Head Coach Scott Linehan
Tuesday August 8 

(On today’s practice) “Today was kind of a day where we were transitioning from our true training camp routine to our preseason game routine, which will be starting tomorrow.  We’ll get into servicing each other a little bit, trying to get ready for the game, trying to get some looks we expect to see, and making a transition.  This was another good day as far as our conditioning.  We pushed them hard and got a lot of reps in practice and we got through them all, ahead of schedule.  That’s what’s important:  Conditioning while we practice.  I think our guys really bought into that.”

(On the change of pace involved in preparing for a game) “No doubt, we’re all ready to play somebody else.  Players, coaches, I think everybody in the whole building is excited about taking the team out, putting them in one uniform, and playing the other team.  That’s what’s fun.  It’s going to be fun to watch some of these players who are out battling for positions go out and compete in a different environment, other than a controlled practice environment.  We’re all very excited about Thursday.”

(On LG Claude Terrell and TE Aaron Walker getting more reps with the starting offensive line) “We want to take a look.  They certainly have the ability and giving them more chances with the first unit is always just another opportunity.  It’s just adding to the competition we’re creating at both of those positions.”

(On transitioning players to work with different units during practice) “You have to prepare for a substitution you may use in a game.  You don’t want the first time they go out in the game to be the first time they’ve worked with that particular unit.  We’re always trying to roll those guys to work different scenarios and different groups rushing the line.”

(On the fights during practice being a sign that the guys are ready for a game) “No doubt, just the last couple of days those have increased.  It’s obvious that we are ready to start hitting somebody else.”

(On RB Steven Jackson being ready for Thursday’s game) “He just has that sore heel and he aggravated it again in the red zone period we worked today.  We just kept him out, but he could’ve gone in.  But he’ll be ready to go on Thursday.”

(On talking to RG Richie Incognito and CB Dwight Anderson during practice) “We want the competitiveness.  We want the fire inside of you, but you can’t do that at the expense of the team.  You get in a fight in the game, they’re going to kick you out and that‘s going to cost the team.  It’s going to result in you missing the next game.  There’s always a consequence to your actions and you have to learn from that and know how to control your emotions when it’s a critical situation, especially when you are competing.  You lose your temper sometimes, but you can’t do it on the field.” 

(On looking forward to seeing Incognito play on Thursday) “I am and I’m sure he is.  It’s been a long time and I’m sure that he is chomping at the bit to get in there.  It’ll be interesting to see all of our guys, let alone Richie, to get out there and compete against somebody else rather than ourselves.”

(On how Incognito has impressed him thus far) “He’s a heck of a football player.  He’s young and still has some things he needs to improve on and mature as a player and a person.  He’s certainly made a lot of great strides as far as his approach.  His offseason was night and day from his offseason last year.  He’s one of those guys that you hope and think will go out and really shine in a competitive environment.”

(On the long layoff since the last time Incognito played in a game) “He got a lot of work in the offseason program.  It’s not like he came here for training camp and this is the first time he’s playing.  He’s been working very hard.  He got 25 good practices in the offseason program, as well.  He’s accelerated his progress even though he hasn’t played in games in a while.  He has really improved.  He hasn’t shown or acted like a first year player at all, especially in this camp.”

(On going into his first game as head coach) “About like any game I go into.  You’ve got butterflies, but they’re good butterflies.  You’re anxious; you want to see everybody operate.  You want to function at a high level of efficiency and be organized and do all those things but anything for the first time’s monumental.  First time being a coordinator coach coaching at Minnesota, I remember that game pretty well, and this’ll be another one of those days.  Every time you get to go out and play somebody else it’s a great day in our profession.”

(On CB Jerametrius Butler aggravating his hamstring) ”Yesterday he aggravated a little bit, he pushed it a little bit more than normal, aggravated it and it got a little bit sore on him.  We’re just keeping an eye on it right now.”

(On it being the same one Butler aggravated previously) “Yeah it’s the same one that’s bothering him.”

(On what he wants to learn about himself from the first game) “Just the difference between how you manage a game as a head coach versus…there’s a certain level of management you do as a coordinator too.  It’s not just one guy doing it, we do it together.  Between Jim [Haslett] or Greg [Olson] or myself, and Jeff Horton up in the box and the assistant coaches having input on things, you know we’re going to work on our chemistry and how we work together.  That’s the great thing about pre-season games is you can go through a game, do the best you can in that situation, then you can work to adjust and make it better before you really play the real game.  That’s the biggest thing.  I’ve been around a lot of great football coaches and I’ve watched how they do it and I’ve tried to take a little from each one of them and throw a little bit of my own style on it as far as the new position I have.”

(On being anxious to see how the punt return guys perform) “Yeah, I think the return area for our team is one of the biggest questions.  We’ve certainly got some guys who are going to get a chance.  We’ve still got a lot of questions about how it’s going to end up.  That’s the fun part about what we do.  The cream’s going to rise to the top before it’s all said and done.  We can’t predict the future right now.  I think guys have really worked hard to get in good position to compete, and now it’s time to go do it for real.”

(On return guys being the hardest to evaluate in camp) “That’s the hardest one because they’re catching punts in practice, and you can do all the distraction drills you want, but when the guys are running at you full speed there’s no quick whistle, it’s different.  It’ll be interesting.  We’re very anxious to see how they respond, all of them.”

(On how WR Brad Pyatt and WR Marques Hagans are looking as punt returners) “I think Brad and Marques have both done great.  They’re both great kids, hard workers, been very consistent catching it.  Like all of us, yesterday was the only day we didn’t consistently catch balls as a team, and the returns were no exception, but they’ve been working very hard at it.  They know it’s a big role on this team and it’s an open job so they’re competing just like a lot of these other guys are to win a job on this team.”

(On having favorites in mind or waiting to see what happens) “No, I don’t.  I think that isn’t the way you look at it.  I think you’ve got to really look at this with an open mind and be objective and know that you have certain opinions of guys what you think they do well and what they have to work on, but you’ve got to give guys a chance.  When the lights go on and you’re playing for real, to show what their true colors are, and I think that’s what’s great about preseason games.”

(On CB DeJuan Groce being in on the mix) “He’s going to do some.  I think we’ve worked him less just because we were trying to give him an opportunity to make the team as a corner, and not distract him because he’s done it a little bit more, but I think he’ll get some tries in there.  Certainly, if we’re not happy with the position, it’ll increase after this game.”

(On the transactions that took place this morning) “We added Adam Haayer, offensive tackle who’s a free agent.  He was at Arizona last year.  He actually started four games last year.   He played as a back up tackle for us at Minnesota during my time there.  He’s an ex-Minnesota gopher.  I don’t think [Mark] Setterstrom and him played together, I think he’s probably four or five years older.  To create room on the roster, we waived Jason Hilliard, who was an undrafted free agent, so we have made one change on our team.”

(On Haayer being at camp previously) “Not this year, but he had been.  He just was not resigned.  He was under contract with Arizona last year and made a couple of visits, we were his third visit.  He’s a swing guard slash tackle. He’s different than Todd [Steussie] where he’s played some center in one game, so he’s kind of a utility back up that’s got a little bit more experience in there in the line.”