QB JEFF GARCIA
(On how he feels)
“I feel okay. I am going to practice, I feel fine. I am going to practice, so I plan on being ready for Sunday.”
DT JOVAN HAYE
(On if there is a sense of urgency to get back on the field)
“Yes. Anytime you’ve been a part of a great defense like this, and you’re not out there with the fellas, you kind of do want to rush back. I didn’t want to rush back too early, but I’m back now and we’ll just take it from there.”
DT CHRIS HOVAN
(On not being on the field)
“It’s more frustrating than anything. You know you want to be there, and it’s disappointing when you have to watch. But at the same time you know you’re making the right decision, and the decision was to sit out, and it enabled me to play this week. If that’s what it took, that’s what it took, because I’m looking at longevity, down the line. That week has passed us, and now we’re excited about San Diego coming in.”
(On if he will play against San Diego)
“Yes, I’m going to play this weekend. I’m going to get some reps in practice, and just get hopefully back to winning this weekend.”
(On if he still feels any pain)
“No, it was just a little more stiff more than anything. I just have to get out there and practice and get it loosened up and just get it acclimated with a football game.”
(On San Diego’s offense)
“Philip Rivers, I think he’s leading the league in completion percentage right now, he’s got a great arm, and Coach [Norv] Turner is putting him in great positions to win. He’s got great receivers in [Chris] Chambers, Vincent Jackson, and then when you’re talking about [RB LaDainian Tomlinson], you’re talking about one of the best backs all-around in the league. They’re very explosive when they want to be. They love to run the ball to set the play-action, and we have to stop the run first and foremost, because we know that’s what they’re going to do.”
G DAVIN JOSEPH
(On how confident he is that they’re going to win this game)
“I’m very confident that we’ll play well. If we don’t make mistakes, we play tough, and we hit like we are supposed to, we’ll win. If we play tough and physical we don’t have to look at the score board because the points will take care off themselves. But if we go out there and make mistakes, have penalties and play uncharacteristic football we’ll lose.”
S SABBY PISCITELLI
(On previous starts this season being beneficial to him stepping in for Jermaine Phillips)
“We’ve got our whole rotation for pretty much the whole season. I’ve been in there about almost 40 percent of the snaps, which is good, and then a couple of the games I started when he was out. Just getting a lot of reps: it makes you comfortable, it makes you faster, it makes you better when you play. It’s more and more experience you get.”
(On tackling San Diego RB Darren Sproles)
“When you give him the screens, he’s something to deal with. He’s probably one of the more explosive backs I’ve ever seen when he gets the ball in his hands. He’s one of those guys we really have to gang tackle and get everyone around the ball.”
(On making progress in supporting the run from his safety position)
“I think in this scheme, the strong safety has to be real involved in the run game. Like you said, Jermaine does it as good as anybody I’ve seen, and I try to learn from him. But I think, just like I said, you get out there and get more experience, get in live games. You can do it in walk-through in practice all day, but when you get in a game it’s different. I’d say I’m progressively learning. Last game we had a couple different formations that I’ve never seen, we’ve never practiced on, so it was a little difficult. But I feel I’ve got to keep growing, keep growing and putting your face in there to cap it off.”
RB CLIFTON SMITH
(On being voted into the Pro Bowl)
“I'm really excited. I'm just mad that I can't share this experience with my teammates. They're the ones who got me in the situation that I'm in today. I'm just grateful.”
(On how he found out)
"I actually got a phone call around 4:00. Somebody called me on the phone and I actually thought it was a prank phone call. They called me and [said], 'Congratulations!' and I'm like, 'Congratulations on what?' 'Nobody told you?' 'Nah.' They told me I made the Pro Bowl and I was like, okay, is Ashton [Kutcher] supposed to jump out of the bushes and say, 'Clifton Smith, you've been Punk'd.' It was a great phone call and I immediately called my mom and everybody was just happy and thrilled."
(On if he had even thought about making the Pro Bowl)
"I never thought that my name would even be considered up there with Reggie Bush and [Will] Blackmon from Green Bay. They've been doing a great job this whole year so I was surprised that my name got called."
(On the reaction from his teammates)
"Everybody gave me a great pat on the back and I got a lot of phone calls from my teammates last night that I greatly appreciated."
(On a call he particularly remembers)
"I talked to Warrick Dunn over the phone for about 10 minutes. He really congratulated me and just let me know that I was doing a great job out there. We had a lot in common, a couple stories that we could share with each other, so it was a great conversation."
TE JERRAMY STEVENS
(On things being tight this week due to the playoff situation)
“We have some things we have to focus on and that’s winning this game and winning next week too. But we have a big one this week in order to control our own destiny. So we’re just focusing on what we can do to go out there and win.”
(On if this team playing scared in the red zone)
“I don’t feel that way personally and that’s the only person I can speak for. I think everybody knows that we need to do better in the red zone. I would like some more opportunities and I’m sure Antonio (Bryant) would like some more opportunities. What does happen is that the field gets more condensed and it’s harder to run plays the closer that you get. We feel like we have athletes that can go up and get the ball. We just have to tighten up.”
(On if it becomes mental when you get into the red zone)
“I don’t think so at all. I don’t feel that in the huddle when I’m in there either. I think that when we get into the red zone everybody is really hungry. We want to score here. We know that we need to score sixes not threes. Matt Bryant has been carrying us with his field goals a lot this year. We need to put some points up, this team San Diego is going to score.”
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