On his first set of OTAs:
"Our coaching staff is coaching with enthusiasm. We don't have pads on and we aren't playing a game this week. I hope we can have that same kind of enthusiasm during game week. What I think is, it should be somewhat enjoyable to go to when you are working hard. You don't have to be solemn or super intense. You just need a high level of effort and intensity without the gritty teeth."
On if it is easier cheering on the defense when they make a good play now that he is the head coach:
"It is difficult, partly because I have been involved with the scripts on offense, so I want them to be successful. The thing that I have made sure is that when the defense has made a play or shut us down that I am right on that as well. They know it's a struggle for me as well."
On if the speed is where he wants it for his wide receivers:
"No, and really it has to do with the receivers, when they are walking up to the line of scrimmage they are thinking about the route that they are supposed to run and that causes them to be slow. What I want them to do is not even think, they know and they are feeling the defense and how they are going to get where they want to get and how they are going to beat that defender. Right now they are just trying to remember the routes that they are running."
On if he can sum up this first group of workouts that they have had:
"I thought it was tremendous and the reason I think that is because we put a lot of stuff in. They had to learn a lot of new words, be in different sets, they had to move in and out of the huddle and they had to do things the way that some of them hadn't done. They are trying to make uncomfortable become comfortable. I think we made some headway there."
On if he anticipates it being easier the next time out:
"No, because we have to put in a load more. We will have 80 percent of the stuff done by the time we are done with June OTAs. There is still another 20 percent to go. There are still different areas. We haven't put in short yardage or goal line. We just introduced red zone. There are a lot of situational things that we still have to do."
On what has surprised him about the team so far:
"The part that I was not sure of initially was how well our veteran linemen are working together on offense. How much of a team our defense already was. Those guys were just clicking the first day. I thought our receivers took to the offense fairly well. Our quarterbacks are still learning the rhythm and speed with which they need to play. We have a good group of backs. Those are the surprises that I saw."
On Antwaan Randle El's (WR, #82) surgery:
"Antwaan's surgery was successful. They did remove a couple of the foreign bodies. He was out today. He was in the meetings today and is getting treatment already. We will just see what happens in the next two or three weeks. Maybe he can be back for the second OTAs. I don't know. It depends on how his knee progresses."
On Jason Campbell's (QB, #17) hamstring:
"He just felt it grab. He said it didn't pull all the way. He was feeling his hamstrings all along. I think it is because I have him sinking down a little bit. It's a change. I was kind of excited about it, not that he pulled his hamstring or tweaked his hamstring, but just that different things are happening to his body. For me it is good. He will regroup. He is not a chronic hamstring puller in his history. I think he is going to be fine."
On what he wants the guys on the team to accomplish until they come back for the second set of OTAs:
"What is great about the way we have our program set up is now we are done with the first mini-camp and OTA group, now they can go for the next three weeks and get back into the weight room and the conditioning program. The strength coaches have a chance now to work three solid weeks of building strength and endurance, than come back for another eight good practices."
On if it is frustrating to have some nagging injuries pop up:
"It is not that frustrating because you just don't know and you have to live with that. I would have liked to see Jason (Campbell, QB, #17) get the reps that were lost today but he will recover and will come through. The thing that I like about our guys is that they want to pay attention and want to learn even though it is just a mental rep."
On how much fun he had at his first mini-camp and OTA session:
"I had a lot of fun. Fun is a little bit relative. It is a lot of hard work putting the whole plan together. The fun is seeing the guys execute, having a successful play on offense and even having a successful play, a tipped ball pick on defense and we get the ball back. I like that as well. The first day of min-camp I was really impressed with our special teams and how hard Danny Smith (Special Teams Coach) has the group go to get better. We have a decent special teams group during the football season. You can tell why because he works so hard at the beginning of practice."
On Clinton Portis (RB, #26):
"He is still messing with his hip flexor. He just observed. He is okay. He actually did have a hip flexor strain."
On when the rookies are due back to work out:
"The first day where their college graduates in May, the next day they can come out. That is an NFL rule. A lot of these guys will be here May 15th, 16th, 17th, somewhere in there because of their graduation. It does not matter if they graduated. It only matters if their school has graduated."
On what the biggest difference for him has been going from position coach to head coach:
"(The biggest difference is) having to watch ball positions, focus in on the point of attack, not really watching the QB but watching the blocking scheme to see if it is there, watching all the routes to see if we are in the right spots. Also I have to have that sense of if the quarterback is throwing on rhythm. Juggling all of that, I don't even get to watch how the defense is expanding playing man. I have to go watch that on video. That is one of the most difficult things to do for me right now as a first-time head coach."
