On cutting short the Aug. 3 evening practice due to rain:
"We did have a lot of work that we wanted to get done. The problem with that originally was that they said that we were going to get a little bit of rain, but no lightning. Then lightning cropped up and they had another cell blow up back over here and then it kept coming. I figured the best thing for us to do is not go back out there. They all were out there going 'Ooh and ahh,' and every time I said, 'There's nothing out there, I've been doing this for 35 years I'm not falling for that. Real lightning makes a difference. I think we're better off canceling things and getting back on our regular schedule tomorrow. I wish we could have gotten the work in, but also realize that sometimes this happens."
On tomorrow's practice:
"We'll try to get to some things in practice tomorrow. We may do a little extra in the morning. It's kind of hard with our schedule to make a lot up."
On the status of Carlos Rogers (CB, #22):
"I thought he might have been back out tonight, but he had back spasms. We are giving him a little bit of rest. He came in this morning with back spasms."
On being surprised by player performances:
"There are quite a few guys that are taking a step up. Obviously there are some guys that are a little disappointing, but that happens. There will be some guys here that are going to really surprise us. I'm always excited for them, and it happens every year that someone is a great story and sometimes more than one. It's still really early. The first time we get to look at people will be on Saturday, that's an important time. We will try to get some guys that we really want to take a good hard look at in that scrimmage on Saturday, and let them do all the work."
On the upcoming scrimmage:
"Obviously we will have a real good 7-on-7 period that gives us some good work and a change up on receivers and DB's. The lineman will have work one on one while that is going on, then we will have the scrimmage at the end of it. I think it's a good evaluation tool. About this point in camp everyone is tired of going against each other and it definitely excites everyone, giving them a chance to go against someone else."
On the official's presentation of new rules:
"We had one session a while back, when I came back from league meetings and we went over the rule changes. The officials were here today and will be here tomorrow and tomorrow night and they will make a presentation for us. The league has a video clip where they will demonstrate everything. That is only the first step because I will make another clip, and talk about last year and where we were with penalties. We really get to look at our football team. Part of it is you have to be smart, and about mid-season we started doing a much better job on penalties and turnovers, that's when we started winning football games. I don't care how good you are up here, you have to be smart. Part of that is knowing that it's a complicated game. I appreciate the way the league does that and how they bring the officials in."
On down by contact rule change:
"I thought that was good. To me I've always said the same thing about instant replay. I've always been for it. I think it's for the obvious reversal. None of us want to sit at home and think that the wrong team won a playoff game. It definitely happens where you get a big play like that. It's for the obvious error. It shouldn't take a long time because the rule says that if you can't figure it out in a minute and a half or so you get on with it. I think down by contact comes up a lot and it's an obvious error. If it's an obvious error we don't want to be losing a turn over. This is a better way for us to officiate the game."
On rule about getting the QB below the knees:
"Any reasonable thing with the quarterback is good. That again was for isolated situations where we had a couple of them come up last year. If a guy loses his balance and gets tripped or something it doesn't count, but if the guy has a chance after he's been cut or goes to the ground, to correct himself and continues, then we are going to get a big penalty and a fine. Last year with some of the big high profile quarterbacks it's a big deal. That's kind of common sense, it's a small thing that won't come up very often, but it probably came up last year four or five times."
On commitment of players during off-season work:
"We have only had a couple of instances where we have had guys have problems with hydration or something. If you look at our football team we don't have weight problems with guys. We have tried to do a good job in the off-season. Our guys worked extremely hard and doing all the things they needed to do. We had great attendance, and I think it put us further down the road that's why we started camp later."
On David Patten (WR, #80):
"He made real progress yesterday. I hope after the weekend he will be back."
On communicating with Philippee Gardent (LB, #55), from France:
"I had a good talk with him on the way out. I said, 'Hey what's it like over there, how about the weather here?' he said, 'It's humid here!' I got that much. He looks like a football player so we will see. It's always interesting getting someone coming from such a distant game from what we are used to. It takes a bright guy to come from over there and do this. If he's not bright, then he won't have a chance. It's another chance for someone coming from a different environment getting a chance to play."
