have quarterback issues is run the football better. We’ll have to stop it and be better on first down to put them behind the down and distance.”
Q: Do you sense that Warrick Dunn has reached a better comfort zone following last Sunday’s game?
A: “I think so. Anytime you get more carries, you get into the flow of the game. He did it early. He started fast, broke tackles early and had that nice touchdown run. Really, that contributed to a lot more carries. Even before Jerious (Norwood) got hurt, he got more carries than he normally would have.”
On Joey Harrington’s rushing against San Francisco:
A: “You have to be smart with the quarterback and make sure you take care of yourself. You have to be a willing runner and get yards when it presents itself. We actually called a “go” route and went to take a shot at the end zone. San Francisco got a great push on the pass rush and (Harrington) spun out there and took off. We really needed it because there was a turnover... We didn’t score off of the last turnover and we needed a score in the game.”
Q: What is the status of Byron Leftwich?
A: “He went out, threw on Monday and got sore. He took today off. I know it’s disappointing to him that the doctor’s timetable was more correct than his. He’s a fighter and he’ll get back as quick as he can.”
Q: Is Chauncey Davis an option to help on run defense?
A: “He has been. Chauncey has played a lot and he played well last week. That’s kind of his niche. He’s really good against the run, he has long arms, he holds the point and he had a couple of nice plays where he ran down the sideline and made tackles. We’ve been really happy with Chauncey.”
Q: Did Joey Harrington miss some passes down the field against San Francisco?
A: “I don’t know if he missed stuff down the field. We just weren’t in the same rhythm that we were at times this year. Anytime that happens it’s a combination of everything. It’s a combination of protection, routes and the quarterback. That’s what we’ll work on all week.”
Q: What quarterback are you planning on facing in Carolina?
A: “I think David Carr will be the quarterback, but I didn’t hear how his test came out today. I do know Matt Moore very well. We played against him when he was at Oregon State. He was very highly recruited coming out of high school. He signed with UCLA and then transferred. We brought him in for a visit before the draft and Billy (Devaney) worked him out. He’s a very capable quarterback with a good release and a good arm. He’s been in a lot of pro style offenses coming out of colleges. We know if he’s in there, we have to make sure we’re executing and doing everything right.”
Talk about the charges to Jonathan Babineaux being dropped.
A: “It’s a great relief to Jonathan. He’s a first-class young man who has been great since I’ve been here. I’m really happy for him.”
