HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN
(On the return to practice)
"We had a good practice today. We put the pads on. It was a good start. We've got a great challenge this week with the Vikings. They're obviously a very talented team, very impressive yesterday. I'll update the injuries on Wednesday; we have our concerns."
(On Earnest Graham and Warrick Dunn)
"Warrick returned today and Earnest, we'll see where he is on Wednesday. He hurt his knee. He has a chance to play in this game but I can't really tell you anymore until Wednesday when we see him here in the next 48 hours."
(On having until Wednesday to make a determination on Carnell Williams' roster status)
“It's exciting. I've said that for a long time. It's almost like Christmas is here. Christmas is Wednesday, I hope. We'll see how he feels and talk to the trainers, the medical people. If my eyes don't deceive me, I think he's got a chance to be a player this year for our team, and that would be exciting."
(On if the decision on Williams will be based more on his physical status or the team's need at running back)
"This guy's a heck of a back. We have film to prove that. We want him to be a big part of our organization. So if he's healthy, he's going to play here, and if he's not he won't. Earnest has done a heck of a job. We do have some injuries. Warrick's been out, really, for the last two games. If we could ever get Warrick Dunn and Earnest Graham and Carnell Williams [together], that would be exciting for us."
(On if there was a drop-off in the running game when Askew went out)
"We had some good games without him. Byron Storer filled in nicely; Earnest did a great job against Carolina, if you recall. But he is our fullback. He was scheduled to be our opening-day starter and our every-down starter, but he's missed six or seven games and six or seven weeks. He missed the entire training camp. Our guys have adjusted quite well in his absence but we would certainly like to have him."
(On the run defense and facing Adrian Peterson)
"Well, we gave up some yards last week running the ball but we've done a nice job against the run. We've got to double our efforts this week; this guy's really something. No disrespect to anybody else, but this guy's really something. I think Chester Taylor's a heck of a back too, but this guy's really something. Peterson is a great back. He is a hard-nosed, wire-to-wire finisher and I just love watching him play. I know our guys are eager for this challenge, and we're going to work hard at our run entry, and certainly our guys are excited about the challenge."
(On Kevin Carter's season)
"I can't say enough about him. As a player, he still is a very good player. He's an outstanding defensive end; he's got the versatility to go inside; he's a physical player. He still has pass-rush ability and he's an undisputed leader here on this team. Wednesday's you won't see him much on the field but he's there Thursday, Friday. He's a guy that we rely on as a tempo-setter, as a leader and as a game-day performer. And boy has he delivered for us."
(On if Warrick Dunn is capable of being the featured back this week)
"Yeah, I would say Warrick qualifies as a feature back."
(On if it's hard to keep a team focused on the next game as a season enters crunch time)
"This is why you go to training camp, why you have offseason programs. This is one of the rewards that you have for having a decent first half of the season. You're in contention. We've got to play our best football, we've got to play our best football right away. We've got the leader of the north coming in here and they're as talented as any team I've seen. They've got a great team. Personnel-wise, they're tremendous. We'd better not look any further than this week. We've got the game film and it gets our guy's attention."
(On what the difference will be in the ultra-competitive NFC South)
"It's going to be a lot of things. These are going to be hard-fought games. Matt Ryan's for real; he's great, he's really something. I watched him yesterday and I tip my hat to him. He's clearly a great prospect. Drew Brees and that team in New Orleans is capable of running the table, if you ask me. They've got that kind of team. And Carolina, they've just been ornery as hell on defense all year. They've got some fine players, so it's going to be a dogfight. Can't worry about it."
(On how Arron Sears looks)
"Good. He returned today and we expect to have him for this game."
(On how he used the bye week)
"Well, we did a good job I think as a staff looking at a couple problem areas. We looked at our tendencies, we looked at our self-scout. Basically, we looked at a lot of Viking tape, tried to look a little bit at some of our upcoming opponents, tried to use some time wisely, got away, got the coaches out of here to let them see their families and rejuvenate a little bit."
(On Gus Frerotte lasting in the NFL for so long)
"He's a guy that can throw the ball. He's tough as hell. He's mentally tough, too. He'll have a bad play here or there but he's able to overcome it. He's great with his teammates. He has talent and he has experience in the league. He knows how to handle a lot of situations. He's got a lot of career victories to show for what he's done. I think he gives the Vikings some veteran poise in the huddle. He's had a couple interceptions, I'm sure, that he's going to try to correct. But he does have a big arm, he's got a really fast wideout there in [Bernard] Berrian and Sidney Rice is coming on. I've got a lot of respect for them."
(On the consecutive games streaks for Carter and Derrick Brooks)
"That's a 'wow.' That's a wow deal. Think about it. I've been fortunate to stand on the sidelines now for 16, 17, 18 years and I see the hits, these piles of bodies, that these guys are in. To make it this long is a real credit to them. But you forget that they've also been starting this long because of their ability. They've got great talent and great stamina, and they've got unbelievable toughness. You put all of that together and you're talking about Hall of Fame-type players that do that."
(On the 'chatter' about Ronde Barber and if he has any problems with Barber's play)
"There's a lot of chatter out there, period. But I have no feelings whatsoever except positive feelings about him. He's a reason we're here, he's a reason why we've got a chance to win another game."
(On how he thinks the players have responded to getting a week off from practice)
"I've done a lot of research on what's going on around the league with the bye week. Our bye week wasn't in Week Three of the season this year, it wasn't in Week Five. It was Week 10. The numbers of injuries that we did have would have made it real challenging to have a practice anyway. I feel like we did the right thing. We've got to, again, play our best football to prove that but I feel like we did the right thing. We did a lot of research on it and we feel good about it."
(On if he'd rather have a late bye week than an early one)
"I'd rather not have bye weeks. I'd rather play doubleheaders and have an eight-week season. This is a long grind, man."
(On what he found out during the bye week self-scouting)
"We did a lot of good things. That's one of the reasons why we're 6-3. Our players have done a lot of things well. But tendencies – what are we doing in the I formation, what are we doing in split backs, what are we doing in shotgun? What are we calling on defense on third-and-one? What are we calling on the goal line? We looked at the red zone hard. There are some opportunities there that we've got to cash in on. Partly we've got to do a better job calling plays, partly we've got to do a better job of executing plays. But we self-scouted everything. You try to break some tendencies here in the coming weeks and try to expand on some things that maybe we haven't shown."
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