PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN (on- John Gill's arrest)
"With respect to John Gill, he's got a problem, clearly, that unfortunately many Americans are familiar with, either in their family or in the work place. So the number one priority for him is to get treatment, and we're in that process right now. Football is not a priority. It's not even a consideration. We're in discussion with the league office and they'll let us know what roster category is for him, but going into treatment as quickly as possible is being arranged with the appropriate people. We'll move on from there. We hope for John's sake that everything in the end will work out, but his focus now is on treatment and getting himself squared away. The program is confidential. It is sufficed to say that we were very hopeful this would be a good year for him, but it hasn't turned out that way. So it's important that he get on with the business of getting his life straightened out."
PRESIDENT BILL POLIAN (on- whether Gill will be out for the season)
"I would anticipate that, but I don't know. We will hear from them later today."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – John Gill)
"I think, certainly, about him as a person, the most important thing is that he gets things straightened away, so he most certainly has a lot of work to do."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – advising players on having good behavior)
"Oh, we certainly do. It's something we constantly do. That's not really the issue with this young man. He just has some difficulties. We know that he'll get the help that he needs and hopefully get his life in order quickly."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – taking care of Gill's issue)
I think Bill (Polian) probably said to you as distinctly as he possibly could about our concerns for his welfare more so than anything else. This is bigger than football. Oftentimes you have situations that arise like this, and fortunately with Jim Irsay and Bill and the rest of the organization, they certainly put the person first. That's the most important thing."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – Jeff Saturday and Jacques McClendon not at practice)
"No, no personal reasons. Doctors may have determined that it's not good for them to stand on the field or get a little extra work, but they're being evaluated constantly. We'll probably have a little bit better update in the next day or so."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – How long Charlie Johnson might be out)
"No, not yet. I think sometimes it takes a couple days for things to calm down. I know they are going to do a reevaluation on him in the next day, and at that time we may have a clearer picture."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – How Dallas Clark is doing)
"I know he's making good progress. Dallas might be a few days or so. He's got a little soreness, let me put it that way. If I start going down the whole list, there's not a guy out there who doesn't have something wrong with him at this time of year. It's tough, it's hard, and it's trying to push through particularly going through into the second week. Oftentimes you're going to find lots of things arise that may take a guy a couple days to get his feet back underneath him. We're off and running."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – treating soreness in veterans different than rookies)
"Not really, but it all depends on the attitude the body's going to take. Sometimes there is a little practice modification that we'll do with a guy who's been around the block a few times."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – Ryan Diem being back at practice)
"It's good. He's certainly an excited father. A brand new child, a young lady, and I know he's fired up about the experience. All you do is talk to him and you can see the gleam in his eyes. He's certainly glad he could spend a little time with her."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – keeping continuity when players are out)
"There's not question about it. There is a lack of continuity. Oftentimes I think this is kind of how it happens in the season. Guys are up and down. You kind of have to plug guys in here and there. Somebody's got to step up and do the job on a daily basis. Sometimes that changes. I think that serves well to have a few more reps than you would have ordinarily gotten. I think in the long run, after you've gotten the opportunity to look at it, you've got to look at it as finding the silver-lining. You've got to look at it as a positive to keep moving forward."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – emphasis on return game)
"The big thing is we're trying to evaluate them on whether or not they have the hands to catch it consistently, and once they catch it and secure it can they do something with it. We probably won't get a really good look at that until we get started in terms on pre-season, but we've been taking them through the paces, looking at all phases of it, punt return, kickoff, and we've got some young guys back there who are handling those chores. So it will be pretty exciting to have the opportunity to see them in a ballgame."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – playing multiple positions to earn spot on roster)
"Sometimes it just depends on the makeup of your team. Maybe sometimes you can do those kinds of things. We've had those situations before where we've been able to adjust to a guy who just returns kicks. We've had guys who were not only a performer for us in terms of the kicking game, but also he played a particular position, wide-receiver, defensive-back. It's nice if they can double up."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – getting all wide receivers equal opportunities)
