Head Coach Mike Smith
Opening Statement
A: "I think the guys worked extremely hard over the last two days. We kind of went back into training camp mode. We are working against each other, and I thought that we got what we needed to accomplish. We will come back on Monday and we will still be in training camp mode. We won't really be in game planning for San Francisco until Wednesday."
Q: Good time for a break? Would you rather have it a couple of weeks down the road?
A: "Well I've never had a break this early in the season for me personally, so I am not accustomed to it. I would prefer to have it a little later, but this is when it was scheduled so we had to adjust a little bit in terms of how we where going to approach it."
Q: Any plans on your time off? Do you have any days off?
A: "Well, we'll take a little time off and spend a little time with the family and unplug. We'll get back here on Sunday evening and start working."
Q: You stated that this would be a good week for Tye Hill to become more accustomed to the defense. How did he look this week?
A: "Well, Tye got a lot of reps, and that's what we wanted to do. We wanted to make sure that we got a chance to look at him. I think that he has definitely improved since the first day that he got here, which is a positive sign. We'll evaluate the film and see where he is at."
Q: How did practice go today?
A: "It went well. We where in a training camp mode but it was a non-padded practice. Guys worked against each other. We were working on some new things and wanted to get it under our feet a little bit before we took a long weekend."
Q: You have been in this League for many years and have had bye weeks at the beginning part of the schedule and the later part of the schedule. Has it ever made a difference in the years of your experience?A: "Well, I have never experienced one this early. Most of the time, they are closer to the middle of the season or the end of the season. This is new for us so we are trying to approach it a little bit differently. We are approaching it with more of a training camp mentality. We came out and we worked against each other. We did some self-scouting. It's very difficult with three games to get any statistical analysis, but we are looking at players and evaluating everything that we have done. It's just very difficult to get any statistical information out of only playing three games."
Q: Is this first week all about the Falcons and next week all about game planning? Or is it a combination of both?
A: "Well, this week was all about the Falcons and we will come back Monday and work against each other and get into our game planning on Wednesday. The coaches have started the game planning, but in terms of presenting it to the players, we won't present it until Wednesday. So we are basically going to sequence it like any other week."
Q: How is the health of your ball club?
A: "We are healthier than we probably would have anticipated. William Moore has been back at full speed and we had Jerious Norwood back out. The update on Peria Jerry is that he had his surgery two days ago. That all went well and we are looking forward to getting him back in Atlanta this weekend so he can start his rehab."
Q: How is Jason Elam performing?
A: "Jason has not kicked this week. He would have done that whether we was healthy or not. Jason's routine is pretty much set in stone and we don't anticipate any ill effects at all."
Q: Thomas DeCoud put himself in the position to have made two real big plays. He could of had interceptions but didn't. How do you evaluate how he has done?
A: "I think that Thomas has really progressed, being a guy that's a first-year starter and really only has three starts under his belt. I think that he has come along way. He is making the right calls. He has put himself in the position to make a couple of big plays that could have been game changing plays, but he has progressed much quicker than I really thought he would. His tackling has improved as the season has progressed. Thomas, I think is going to be a really good player for us."
Q: Is he in awe of things, playing out there as a young starter?
A: "I don't think so. I think Thomas (DeCoud) is very focused. He is very task oriented and he works very hard at it. Last year, his only experience was in special teams and this year he's back there calling signals for us in the secondary and he has handled it well."
Q: Coming up with (interceptions), is that just a physical thing?
A: "We'll we looked at it and there are a couple of things that you've got to be able to do. When the chance is there, you want your guys to make those plays. It's very difficult. One of them, the deep ball, I think was a tough play, but when we tell our guys that if you get your hands on it, you've got to have the mind set that you are going to make those plays."
MORE FROM THE BYE WEEK:
NOTEBOOK:Weems getting credit for success * TRANSCRIPT:Head Coach Mike Smith talks about the bye week * QUOTABLE:Players talk about the bye week plans * BEAT BLOG:What They're Saying | Three-and-Out * J. MIKE'S MISSIVES:Thoughts on the bye from J. Michael Moore * VIDEO:Head Coach Mike Smith | Ryan | Mughelli | White * COMMUNITY:Area YMCA renamed for Falcons Owner and CEO
