Head Coach Bobby Petrino
Opening Statement:
“The thing that stands out to me was that it was a really good team win. Our defense kept us in the game and they were strong. Offensively, we took the opening drive down the field and scored. Special teams was solid most of the day and really good in the fourth quarter when it counted the most. As a football team, it was a hard-fought game and a good win. I was very happy with the way we won the game.”
Q: Are there any injury updates?
A: “I always meet with the training staff in the afternoon so I don’t know a lot about Martrez (Milner’s) injury. I know they initially said it was a high ankle sprain. We always know more on Wednesday.”
Q: What was the thought behind playing Todd Weiner at left tackle?
A: “We’ve had him working there since he’s come back from his injury. When they brought Todd in here, they wanted him to protect Michael (Vick’s) back and be a left tackle for a left-handed quarterback. That’s something that we were interested in looking at and something that he was excited to do. I thought he did a nice job.”
Q: What did it mean to win the game they way you did yesterday?
A: “Our players and coaches were really excited. It’s was good to battle and make the play when the game was on the line. It started with the defense and getting the ball back with some time to go down the field. On the first play of the series we hit the out route on the sideline, which was big. We then wanted to get into a better situation where a field goal wouldn’t have been so far. We ran the play with Alge (Crumpler) across the middle and the Panthers ran an all-out blitz. He made a nice catch and a run for the touchdown. It was great.”
Q: Now that you’ve seen this team evolve how do you sit back and game plan?
A: “We know a lot more about everybody on the team. We’ve been able to stay healthy on defense and we’re at a point now where we all understand the calls. They don’t hesitate and think about what’s going on. Now we are playing at a faster tempo and that gives you an opportunity to make more plays. Offensively, we have certain things that we really understand. You can call to get Roddy (White) the ball or do certain things in the run game. The more we get to know everyone, the better we’ll be.”
On the upcoming match up with Tampa Bay:
A: “I know our players will be excited about it and there is a nice little rivalry going on there. They are coming in leading the division and we’ll have a chance to get right back in it with a win. Our players will be excited about it, we’ll prepare hard and we’ll go out and play extremely hard on Sunday.”
On running back Warrick Dunn:
A: “He did a great job running the ball. We ran our lead draw play very well and we got a lot of yards on that. We made some nice runs on some of our outside plays where he had an opportunity to cut back. I think he showed up the most in the passing game. He’s catching passes and we called a couple of deep passes down the field where their linebackers got great depth and we were able to dump it off. Warrick got some great yardage after the catch.”
Q: With Dunn approaching 10,000 career rushing yards, what does that say about his longevity?
A: “When you sit and think about it, you really understand how great his career has been. He will leave a legacy in the National Football League. We’d really like to see him get it on Sunday and the coaches are aware of it. I’d love to see it get done this Sunday and it’s certainly a great thing for Warrick.”
Q: Are you still positioned to let Byron Leftwich come back in when he’s healthy?
A: “We have to wait and see on his health and there are a lot of things you have to consider.”
Q: What was your assessment on the play of Joey Harrington?
A: “We did a nice job on the first series and we were converting 44 percent on third downs in the first half. We were getting to third and short and third and medium, which helped us a lot. I thought we had a lull there in the second and third quarters when we didn’t convert some third downs when we had the opportunities. We came back and finished the game well.”
Q: What did you think about Chris Houston’s play?
A: “He competed extremely hard and with the video we’ve seen from his college days, we knew he would do that. His technique was very good and he made a lot of plays on the ball in the air. He just kept coming, competing and covering. They kept going after him and it was great to see the plays he made. It certainly helps us in our overall defensive scheme.”
Q: How do you think Laurent Robinson responded on Sunday?
A: “He competed very hard. He did a nice job of blocking and he ran his routes well. When he was given the opportunity he was able to make the catch. Certainly, you have to brush the fumble off and move on to the next play. All of the players around him were encouraging him to do that. We need to work on running the football after the catch. I think there were a couple of times where we had to get the ball out of our hands quickly on third down and (the receiver) has to get that first down. That’s an area of emphasis for us.”
On Leftwich's health:
A: “We don’t know how his health is yet and we have to wait and see. He is going to come in this afternoon. We have to wait and see how healthy he is. He felt like he would be back last week, but that didn’t materialize. He did get a lot of work in later in the week and felt better about it. There is no reason to say anything until we know his health status.”