"This league is, no matter how you shake it up, a passing league. I think a lot of guys make a lot of money on third downs and it ends up to be a situation where we like to have as many weapons has we possibly can. I think teams are getting fairly adept at trying to double some guys. I think the more weapons we have the better off we are to give Peyton a few more options."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – Anthony Gonzalez's performance thus far)
"He's been doing very well. He has certainly come along. He certainly understands our offense extremely well, but he's making a lot of big plays and catching the ball well and moving well."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – preparation for Sunday's game)
"Not until the end of the week. We don't even talk about it. Right now we're focusing in on us. The most important thing is can we get better every single day. At the end of the week we'll start to focus more on our opponent."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on –adding Jerry Hughes to defense)
"It does help us because it gives us a third guy which we've been looking for, for a number of years, but it gives us a little bit more flexibility so we can maybe add a third rusher in the scheme and use them all at the same time. John Chick has come along and has also been a guy who has opened our eyes a little bit in that regard. Jerry (Hughes) is performing well. He's going to learn and keep growing."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – Hughes sharing the field with Dwight Freeney and Robert Mathis)
"Those guys are great competitors, but I do think they still need a break from time to time."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – handling Bob Sanders differently to avoid injuries)
"I think our entire team for the most part, we look at each and every individual at some point and make adjustments accordingly, maybe to their injury history. Other than the things we do on the field, I think we do things in the way we believe in. We don't know a whole lot of tackling, taking them to the ground. We wait for the ballgames, in terms of pre-season and things of that nature to do our live hitting. We do some, but not a whole lot. I think that's important to making sure that we're fresh and hungry."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – Bob Sanders' performance so far)
"He looks good. He's got a bounce in his step. He's participating and doing extremely well in terms of his leadership out on the field and doing a great job in the meeting rooms."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – Rookies performance so far)
"We've been extremely pleased with the rookies thus far, but like anything else, you really don't know a whole lot about them until they start selling popcorn. We'll find out a little more about them toward the weekend."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on – importance of Antoine Bethea)
"Bethea has been extremely important. He's been extremely durable and not only durable, but he's been a great performer as well in covering the field, taking care of his responsibilities. He's done a great job in supporting the run. He is also a very, very physical tackler, so we're pleased to have him back and obviously doing well. It provides a unique opportunity for us to have three quality safeties. It's been fun."
WR- ANTHONY GONZALEZ (on –how he is feeling)
"Pretty good. Healthy overall."
WR- ANTHONY GONZALEZ (on –getting timing back with Peyton Manning)
"I don't think that has been much of a problem actually, which kind of surprised me. I feel pretty good about the work we've put in. One of the reasons why I went down to Tennessee this offseason was to get that timing back. I think having three days with him (Manning), myself, and (Austin) Collie throwing routes and really working on that timing aspect really helped a lot."
WR- ANTHONY GONZALEZ (on –when he felt healthy again)
"Honestly, I probably didn't feel all the way healthy until maybe about three weeks ago. I was able to work around it so my conditioning didn't suffer or anything like that. In terms of full on, no-questions-asked healthy, I'd say three or four weeks ago."
WR- ANTHONY GONZALEZ (on –earning the trust of Manning again so quickly)
"It's not like this is my rookie year. We have two-and-a-half years of experience to draw from and obviously last year got cut very short for me. We weren't starting at square one by any means, and the other thing is I stayed involved. I was still in Indy even though I was hurt the whole year. I was in the meetings. I was listening. I wasn't physically (out there), but mentally I was. I think you can get around some of those issues if you stay mentally into it."
WR- ANTHONY GONZALEZ (on –how Garcon and Collie produced the way they did last year)
"I think those guys both obviously did a great job. They stepped up when we needed them to and it was certainly nice for those guys. That's a big help for the offense, for sure."
WR- ANTHONY GONZALEZ (on –the retro helmets worn in practice today)
"I love them, actually. Not to get in trouble, but I think the horseshoes are a little oddly placed. I'm not sure they are necessary, but other than that the blue helmets are great. I think they are pretty cool looking."
WR- ANTHONY GONZALEZ (on –taking the blue helmets over the white ones)
"I don't know. Variety is nice. I'll say that. Mix it in every now and then."
WR- ANTHONY GONZALEZ (on –being out today)
"Nothing serious. I just woke up with a real bad cramp. I think that is what it is. I hope so. But when I got out of bed I almost fell down. It's fine."
