Head coach Mike SmithOn the key to the quick turn around after the performance on Sunday:
"Well, to get our bodies back is going to be very key. That's why we worked on the grass today and finished up here in the dark. We didn't want to go in and get on the turf. We played on turf on Sunday, and I think it's going to be very important that we recover physically."
On not getting any quarterback pressure and sacks in the first two games:
"We've got to put more pressure on the quarterback. It's not where we want to be after the first two games, and I think it's translated into us not playing the type of defense that we want. We haven't been able to pressure the quarterback, nor have we been able to stop the run, and those are two issues that we definitely have to address and get better at."
On Bobby Rainey:
"He's a very tough running back. He's small in stature. We had a hard time tackling him when we played him down there in the game last year. He had I believe over 140 yards rushing in the game against St. Louis on Sunday. It's going to be a challenge for us because Lovie (Smith) and his staff are going to run the football, and we have to get better at it."
On the plan in a short week to keep guys fresh:
"The first thing is you've got to do some work prior to it arriving. So our coaching staff at the end of the week last week had moved on. A number of guys had to work a week in advance. I think it's very important for us as a coaching staff to realize that we were in a physical football game in Cincinnati yesterday, so we're not going to do a whole lot of physical work. Normally when you're playing a division opponent, and as you know most of the Thursday night games are division opponents, we have some familiarity with them. This is a new coaching staff, so I think we're at a little bit of a disadvantage compared to other years."
Injury report:
"Jake (Matthews) was a limited participant in practice. The injury report will be going out here shortly. We would've held one player out and that's Roddy White. Prince Shembo would've been a limited participant in practice, as well as Julio Jones. When you guys get in there you'll get a chance to see the injury report. That's how it would've been if this would've been a full practice. We anticipate those limited participants from today will be full participants tomorrow."
On Antone Smith and Devonta Freeman's playing time:
"We did not get the rotation because we had some three and outs in terms of how we were rotating our backs. Unfortunately, it didn't go like it did in the first week. That's something that again, when you have four running backs, it's a challenge every game to get the numbers you'd like for them to have. We will continue to work on it. It's a work in progress for us as a coaching staff that we want to get all of those guys some touches because they all deserve it."
On the Adrian Peterson situation:
"No. That is a Minnesota Vikings issue, and I don't think it's appropriate for me to comment my personal opinion. Probably isn't something that I need to talk about."
On Roddy White saying we needed to play more up-tempo:
"We ran 67 plays, they ran 66 plays. They had the ball six more minutes than we did. Probably of those 66 or 67 plays, I'd say 40 of them were in our no huddle offense. Each game has a completely different dynamic, in terms of the tempo. That was a game where both teams hardly ever huddled, if you noticed. When you watch the game, you saw that they had their no huddle offense going as well. I think sometimes the officials can slow a tempo game down. I think if you look there were some plays were probably everybody was wanting to get out there and play, but there was a stoppage by the officials. They stood over the ball a lot more in this game than they had in other games."
On getting this Thursday night game out the way:
"It's real beneficial considering the outcome of the game on Sunday because we get an opportunity to come out and play again. I think for us it's a mini bye week in week three. We're going to get a full bye week in week nine, so we're getting it at the front end. If I had my druthers I'd probably want it to be in the back in, simply because you're probably going to have more injuries at the back end of a season than you are at the front end of the season."
