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Highlights
Q: How is Branden Albert’s ankle? He didn’t work today.

HERM EDWARDS: “Still sore. If we had to play he could play. There are certain guys who probably could play if we had a game but we’re going to be careful now. He’s shown us enough that he can play tackle for us.”

Q: At this time is it…

EDWARDS: “You always get nervous about the last [practices] ones. All coaches do. We have one more on the road and you get nervous so you cut things down. You want them to go fast and then you’re nervous about them going fast.”

Q: How’s Dorsey looked these last few weeks?

EDWARDS: “He’s been good. He’s getting better and starting to understand really what we want him to do. He’s got to get off on the ball and penetrate. He’s got to be a penetrator for us. In college he was a two-gapper at the line of scrimmage and kind of read whether it was run or pass. There isn’t a lot of reading here for our defensive linemen. We like to play on the edge of the opponent’s helmet and go. He’s got some power and our offense is kind of used to him and he’s generally doubled all the time right now and I anticipate that’s going to happen during the season.”

Q: Is he about where you thought he’d be at this point?

EDWARDS: “Yeah, he’s a pretty smart guy. He reads blocks very well, got strong hands, has a lot of power. He’s a powerful man. He’s a smart man who reads the runs really well and rightly so. When you draft a guy that high those are the qualities that you look at.”

Q: This year you have younger guys so what do you say to them before sending them off for a month?

EDWARDS: “They have one more day and they’ve got 57 days, I think, from tomorrow until we play Chicago [pre-season game]. The rookies will be here for a while. The veterans will leave after tomorrow. Don’t get yourself out of shape. That’s what everyone fears the way the schedule is now. Veteran guys understand that for the most part. Young guys you don’t want to go home and get out of shape. We’ve got to hit the field going fast.”

Q: What are the guys that are still here continue to do after tomorrow?

EDWARDS: “They’ll continue to condition. The coaches won’t be around. [Strength and Conditioning coach] Cedric [Smith] will have them. They’ll do all that and they have to go [visit] the [Pro Football] Hall of Fame. They’ll have the weights. We have some other things planned for them.

“It’s a good group of guys if you talk to them. It really is if you talk about rookies. They’ve really found a way to come together. They have a lot of camaraderie; they like practicing football. They don’t always do the right thing but you can correct that. You can’t correct a guy who doesn’t have talent. God gives you talent. You can correct mistakes and as long as they learn from mistakes they’ll be fine.”

Q: I know you want to give your young quarterbacks a lot of reps, but what do you have planned for Damon Huard?

EDWARDS: “He’ll get involved in training camp. He’ll get his reps in training camp. He was told that early and he’ll be ready. One thing about him: he’s got a fresh arm. So, he’s not worn out. That’s good for him. It’s no different than how we handled Trent [Green] when we first got here. We’re just trying to get another guy reps and Tyler [Thigpen] is going to play in the pre-season a lot, too. He and Brodie are going to play a lot in the pre-season.”

Q: Would you be comfortable going into the season if you did not have some kind of experienced backup hanging around?

EDWARDS: “You need a guy who can go in who, if something should happen, can manage the game. It was tough on him last year and we were OK early. Then we couldn’t run the ball and struggled some. If you can’t run the ball it makes it tough on any quarterback.”

Q: Last week you said that nothing surprises you. How about speaking about the playoffs in 2006 and then to next year? Did either surprise you?

EDWARDS: “If you look at us when we got in the playoffs, in my opinion, you knew what kind of team you had. You knew what these guys accomplished to get in. We squeaked in but we won enough games at the end. We won the last game that we needed to win.

“Then going into the next season you knew you were rolling the dice a little bit with the team you had and how a lot of things had to go right. Early they went right for us but I knew in my heart of hearts every week that things had to continue to go right or they could go the other way and they did. We all suffered through it: the fans, the players, the coaches.”

Q: So can you allow yourself to get optimistic?

EDWARDS: “I’m an optimistic kind of guy. I think I was born that way.”

Q: How much are you looking at the competition between Sams and Robinson for the role of returner?

EDWARDS: “It’ll be good and [Jamaal] Charles is going to be back there on kickoffs. Those two guys will be back there more on punts. Both guys have the skill and Sams is a veteran guy who has done it before and Robinson did it well in college. They’ve both got good hands; the ball doesn’t hit the ball a lot which is the most important thing.”

Q: Improvement in that area – where is that on the priority list?

EDWARDS: “Real high. Our return game wasn’t very good. I think that was noted by everyone who watched us play, I guess. Everyone had all the answers when we played last year. We’re trying to solve some of those problems.”

Q: Your thoughts on the draft class?

EDWARDS: “When you draft this many guys you’re always a little skeptical. The rest of the guys have done a pretty good job and are what we thought they were going to be. Some guys were a little better than what we thought they would be at this particular time.

“The next process will come when we put pads on. That’s a whole different ballgame when you put the pads on. You find out who can play physical or who can’t. Their availability has been good. They’ve practiced for the most part.

“We’ve got a young crop of players who are very good and in two drafts prior to that two crops who are good. You’re talking about going from one of the oldest teams to one of the youngest teams in football. That’s good for us and I think the fans will enjoy watching this team play.”

Q: They’ve got to get signed now and do you impart any advice to them on that?

EDWARDS: “They have to make the decision. Their agents do the negotiations but they have to understand that at the end of the day I play football and I’ve got to make sure he gets it done. I’m pretty sure they’ll get there.”

Q: Are you pretty confident that these draftees can play or are they just past phase one?

EDWARDS: “They’ve got past phase one but I believe they can play. You know what? We’re all going to watch them play. They’re going to go out on the field and play and that’s why they drafted them. It doesn’t matter if they’re drafted rookie or a rookie free agent. If they’re good enough to make this team and dress on Sunday they’re going to play.”