Offensive Tackle Andrew Thomas
Q: Andrew you just replaced (Outside Linebacker) Azeez (Ojulari), you've gone up against him tell me what he brings to the table as a pass rusher?
A: Azeez first has freak athleticism, good get-off on the ball, and he has pretty good length and then his power at the point of attack. He's a good rusher, he mixes it up, so it makes it hard on tackles to figure out what he's doing.
Q: How do you see him and (Outside Linebacker) Kayvon (Thibodeaux) being a duo together, how do you see that duo?
A: Definitely explosive, and not just those two. We've got a pretty good outside linebacker group right now. I'm excited to see what they do. It's still early in training camp, but we definitely have some guys who can make some plays.
Q: What do you take away from that first preseason game as an offensive line? When you guys went back and watched it, what do you come away with thinking?
A: For the first time, a new unit being together, not terrible, but a lot of things we've got to clean up. We didn't have that big of a sample size, so we have to be really efficient in the plays that you get. Just going back, working on the technique, and making sure we get it like coach wants it.
Q: As a group when everybody combined rushes for 177 yards and there's no big 70 or 80-yard run, is that a good sample?
A: That's definitely good. We want to be dominant in the run game and that definitely opens up the passing game. But like I said it's still some things on film that we want to clean up technique-wise, but theeffort and energy was high.
Q: Was it weird being out there today and not seeing (Offensive Guard) Shane (Lemieux)?
A: It was different, but it's training camp. Guys are up and down, it's just like the regular season and we just have to deal with it.
Q: Did you talk to him and say, "you coming back soon"?
A: I talked to Shane and checked on him. But I'm focused on getting better every day. He's going to do what the training staff tells him to do and we'll go from there.
Q: When do you think you'll get to a point with the ankle where you won't have to manage it as regularly?
A: I think in the NFL you're always going to be managing different things, it starts with rehab, prehab, and even when you're feeling your best, you're still in the training room getting work and making sure you're managing your body.
Q: Do you feel your best?
A: Yes, I feel good.
Q: How do you guys as players manage the preseason? Do you scout your opponent? Do you try to scout individual matchups? Or do you just go in there and just try to work on certain things individually as you go along?
A: During training camp were not really big on scouting the opponent, it's more focused on ourselves & our technique, and better understanding of our calls. When you're in the preseason, most defenses are pretty vanilla you know? They're not showing a lot of different blitz packages or stuff like that, so we're just focused on using our technique and being physical.
Q: When you talk about managing the ankle, do you mean both ankles or is it just the one you had the procedure on this offseason?
A: Well, with the question, I was talking about my whole body. Managing in the training room.
Q: So, you don't do anything specific for that injury, you're just managing your body as a whole.
A: Yeah, my body, the training staff gives you a prehab routine, and I try to follow that.
