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"It went well. He and I exchanged text messages, but I have not had a chance to speak with him. He certainly feels good about the process and he's starting the healing and rehab process."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if he anticipates DB-Bob Sanders being able to play this season)
"He's a quick healer, unlike a guy like me that is 55 years old. If I got injured it would take quite some time. Your organ reserve capacity starts to diminish somewhat. But young guys, as a wise man told me, they have youth on their side, so sometimes they come back a little sooner than you'd think."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on how bad does he feel for DB-Bob Sanders)
"He's had a tough time. It's been extremely difficult for him, but I don't think the Lord ever gives you more than you can handle. He's one of those guys that has great intestinal fortitude, great drive and determination and he'll bounce back."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if DB-Bob Sanders career is a teachable moment for younger players)
"Oftentimes, and it may not be dealing with injuries in particular, we certainly talk about some of those issues and relationship to other phenomena that is effected by young people. They hear me say oftentimes that I know I have a job today, but I don't know about tomorrow, if I'll be here or not. It's not promised to us, so we have to live each day in accordance with the things that are good and right with the world, just in terms of our integrity and credibility and things of that nature. Don't take anything for granted."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on how DB-Melvin Bullitt handled DB-Bob Sanders coming back and how prepared is he now to step in for him)
"He's a true professional. He didn't have any difficulty when Bob returned. These guys are so highly competitive that no one likes to be a backup. They all desire to be number one, but he handled it in a way which was productive, and thus I think he'll do the same thing, just in terms of taking over (for) Bob. He's one of those guys, I'm talking about Melvin, that has a great perspective on things and he knows how to handle situations, difficult situations, and he's always ready to play. Unlike in some cases you may find some guys that get a little bit upset about the fact that they've been supplanted and thus kind of lose a bit of their focus and their preparation sort of lacks and wanes a little bit, and it shows in their performance. He's the anti-thesis of that. He prepares hard, he focuses and he gets ready. Obviously, he was able to step in the ballgame last week and play and play well."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on depth at safety position)
"Overall, we have two veterans that have played a lot of football in the two starting spots with DB-Antoine (Bethea) and DB-Melvin (Bullitt). We have young guys beyond that point. (DB-Brandon) King is playing there a little bit and getting his feet wet and learning as he goes. DB-DaJuan Morgan we signed, who is another safety that we're trying to get him ready to play as quickly as we possibly can. That's kind of the state of it. Like anything else, when those young ones are called upon it, they have to get in there and play. We expect them to play well."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if his approach was the same this week as it was after the Jacksonville game in 2006)
"It's kind of what we do every week. We didn't change that. You're obviously disappointed in the outcome, but you have to get focused in on how you get better. The more time you spend on correcting your problems in a hurry and getting ready to move on to the next team the better off you'll be, rather than letting things linger. There's not a whole lot you can do about a game once it's over with. You have to look forward."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on the answers to the team's problems last Sunday lying in the current players)
"Exactly. We have what it takes to improve and get better. All we have to do is keep our nose to the grindstone and continue to get a little bit better at what we do."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on scaling back)
"That's always something that enters our mind, particularly mine. We're always talking about trying to scale things back a little bit, create more opportunities, run with a little bit more freedom, don't have to think nearly as much. That's always part of our system. That's the first thing we try to look at. That's an old adage in football. When I was playing football, back in the old days, that's what everyone always said, particularly after a tough loss, 'Cut back, don't do more, do less.' It was a (Joe) Paterno-ism, it was a (Howard) Schnellenberger-ism, it was a Dennis Green-ism, you name them all, they all believed in that type of regimen. I think it's something that has been kind of ingrained in our coaching DNA. That's the way to go about it, instead of trying to do more, do less, but do it better."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if he could imagine being Archie or Olivia Manning Sunday)
"Obviously, they have to be awfully proud. First of all, it's a very, very rare occurrence where you have two sons that aren't just on teams, but are leading their teams in an outstanding way. They are experts at what they do. To have an opportunity to watch your two sons play on a grand state week-after-week-after-week would, I think, be quite amazing. Both of them have certainly won the ultimate game, as well. It also says a lot about them (the parents). I think those of us that know them, know that the apple didn't fall far from the tree. They are people with great integrity and certainly outstanding work habits. They've done a great job in guiding those three young men because they are outstanding people."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on only having three wide receivers on the 53-man roster with WR-Anthony Gonzalez being ruled out for Sunday and if they might put another wide receiver on the roster)
"There's a possibility. We'll look at that and see where we are as the week unfolds and make that determination a little later on."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on decision to make DE-Jerry Hughes inactive)
"It's just like anything else, we kind of look at it week-to-week, just make a determination on who is best suited to slide in there and play that spot. Like we said, he's growing, learning (and) developing. He's having a good week this week, thus far, and we'll see what happens."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on importance of having DB-Jacob Lacey back)
"It's great to have him back. He's made a lot of plays for us. He's a guy that can run. He understands our system. He tackles well. He helps us on special teams. He'll be a big help to us."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on needing three or four guys playing at a high level at the cornerback position)
"You need guys that can play and play well, in particular every week and week out. This is a league that regardless of what anybody says, this is a passing league. You better be able to defend the pass. You have to have people back there that can run with some of these fleet-footed guys, particularly in a week like this week. Every week we're going to face guys like the ones we'll see this week with (WR-Hakeem) Nicks and (WR-Mario) Manningham and (WR-Steve) Smith, guys that can certainly get up the field."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on defensive back formations)
"We do have a number of different combinations. DB-Jacob (Lacey) does give us a little bit of a bonus there, so that we don't have to necessarily have to always work from top-to-bottom bringing a safety down inside. We can do it from outside-in as well. We have some flexibility."
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