DB-BOB SANDERS (on –being ready to play Thursday and not being quite there yet)
"It has been a long time, almost two years. I've played a few games in the past couple of years and just not being out there, the feel, the reads and stuff like that. You can always be sharper and I felt like I did OK, but I can be sharper. That is basically what let me know that I am still a little rusty and I have a ways to go."
DB-BOB SANDERS (on –how Sanders knew he was ready to play now)
"I worked hard this offseason trying to get back. Going into training camp I knew I would practice at the beginning. It has been a while, but just starting off training camp not on PUP showed me right away that I am strong enough and physically able to go out and play n a preseason game."
DB-BOB SANDERS (on –simply needing to play)
"Rehab was rehab. Anybody who has been injured will continue to do rehab throughout their career, but right now the focus is on getting better. The reps help. The more reps you get, the better you play (with regards to) your adjustments, your assignments and everything else."
DB-BOB SANDERS (on –this being a new start)
"It feels that way, definitely. It has been a while since I have been able to start a training camp off and feel decent and pretty good and ready to go. I definitely feel fresh and new."
DB-BOB SANDERS (on –objective to not be where he was but be better)
"I am constantly trying to get better. I said before that I felt like I can get better every year. That's my objective; to get better as a player, as a teammate and to overall try and improve my game."
DB-BOB SANDERS (on –moments against the Bills)
"I did feel good about some of my reads and plays that I made. But like I said, there is always room to grow and I'm working on that."
DE-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –the progression of the defense)
"I can only compare it to last year. Last year, obviously we had a new coordinator and there were some learning curves that we had. I think this year we are ahead of last year and I think that the more that you are around the scheme and around the guys you get better. So, I think we are a lot better this year."
DB-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –everybody being back making for a better defense)
"I think overall, for all positions, there is more experience. I think that is little bit different by how we do things compared to other teams. A lot of times you bring in all of these free agents and that changes the chemistry of the defense so much you don't really know about the guy that is next to you. I think the benefit of having things the way we have it is that you get to know what to expect from each guy."
DB-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –how good this defense can be)
"I think the sky is obviously the limit. I think this defense did some good things last year. There is always room for improvement. Even if you shut out a team you can always find something that you could have done better. I think the same is true with the game of football, really."
DB-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –rookie Jerry Hughes)
"It is a little tougher situation for Jerry because you have me and Robert (Mathis) in front of him right now, so he has to get on the field somehow. He will get his opportunities coming up in the next two preseason games, really the last preseason game more. There is no rush for Jerry. There is not a dire, dire need for Jerry now or it's all over. Jerry is going to learn the system. He is going to learn how to play Colts ball and he is going to be a great player. Whenever that happens, it happens. Right now his job is to get better everyday and to continue to learn. When he gets his opportunity, because things happen, people get hurt and are out for the season, and all of a sudden he has to step in there and play, be a starter. It happened to me when I was a rookie. I was just third-down situations, and around the eighth or ninth game of the year there was an injury and I went in there and that was it."
DB-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –the importance of the third preseason game)
"This third preseason game is probably the most important out of all of them, especially for the starters, mainly because you play longer and this is usually the game where camp is already broke so you get into a routine of what you normally do during the regular season. I think we normally do good as a whole and that's why this game is very important. It really gives you that most realistic feel to a regular season game."
DB-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –what he personally gets out of this game)
"I think it is the same thing I try to get out of any game whenever I am out in the field, practice field what have you. You just try to get better, understand the scheme a little bit better, just get sharper. Sharpness is what we call it. Just keep on getting better when you step out there."
DB-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –atmosphere at Green Bay)
"I played there once before and I do not know what else is up there but football. They definitely have a football culture."
DB-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –feeling good as ever)
"I can't say good as ever. I think maybe when I was a rookie, I felt as good as ever. I think the longer you play the body is obviously going to suffer a little bit. I think with that, though, comes experience. You become a smarter player. Things start to slow down every year you play. You can anticipate things and see things happening before they happen and maybe when you were a rookie you might have been fresher and flying around, but the game speed was a lot faster because you did not really know what to expect. Every play was a guess. I think when you play longer, things start to slow down. I think the health thing kind of balances out."
DB-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –breaking in his replacement)
"You understand in the game of football and in any other sport you are not going to be there forever. This is a team sport and you want the team to achieve the top. Therefore, if you go down or not even go down, if you need a rest for three or four plays or five plays, you need to have that guy behind you just as sharp as you. Eventually it is going to be his position and he is going to have to teach whoever else. I think the longer you play in the game you gain a certain amount of experience and knowledge. It is kind of your job to help out that younger guy. When I was a rookie, Chad Bratzke helped me out and taught me how the game is supposed to be played. I think that is just how it should be."
DB-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –John Chick)
"Whenever you don't have a drafted guy, and bam, he pops up and is playing well, there is kind of a surprise. Chick is definitely playing well. He has a lot of energy. He plays the game the way it is supposed to be played, very hard. He is definitely going to help us."
DB-DWIGHT FREENEY (on –preseason record)
"Let's put it this way, if our regular season records were bad, then I would say that maybe it all started in the preseason and that's why our regular season was bad. That hasn't happened with what has been going on around here. I think we have won, what four (preseason) games out of the last 24 or 25? Yet we have the most wins in the National Football League over that span in the history of the game, so it can's really translate other than the fact that you have to work on the basics and get better. Obviously, whenever you play a game and record a score, you want to win. As a competitor you want to win, but I think going into each preseason game you have a different focus. The game planning is a little bit different. (If) the emphasis is blitz, and that's what it is and you may blitz a little bit more than we normally would in a regular game, and we may get gashed, but it is a learning tool to get better. That's what preseason really is. It is a time to get better, sharpen that sword so in the regular season you are flying on all sides."
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LB-PAT ANGERER (on –going to Green Bay)
"It should be cool. It should be really exciting, but you can't get caught up in where you are playing. I worry more about what I'm doing than worrying about where I am playing at."
DB-JERRAUD POWERS (on-third preseason game)
"It is very critical. You take the first couple of preseason games and it was a matter of guys getting a feel of things again. And then you are trying to see the younger guys play a lot and see what they can do. Then when you get to this third one it is about trying to get the team ready. There is going to be that game-like atmosphere. They are going to give you their best shot with their best players and we are going to give them our best players. It is a critical game because you know it is going to be like a tested game. You know you are going to be in there. There is no, 'How many plays am I going to play,' or what not. That's what makes it so critical for them also. I bet they are thinking the same way we are."
DB-JERRAUD POWERS (on-atmosphere in Green Bay)
"(My teammates) have told me that it is fun. I actually have an old college teammate, Patrick Lee, that is a cornerback for them. When he got drafted I remember I was like, 'What is there to do in Wisconsin?' And he was like, 'Everything is football.' That was one of the main things he was telling me. There is nothing to do but football, so I'm pretty sure it is a fun town and probably more of a college-type feel than anything just because they say it is completely football across the whole city. The players here say they love playing there just because of the atmosphere and how fun it is. I just want to make sure I feel that."
