Q: How did (the St. Louis game) look after you watched the tape?A: "We did some really good things, especially starting fast. That's something we really preached last year. I thought that we did that this week both offensively and defensively, and on special teams. We scored the first two times we had the ball. Offensively, we were really efficient. Defensively, we had two good drives that were really helped out by excellent coverage on two kickoffs. The two drives started within the 20-yard line. The start of the game was the way we wanted it. I thought some of our young guys had an opportunity to get in there early and they made some plays."
Q: Coach (Paul) Boudreau talked about having the intensity of his left side (offensive line) pick up a little bit to extend the play and keep the linebackers and defensive backs from Michael (Turner) and Jerious (Norwood). Have you seen more intensity?A: "I think that all five of those guys have a better understanding of what we coach and how we want our guys to protect our ball carrier. We want to protect the ball, but we also want to protect the ball carrier as well. There are guys coming to attack the ball and tackle the ball. We want to protect against them with the guys that are not carrying the ball. I think that the whole group has a better understanding of it. I think that our right side and left side are doing the same things now."
Q: Is the evaluation process any different now that you are two games into the preseason? Are you looking at players differently?A: "I think that the evaluation process really does not change. I think the thing that you have as an evaluator is that you have more insight. We really believe that you have to evaluate the players on what their strengths are. Let's not talk about what they can't do, let's talk about what they can do. As a coaching staff, when we can identify the strengths of our team, then we can put together a game plan that fits their strengths. The evaluation doesn't change, but the way you look at it does. You have a piece of work through the OTAs and two preseason games to see what they are good at and what they are not so good at."
Q: Will the game plan in game three be different than in game one?A: "Most definitely. In terms of play time, we will do it significantly different. We want to play our first unit for a longer period of time as we get closer to that opener. The snaps for the starters will increase and the snaps for the backups are probably going to go down this week."
Q: How will the run game be affected with the addition of Tony Gonzalez?A: "Philosophically, we said from the beginning that we were going to run the ball and control the line of scrimmage. As an offense, we are going to take what the defense gives us. I think that with the more options you have, the more options you have for the opponent. If they want to load the box and take away our run game, then we are going to try and make them pay on the outside or with our tight end. I think the great thing for us is that we have more weapons. The more weapons that you have, the more chances you have for success."
Q: Can you comment on the play of Lawrence Sidbury and Trey Lewis?A: "Yes, Lawrence Sidbury obviously had an outstanding game. Anytime you have multiple sacks, it's an impressive game for a defensive lineman. He is still learning the system. John Abraham is doing a very good job of mentoring him. I think that he is just going to continue to get better and better. However, there are a lot of things that he has not seen yet and that we hope over the next two weeks he will get a chance to see before the regular season. Trey Lewis had significantly more snaps in this game than he did in the first game. He had over thirty snaps. We wanted to see him play for extended periods since he has basically been out for basically two seasons. I thought that he played well early on and throughout the game. I thought that early in the game, he was very effective."
Q: "Where there any surprises about this camp?A: "There are surprises and differences from one camp to the next. The way this camp is different is that we are familiar with each other. The guys know how we practice and how we operate. The returning players have really done a good job integrating the young guys. There have been some surprises, in terms of the ability of the guys that we added to our roster through free agency and through the draft. The guys that we drafted and the guys that we have had a good opportunity to evaluate have done a nice job. The thing that we are disappointed in is the fact that we have not been able to evaluate William Moore, our second round pick, because of his injury. We are hoping that he gets back and gives us an opportunity to see what he can do. We really liked his skill set coming out."
Q: Any other injury updates?A: "Thomas Brown is back. We came out of the game relatively clean. There was not anything significant in the ball game which is a good sign. It's good to get Thomas back participating and we hope to get some of the other guys back as well."
Q: Can you comment on your plans to use Chris Redman?A: "Chris (Redman) did not play in this ball game. Chris will get some playing time in the next two games. That was by design in terms of how we wanted to evaluate the guys that haven't had too much experience playing with the first units. The rotation this week will be different than last week. The rotation will probably have someone not participating because our first unit is going to take more snaps."
