Transcript: Head Coach Brian Daboll

Head Coach Brian Daboll

Q: What's up with (quarterback) Drew (Lock)?

BRIAN DABOLL: Drew (Lock)? He's sore. He'll do some running on the side today. See where he is. See if he can go this week. I don't envision him practicing here the next few days, but like we always do, we'll take it all the way up to the end and see where he's at.

Q: Still no concern about him for week one?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, like today. We're just going to go ahead and do the process, but we'll see where we're at. We're not adding another quarterback right now.

Q: You're not?

BRIAN DABOLL: No.

Q: Why not?

BRIAN DABOLL: Because we'll see where Drew (Lock) is at. If he's good to go, he's good to go. Obviously, we talked about it, but we'll see where he's at. He feels a little bit better than he did that night and the next morning. He'll do some running on the side, then he won't practice. He won't practice today. I don't think he'll practice tomorrow, probably not the next day, but we'll go all the way to the end.

Q: Is that a concern then, only having two quarterbacks for the game on Saturday?

BRIAN DABOLL: We'll have a plan for another person if they need to go out there and play.

Q: In the handful of plays that (wide receiver) Malik (Nabers) played the other night, what did you think out of what you saw?

BRIAN DABOLL: Did good. Ran good routes. Great separation.

Q: Getting himself open and stuff like that…

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, he did a nice job. Did what we asked him to do. Basic game plan. No mental errors. Ran good routes. Blocked. Did his job.

Q: Obviously, there's a huge anticipation amongst the fans to see this guy make plays because of his talent. As a coach, as he ramps up more reps in games as you go along here, what is your anticipation? Do you similarly have an anticipation to see what he's doing under the lights when they're on?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, I don't have any reservations about Malik (Nabers). He's had a good camp. Again, it was good to get him out there and do some basic things. He's had a good camp.

Q: You said you're going to prepare someone else to play quarterback. You mean like someone from another position to be ready as an emergency third?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah. It'll be (tight end) Tyree (Jackson). We had him in Buffalo. Tyree Jackson. He has played quarterback. If he had to go in, he knows our system, taking snaps, albeit he's been a tight end the last couple years. But he'll take some quarterback center exchange out here. But I don't envision playing him unless something happens.

Q: Will (center) JMS (John Michael Schmitz) practice today?

BRIAN DABOLL: I'll give you some heads up on some of this stuff. So we'll ease JMS (John Michael Schmitz) back in. He'll do individuals. We'll take (tackle) Evan (Neal) off PUP. So he'll be coming off. Again, we'll ramp him up. It'll be individuals today. (Tight end Lawrence) Cager will be back. (Tight end Jack) Stoll will be back. Tomorrow will be an important day. But envision him being good to go if everything goes well. (Outside linebacker Tomon) Fox will be back. People that won't be back are the same for today's practice as last week. (Cornerback Cor'Dale) Flott won't do anything today. People that were different that didn't do anything: (safety) GO (Gervarrius Owens) won't practice today. He has a knee. (Inside linebacker) Dyontae Johnson, he won't practice. He has an ankle.

Q: Obviously, the doctors told you he was ready to practice. Do you know what he cleared that (tackle) Evan (Neal) is coming off PUP? What was the hurdle he had to get over?

BRIAN DABOLL: No. I just know that with the rehab process he's had a few good days here in a row. Everybody feels good with where he's at. So now it's the ramp up. So it'll start with individuals. And we'll monitor it after we go through individuals. Today will be shells. The next two practices will be pads.

Q: When he is fully healthy, is there any chance he starts for you guys?

BRIAN DABOLL: We're just getting it back here out in individuals. So, he's got a long way to go in terms of being off for a while and (he'll) go out there and start competing.

Q: When you look at what (inside linebacker) Bobby Okereke does for you guys, can you speak to your comfort level with him? And how would you describe what he means to your defense?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, he's really the centerpiece, the middle linebacker position. He's a good communicator. Obviously has good leadership traits. Nominated a captain his first year here. I think he's taken that to another level with tying the back end with the front end. He's fast. He's a ball disruptor. Active player in the run game and the pass game. He's been a good player for us. We're going to need him to be a good player this year as well.

Q: Is this the week the ones get a run?

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we'll talk about that at the end of the week. Decide what we're going to do and how much we'll play them, but that won't be… We're really going to focus on these next three days. Just us, our team, competition, different situations that we need to make sure we're continuing to improve on. Fundamentals. That's why we'll do pads two days this week. Then we'll make those decisions at the end of the week.

Q: Does Drew (Lock)'s injury impact how much you plan to play Daniel (Jones) in the game?

BRIAN DABOLL: No, no. I have an idea right now, but I want to go through these three practices. We'll talk about it as a coaching staff as the week goes on and end up talking with the players. I do envision Daniel (Jones) playing if everything is… trainers, practices, all those type of things. The plan is to play him.

Q: Can Tommy (DeVito) challenge for the backup job? Can he challenge Drew (Lock) for the number two job on game day in the regular season?

BRIAN DABOLL: I'd say, with Tommy (DeVito) and with Drew (Lock), all we're going to ask them to do is go out there and play as good as they can play and produce. And all those decisions will be made at the end of camp based on who we think gives us the best chance at each position. Whether it's the backup quarterback, backup three technique, starting receiver. Those are all yet to be determined, besides (defensive lineman) Dexter (Lawrence) and (tackle) A.T. (Andrew Thomas) and a few of those other guys. (Outside linebacker Brian) Burns, (outside linebacker Kayvon) Thibodeau, (inside linebacker) Bobby (Okereke).

Q: Was there any talk of doing joint practices with the (Houston) Texans? And if so, why not? Because you're doing them with the (Detroit) Lions and the (New York) Jets.

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, we've had… We do it with two teams. So not much.

Q: Does that factor into how much you want to play the starters, that if you know last week you were going into a game where you probably weren't going to play a lot of your top tier guys, that you want to have those joint practices to kind of replace what you're going to get out of the game? So, in theory, no joint practices this week would probably mean…

BRIAN DABOLL: Yeah, that's definitely part of it. So, you have a conversation over the summer and planning for Detroit and the amount of reps and workload we put on the 1s. But there's definitely an element to that. Practice against them, maybe pull back and you don't practice, maybe you play more. Again, that will be dictated on how these next three practices go, which, you know, we'll put a lot on them, these three practices. A lot of plays, two padded practices, and then we'll evaluate at the end of the week.

Q: Since you guys signed (guard Greg) Van Roten, you've had the same five guys on the one O- line, why was (guard Aaron) Stinnie the only one to play?

BRIAN DABOLL: I talked to Stin (Aaron Stinnie) about that, to go ahead and give him some more looks in live competition. Give him two series, I think, somewhere around there, just to keep evaluating that spot. And Greg (Van Roten) was just really coming off the couch, so that was more, we're still ramping him up. Veteran player that hasn't had a ton of practice reps, so that was the deal with that.

Q: Straight off the couch isn't trademarked?

BRIAN DABOLL: It might be.

PAT HANLON: Anything else?

BRAIN DABOLL: Two other things, we released (defensive back) Kaleb Hayes. And we signed a linebacker yesterday, (after) workout tryouts, (linebacker) K.J. Cloyd.