Q&A with HERM EDWARDS - 8/4

Aug 04, 2008, 12:01:09 PM

Highlights

Q: Can you give us an update on Glenn Dorsey?

HERM EDWARDS: “Sprained knee and it’s day-to-day and we anticipate he should be sooner than later.”

Q: It’s not as bad as you thought?

EDWARDS: “I never thought what it was until the doctors really looked at it. You didn’t know. He’s going to be fine. He’s walking around a little bit and he should be back here pretty soon. I don’t think he’ll participate in the Chicago game but we’ll look at it next week.”

Q: You had some guys not working today: McIntosh and Larry (Johnson) among them.

EDWARDS: Damion’s knee is a little swollen so we stayed off it. Larry we’re protecting his foot and he’ll work hard this afternoon. He’s had a couple of good days already and we have some young backs and it’s good for those guys.”

Q: What did they tell you about Alabi?

EDWARDS: “He got kicked in the shin. It’s like when you are playing soccer and you don’t have those shin guards.”

Q: But Larry’s foot is fine?

EDWARDS: “Yeah, we’re just resting him.”

Q: Does he look like he looked to you before he got hurt?

EDWARDS: “Yeah, I mean, now he’s going to have to play in the pre-season to get his carries and his runs and the timing with the offensive line. He’s anticipating having a good year.”

Q: Will you play him more in the pre-season this year?

EDWARDS: “We’ll sit down and talk how many carries he needs to get ready. The whole thing with running backs is picking up the blitz pickups and running the ball, getting hit and getting tackled. There is a number in his mind where he’ll feel comfortable. I learned that from Curtis Martin when I was in New York. There was a number of carries he needed in the pre-season and you have to make sure you get those carries to feel good about yourself.”

Q: Branden Albert is out for a bit. Is he getting…

EDWARDS: “Yeah, he’s getting treatment. That’s all you can do. He’ll be back. They will be back, all these guys who are injured. Now when they come back I don’t know. But the great thing about it is there are a bunch of young guys behind them that will get an opportunity to play a lot. The sad thing for those guys is they miss the opportunity to get reps. That’s what you want: young guys to get reps. The more reps they get the more knowledge they gain, the more confidence they gain.

“But you’re talking about two players who are two first round draft choices. They’re a little bit different. They’re pretty special as far as picking things up and understanding the game of football. That’s the saving grace for those two guys. Everything I’ve seen from those guys so far is everything we anticipated when we drafted them.”

Q: What are your thoughts on how you’re going to split your quarterback snaps on Thursday night in Chicago?

EDWARDS: “We’ll start talking about that actually tonight. We’ll make a decision on who’s going to play, how long they’re going to play, and how many plays. I think I’m going to go by plays more than quarter[s].”

Q: The fact your left tackle is not going to play, does that impact how much you might use Brodie?

EDWARDS: “No, I think we’ll just have to do some things to make sure we protect him. I think what you’re realizing as you watch practice and some of you have just arrived – I won’t mention the names – but when you run boots and nakeds that always protects your quarterback some. That always has the defensive end in a predicament where if he continues up the field and this guy runs around the corner we’ve got a problem. With that in your offense that gives you the ability to protect the quarterback some, just by doing that. That’s something we’ve added to our offense and so far has looked pretty good. Now we’ve got to go do it in a game.”

Q: Emotionally though, with Albert out it’s got to be kind of devastating for him when he was so excited about coming to camp.

EDWARDS: “The kid told me that he’d never been hurt. That’s what he told me. So I told him we’re getting it out of the way. You got it in the spring (sprained ankle) a little bit and now we’re getting it in training camp. That means during the season you don’t get hurt.

“There’s nothing you can do. It’s just football. You hate for it to happen to any player. When it happens to a first round pick everyone gets concerned. But you don’t need to be concerned. He’s going to get well and he’s going to come back. He’s going to be a good player. Both those kids – I’ve said it and I’ll say it again – the kids we drafted are going to give us a great opportunity to build this organization and this franchise in a direction that we want to go. All these guys are going to have an opportunity to play and they’re going to be good players.”

Q: Did you ever just say why me when this happens – when guys get hurt?

EDWARDS: “No, because there is always somebody who has it worse than I do. I’ve lived a great life and I’ve been very fortunate to be in this league all these years and you accept what happens to you. You always find something good about it. You find another guy who wouldn’t have gotten all those reps that ends up being a good football player. The good thing about it is they’re not done for the season. They’re going to come back and they’re going to help us win.”

Q: Thigpen does real well in those boots and in movement. When you were looking at him before the draft last year was that solely as a quarterback or maybe a wide receiver?

EDWARDS: “No, he can’t run fast. He’s more quick than fast. He’s athletic. When we looked at quarterbacks our whole mindset was we’ve got to get a guy who has the ability to get outside of the pocket and make plays on the run. When the train is not on time you’ve got to have a quarterback who can delay – that can go make a play. Both our guys can – Brodie can get outside the numbers and throw the ball anywhere on the field – wide or short. They’re not running quarterbacks but they’ve got some ability to move and throw on the run.”

Q: Some teams were looking at him as a receiver?

EDWARDS: “Possession maybe, but we looked at him as a quarterback - just a quarterback. He’s got a powerful arm and sometimes that gets him in trouble because he’s going to try and make some throws that are ill-advised. I mean, he needs some experience. The guy went to Coastal Carolina and started the program off there. That’s his experience. The more he plays the better he’s going to be.”