WR- ANTHONY GONZALEZ (on –importance on three days in Tennessee with Manning)
"I still wasn't all the way healthy, but I just wanted to do it because I got hurt during the OTA's and so from that perspective I was already behind the eight ball a little bit after coming back off of almost a year's worth of injury. Then to go from that to getting hurt in the OTA's, I was putting a lot of pressure on myself from that standpoint. That was kind of the impetus behind that. I went and said, 'I know it's not the same, but can I come down there (TN),' and (Manning) was all for it."
RB- DONALD BROWN (on -second year in training camp)
"Having a year under your belt definitely makes a difference. You know what to expect day-in and day-out, but the playbook and (other) things are always changing so you have to stay up on it. You just put your best foot forward everyday and give your best effort."
RB- DONALD BROWN (on -second year in training camp being smoother)
"The veterans that we have are a great, solid group of guys. (They) are always out there working hard, and it's contagious. They make you work hard and they really helped expedite the learning curve last year. That carried over to this year and really helped me out a lot."
RB- DONALD BROWN (on –personal goals in this training camp)
"I just want to put my best foot forward everyday, work hard and give my best effort. That's all I can do."
RB- DONALD BROWN (on –accomplishments so far by team in training camp)
"We are making progress everyday and you can see it on the film. That's what training camp is for. You take it one day at a time and get better each and every day."
RB- DONALD BROWN (on –helping rookies out)
"It's nice being in that position, but people are still helping me out, too. It works both ways. You are always looking to get better and help the guy next to you get better, too."
RB- DONALD BROWN (on –feeling more ahead than in June)
"By far. I'm not thinking as much and I know what I'm doing while I am out there. Now it's fun. Now I can go out there and play ball and put my best foot forward everyday and keep working hard."
RB- DONALD BROWN (on –being excited for preseason games)
"It's always fun to play against some different color, but that is a couple of days from now. We have a couple of hard practices to put some work and good time in. We are taking care of training camp first."
DB-JERRAUD POWERS (on –biggest transition form last year to now)
"Just knowing how everything's going to be rather than coming in last year with it all being new. Just preparing myself mentally and physically. My offseason was a lot different than what it was the year before. It was a different set of training. I didn't know what I was getting myself into last year after the (NFL) combine. Then it was just doing stuff on your own and not knowing what to expect. Coming in this year it was more of that college feel type of training, of everyday and every morning just trying to get yourself ready and in the best shape as possible. You get a lot of great athletes out here in the best shape of their life, and you don't want to be lacking in that because guys will move ahead of you just because of that situation."
DB-JERRAUD POWERS (on –benefiting from last year's playing time)
"I feel good and I think starting last year is going to benefit me. With playing Randy Moss, Larry Fitzgerald and all of the great receivers we played last year as a rookie, coming in this year and facing them I think it's going to be a different mindset for me because I've seen them before and know what to expect; as opposed to me being a rookie and everybody else being nervous because we have a rookie out there guarding Randy Moss. I think it will benefit a lot down the road because late in the season my body sort of broke down a little bit. I really didn't expect for the journey to be that long, but it was. I think I know how I'm going to handle certain situations differently this year when it comes down the stretch."
DB-JERRAUD POWERS (on –the mental transition form last year to now)
"Just more studying of the playbook, watching films and evaluating myself from last season so I can benefit on the field from what I learned last year, as far as footwork or bulking up in the weight room."
WR- SAM GIGUERE (on –transition from last year to now)
"The biggest difference coming into training camp this year is that I'm healthy. Last year I had a broken leg and it was real hard to be ready and try to improve. This year I know how this all goes with the routine and schedule and I'm a lot more comfortable with the playbook as well. I can really focus more on what is going on on the field and trying to get better everyday."
WR- SAM GIGUERE (on –biggest transition mentally from first year)
"I stuck with the playbook a lot and tried to get my studying done ahead of time so I would be more comfortable coming in and not have to spend so much time at night studying. Now that I know the plays I can go to bed at a regular time and get some sleep so I can perform well the next day. Obviously, I ran a lot to shed a few pounds so I can be faster this season."
WR- SAM GIGUERE (on –returning kicks)
"Last year I had an opportunity to return kicks in the last regular season game, and if I can help the team there then I will be more than glad to do that."
