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BUCCANEERS QUOTES FROM HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN
SATURDAY, JULY 26, 2008
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HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN
(Opening statement)
“It was a good start to training camp. It was good to see Greg White here this morning. It was a very good start.”
(On the quarterback situation)
“We are trying to win games, we are trying to get ourselves ready to play a game. As we said, Jeff Garcia is our starting quarterback. Brian Griese looked very good today, Luke McCown is doing some excellent things, and Chris and Josh (Johnson) are going to have an opportunity the next few days to take some snaps, get themselves re-acclimated to football and this offense.”
(On why WR Joey Galloway didn’t practice)
“He’s got a slight mild groin strain and we just protected him here a little bit. And we’ll continue to do that here in camp and we will continue to do that early in camp but it’s nothing serious.”
(On C Jeff Faine and what he brings to the team)
“What is not to like? He’s young, he’s athletic, he’s experienced, and he’s tough as heck. I think his game is going to improve when we put the pads on. He’s a quick learner, he’s disciplined, and he’s going to be a leader here and hopefully a guy that anchors our line for the next several years.”
(On first impression of RB Warrick Dunn and his role in this offense)
“His role has always been a primary role, wherever he’s been and I don’t believe a lot has changed other than he’s back in Tampa. He still has first step quickness, he’s an excellent pass receiver, he’s a very a good blitz pickup guy, and he’s a guy that can carry the ball and run a number of different plays. He’s good in a single back set, and he’s good behind a fullback, so he’s going to give us some competition. We’ve got some different kind of runners which I think is important in pro football. You know Earnest has his own style, Michael Bennett has breakaway speed, and of course Warrick Dunn is shifty quick, an elusive player that will certainly give us something we need.”
(On RB Warrick Dunn being the 15-20 touches a game guy)
“I don’t have a crystal ball. I got to believe that he has been his whole career so I don’t know why that would change.”
(On how unusual it was to not have his starting quarterback the first day of training camp)
“We played a lot of games here without our starting quarterback and if you do your research you will understand clearly what I am talking about. So it really hasn’t been that foreign to me, you know we are going to rest Jeff periodically during camp anyhow. So the way I see it he’s getting his rest on the front end and I’ll beat him up when he gets here on the grass.”
(On how WR Michael Clayton looked)
“Clayton looked good today. Clayton looked good, Brian (Clark) looked good, and the receivers look good today. But they should look good, they should be fresh, should look agile and be feeling good right now.”
(On how the quarterbacks looked)
“They did well. I have a lot of checks on my script. Griese threw the ball impressively, and I thought Luke McCown made some nice throws down the field. It is a great opportunity for those guys to get the bulk of the reps, because obviously when Jeff gets here those reps will decline.”
(On how Aqib Talib looked)
“It is hard to see everything when you are standing back there. I am not any more than 5 foot 9 or so, so I will look at the tape. He did take a lot of turns, and this is going to be a process for him where we just have to keep after him and study him carefully and help him everyway possible.”
(On the different qualities of the running backs)
“The Saints have backs with different qualities, DeAngelo Williams in Carolina has his and they just took another back in the first round. Every team in the league has backs with different qualities. We are going to try our best to try and utilize Warrick, and we are going to also try to accentuate what Earnest did well last year. He had a lot of yards in 10 all purpose starts. 50 receptions and close to 1000 yards rushing. He is very good between the tackles and inside the goal line. Michael Bennett I have been impressed with, too. We have this young guy named Cadillac who has put some pretty good stuff on tape, too, so we are excited about our backs.”
(On second half of practice in the tent today)
“We’re going to try to come out here, weather permitting and get some special teams work done. Have a couple periods outdoors for about 45 minutes to an hour as we go into the cool down tent everybody’s shoes will be laid out. They’ll be able to change their shoes, and we’ll march into our new indoor facility and really try and get a lot of reps for players without taxing them physically, obviously by keeping them from the outdoors. And some days we’ll use the indoor facility exclusively but we’ll go half and half today and half and half tomorrow.”
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