Head Coach Doug Marrone Transcript (August 11, 2010)
Preseason Camp Day 3 - Post-practice media session
“Today was the first day we were in helmets and shoulder pads so, obviously, there was a little bit more contact. We want to make sure that we’re a much more competitive football team and you can’t be more competitive unless you start a foundation of toughness. Today on the field there was a lot of upper contact and physical play.
“I’m very excited about the linebackers, including Derrell Smith, Doug Hogue, Ryan Gillum, and then with the young players, Malcolm Cater, Lewellyn Coker, Marquis Spruill and Brice Hawkes. It was a good thing out there today. To see those guys run and take a little bit of contact was good. Obviously, when the time comes in camp that we have the ability to tackle that will really be a key point in our development of the toughness and seeing how many extra yards we can gain and how much push we can get.
“Friday will be full pads. It will be contact, but I have to look at the rules of tackling. There are rules on what percentage you can fully tackle and fully scrimmage. If the rules say we can tackle 60 percent, then we’re exactly at 60 percent, we’re not at 55 and we’re not at 60.5. The one thing is you can start working on some of those (tackling) drills, we’ve started working on some of them with shoulder pads on, but Friday we’ll be able to get more into tackling.”
On Fan Fest:
“I’m looking forward to Fan Fest because right now we’re still in a heavy installation period in all three phases of our game and the players have picked it up well. We still have some of our players attending Summer Start and summer school, so we’re not really in full camp mode yet. That will end on Thursday and Friday will be the first full day of camp mode. The players have done a good job of learning the system so what you’ll see out there is guys who are excited about (smiling) maybe summer school being over and guys who are excited to be in full pads.”
On (safety) Shamarko Thomas and (cornerback) Kevyn Scott:
“I feel comfortable in saying I don’t think either of those players will participate on Friday or Saturday. Then we’ll look to see where they are early next week. The one thing I did not mention yesterday was (quarterback) Jonny Miller has been limited with an ankle also.”
On (quarterback) John Kinder taking snaps with the second team:
“Right now what we have is Ryan Nassib as our starter, we have Charley (Loeb) behind him right now and we’ve seen a lot of good things out of John Kinder. We haven’t really been able to evaluate Jonny Miller yet because he was out the other day. What we’ve seen from John is good. There should be some competition there. He is a young quarterback who is learning and the toughest position to learn on offense is quarterback. He has a nice arm, a good presence, and then it is just a matter of going through the reads and progressions. There is a lot on his plate right now with the installation that we have. We try to throw it all at them early just to see what they can retain, then we back off and it becomes more of the whole-part-whole.”
On what stands out with (quarterback) Ryan Nassib:
“He has improved in every area of his game, from a leadership standpoint to the way he directs the offense, his understanding of it, his game management. He is showing now that when he gets into trouble he doesn’t try to force things. Tthat will help us from a game management standpoint. He has always had a good arm, his accuracy has been good to this point, obviously you can always improve on that. I’m excited about him.
On (wide receiver) Jarrod West:
“Jarrod West hobbled off the field. That is not good when you see that, especially early on when they take them off. I don’t have as much information on it right now but I think whenever a player is taken off like that it’s not a good situation.”
On how (wide receiver) Dorian Graham has adjusted to the offense (after moving from cornerback):
“I’m excited because I’m seeing flashes and you see the speed. He is just really learning how to play the position now. That takes a while, there is a lot of skill that is involved, as in a lot of positions. I’m excited about what I’ve seen Dorian do. He has the speed and he has made some good catches. When he makes some intermediate catches or quick catches in the three-step drop, Dorian is the guy if one person misses a tackle, he can take it to the end zone.”
On the veteran wide receivers:
“With (Alec) Lemon he is in the same situation, a good football player who has strong hands, runs good routes. Marcus Sales has picked it up. I’ve seen him make more plays early in camp, which is encouraging. With the rest of the wide receivers, (Aaron) Weaver has been better than what he was in the spring to this point. He is running faster, he is more comfortable with what we’re doing offensively. Van Chew is having a very good camp. Even though I’m only talking about three days, Van Chew has made some plays.”
On the experienced offensive line:
“We’re better up front, they just haven’t done it in a game situation, but they’re better with their movement skills. I think Justin Pugh will have a very good year for us. We have Justin for four years. I think he’ll be a solid left tackle. Our goal as an offensive line is to improve our foot speed. We’re definitely a much more physical offensive line at this point, more so than we’ve ever been, which is a good thing. Now we just have to work on some of the protections and moving our feet better. Ryan Bartholomew is a natural move. He is very good at center, even though I know he can play guard. At right guard, Andrew Tiller has lost quite a bit of weight and is playing very well to this point. Michael Hay is moving better than he did in the spring, which is exciting. Sean Hickey is a freshman who can swing at one of the tackles. We think he has the same type of ability that Justin Pugh had when he first came in. Zach Chibane is the backup center with Macky MacPherson. Both of them are doing a very good job. We haven’t had a lot of balls on the ground, which is a priority for us with the turnover situation. Jarel Lowery, it is going to be interesting during camp to see how he comes along because he has done some nice things. Nick Lepak, same situation, we need to increase his foot speed. Andrew Phillips, he is tough and getting better. That group will probably be one of the keys to how successful we’ll be.”
On defensive tackle Deon Goggins:
“Anyone who comes from a junior college, with all due respect to the junior colleges, it is easier for them to transition into school because they’re a little bit older. It is easier for them to transition into the weight program and running program, because they’ve done it. But, it is much more difficult for them to transition into the practice. You see a player who is really trying to find his way out there with freshmen and junior college transfers. Deon Goggins will be a very good football player for us but it is way too early in camp. He has only had three practices here and it is something he will get better and better at as we go along.”
On how being surrounded by veteran defensive linemen helps Goggins:
“It is good because we as coaches only get them for a certain amount of time, so we go ahead and coach them for that period of time. Well players have questions throughout the day. They might have them at dinner, in the locker room, or back at the apartment. The one thing you worry about as a coach is whoever he asks the question to is giving him the right answer and we have some good veteran players who will be able to help him there.”
