How did it go this morning with the combined practice with Jacksonville?
"I thought it was another good practice. I think we actually had a better practice today than we did yesterday, in terms of what we wanted to get out of the tempo of the practice. We also did some situations with them. We worked some redzone, which I thought was important for us to see somebody else's offense and somebody else's defense in the redzone. We're going to finish it up this afternoon with the two-minute period. We're going to get some situational work today, that was really the plan."
What does DB Brian Williams add to the mix competitively at that position?
"I think Brian adds a lot of experience. He understands our defense, he's played in it for six or seven years. Probably, the biggest value that Brian gives our team is that Brian is a guy that can play all five defensive back positions. He can play left or right corner, he started as our nickel last year, and he has played a number of games in his career at the safety position. Brian will be very, very valuable to our depth in terms of how we want to try to put our roster together. He is cross trained in all five of those positions."
How much stock do we put into the depth chart released yesterday?
"I would say its very fluid. It's going to be changing daily. Right now, we have a lot of guys that are banged up, as you guys know. I know that's one of the questions you're going to have in terms of who's going to be practicing, who's not. All across the League, we're 12, 13 days into training camp, it's not unusual to have anywhere from half a dozen to a dozen guys missing practice time. I think everybody in the League does a very good job of managing their players and that's what we're really trying to do."
What are the injuries to S William Moore, S Matt Giordano and TE Michael Palmer?
"Giordano has tightness in his groin. Moore has tightness in his groin, as I said yesterday it was the same groin that he injured in OTA's and Palmer has a groin as well. He did that in the mock game on Saturday. All those guys I think are going to be day-to-day. Besides the one that we've announced in Michael Jenkins, I am going to in the future try not to talk about them. If they are out for an extended amount of time we're going to announce it because guys, we're spending way too much time talking about injured players. I'd like to really talk about the positives of what we're trying to get accomplished. There are going to be a lot of guys in and out of here."
How much experimenting are you going to do with your kickoff and punt returns in Friday's game?
"We've got a plan. We've got a couple of young guys, especially on kickoff returns, that we would like to see. We know what WR Eric Weems can do. We want to see what RB Dimitri Nance is capable of doing as well as RB Antone Smith. Those two guys I thought had a very productive scrimmage so we want to see what they can do in special teams because a backup running back has to be a guy who can contribute in special teams. I hope we're not returning a whole bunch of kickoffs, but if we do we're going to give those guys an opportunity to show us what they can do. As far as punt returner, we probably won't do a whole lot of experimenting here in the first preseason game."
Can you update Brian Williams' progress?
"Brian is scheduled to come out tomorrow and actually get involved in some of the group work. He won't be in a team setting tomorrow, but we anticipate that he will be next week. We're going to bring him along just like we've been bringing the other two along. WR Harry (Douglas), unless there's a setback, he'll be full-go once a day. DT Peria Jerry is just a little bit behind him. Brian is following the same protocol that we put in place for those two guys."
How far are those guys from getting in the preseason games?
"I think that they're going to play in the preseason games. I know that they're not going to play on Friday, none of those three. I think that moving forward game two and three are definitely in consideration depending on how they progress over the next week."
Did you get to see your receivers much today, it looked like they were struggling catching the ball?
"I was more on the defensive side. It's very difficult when you've got two fields going. My head is going from one side to the other. I did not see it, I'll watch the tape. I certainly hope that's not the case."
What was your impression of the defensive side?
"I thought that we played the run extremely well. I thought there were some pickups that we need to get better at our zone coverage and some of our route progressions. Again, we've been seeing the same type of routes from our offense for 31 practices and we've seen some different ones here over the last day and a half. I think it's good for us. Not only does it stimulate our players, but it stimulates our coaches in terms of how we've got to get our guys ready to go. We've got to make sure that all of our schemes and all of our rules fit into every route progression that we can possibly see."
With so much going on how much do you actually rely on the tape?
"The tape doesn't lie that's for sure. Your eyes can deceive you. I try not to make any really snap decisions based on what happened on the field that I saw with my naked eye especially in practice situations. It's very difficult to see, you don't necessarily always know what the guy was thinking in terms of what his responsibility was. It could be a mental error, it could be a physical error. When you get in there and watch the tape and get a chance to interact with our players, it's a whole better decision making process when you're in that calm, cool office."
What type of test are you expecting from QB Matt Cassel and the Chiefs passing?
"I have not spent any time on Kansas City. We will be starting the four defensive backs that started the last game of the season. They're young guys, even though they have a lot of games under their belt they are still young and seeing things. It'll be a test for them. Matt Cassel has been a very effective quarterback. We don't know what to expect. We're not going to game plan for those guys, we're just going to go out and play. We don't actually get into game planning until game three of the preseason."
It seems like CB Chevis Jackson is getting more work at cornerback, can you talk about that?
"Yeah, Chevis has been our nickel for the last two years and has taken basically every snap until Brian Williams came in last year. Chevis is a guy that probably is a better suited skill set for inside, but he was always a guy who was very effective as a corner in college. He understands what we're trying to get done schematically and scheme wise. This is a great opportunity for Chevis with CB Dunta (Robinson) not participating in camp to be in the mix and to be part of the conversation of who's going to be our corner."
