HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (General Comments) Monday, August 31, 2009* *
"We had a chance to take a look at the film. You are never as bad as you think you are when you lose, and you're never as good as you think you are when you win. I think (that saying) would hold true. There were a lot of real positive things I think we certainly could build on, and we were pleased with some areas in terms of individual performances. There were also a number of things we need to go to work on. We can certainly get better and improve upon things for Thursday night. It's a short week. It gives us another opportunity to prepare in a short week for a real challenge. We are looking forward to that."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On his preparation for the Bengals and for Jacksonville) Monday, August 31, 2009
"We'll focus in on some game-planning for Cincinnati. We have a limited amount of time, but we'll take a good look at them and certainly game plan accordingly. It won't be extensive, obviously, because of the nature of the time, but we'll work at it."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On the playing time of the first unit on Thursday) Monday, August 31, 2009
"We're in discussions on that right now as we look at things. We'll probably want to take another look at practice. There will be limited play for them (starters). (We're) just not certain what that 'limited' means. It means hardly any for some and a little bit for others. It just depends."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On LB-Gary Brackett not playing against Detroit) Monday, August 31, 2009
"He was a little tender. We just decided to hold him out. It was just from practice."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On DT-Terrance Taylor not playing) Monday, August 31, 2009
"That was just a function of numbers. We kept the first group in there early on. We anticipated that happening in some areas. That was just because we were trying to get a good look at some of them."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On K-Adam Vinatieri) Monday,
"He's going very well."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On what's told to K-Shane Andrus, who is working again this preseason in place of injured K-Adam Vinatieri) Monday, August 31, 2009
"Sometimes you never know. There's an unknown in there. We are all involved in this game because we accept challenges. That's the challenge for him to come in here and do the best job he could possibly do under those circumstances…He's done nothing but obviously perform extremely well and done everything that we've asked him to do, which he has done in previous years. He's a guy that we knew was reliable and dependable. He has certainly done a nice job."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On where the defense is and what to expect) Monday, August 31, 2009
"Sometimes it's tough to tell. I can tell you this, we are improving. We do think we have some fundamental issues in terms of our tackling, which hasn't been where we'd like it. We feel we've shown spurts, but we also feel we have to continue to improve. Oftentimes progress is not immediately registered. We feel we are moving in the right direction."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On the starters not being in all the time on defense) Monday, August 31, 2009
"You can lure yourself into a trap that way. We try never to think that way. We expect whoever is out there to play and play well. They should play up to our standards, which are lofty. We haven't done so consistently at this point. Regardless who is in the game, we expect them to play well."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On cutting players for a first time) Monday, August 31, 2009
"This isn't the first (time for me). We had to do so in the spring. We had 88 guys. We had some issues we had to deal with in terms of free agency. It's not my first time going through it, and I'm not saying it's routine either. General (George) Patton said, "All decisions are easy if you have all the facts.' I think anytime you deal with aspirations, goals and dreams of young men with a lot of courage that play this game for the love of the game and tell them their services are no longer needed is not easy. There's some difficulty involved in that."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On if he speaks to guys who are cut) Monday, August 31, 2009
"I do. There's rarely a time when I don't get the chance to talk to them. I want to talk to them. That is something I think is very important."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On RB-Joseph Addai bouncing back) Monday, August 31, 2009
"I think he is on pace. He looks good in terms of what he's been able to do thus far. You see flashes of Joe like he was before he was banged up. He's moving well. He's doing a great job in terms of his blocking, carrying the ball and his pass routes. He looks good. We are anticipating him having a banner year."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On OG-Kyle DeVan) Monday, August 31, 2009
"He's been doing well. He's a guy who is tough, hard-nosed and physical. He has a lot of grit to him. He also is very resourceful. He's a quick thinker. He handles all of the adjustments we make on the inside which oftentimes are many in a short period of time. He certainly is a guy that has caught our eye. We'll have a chance to see a lot of him on Thursday night."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On naming a No. 3 receiver) Monday, August 31, 2009
"We will do all those things before our first regular-season game. We'll finish out this week. Sometime next week we'll look at it. I think some of the young guys are doing well. (Austin) Collie is playing very well. Pierre Garcon had a pretty good night. We are moving in the right direction. Both of those guys look like they will be pretty significant contributors for us."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On DT-Adrian Grady) Monday, August 31, 2009
"He's active. He makes plays. That's what he does. He's a guy that finds a way to get to the ball. He has been steady in there. He's another guy we look forward to getting a real good look at this Thursday. He has certainly caught our eye on occasion. He's coming along. Watch the ball, and he is going to show up."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On QB-Jim Sorgi not playing last week) Monday, August 31, 2009
"Last week we felt he was a bit tender yet. We felt we could finish the game out without him unless an emergency occurred. We had planned to let Curtis (Painter) go the distance. As long as nothing disastrous occurred, Jim was not going to see any time. It just played out the way we anticipated. This week we hope to get him some time in the ball game. We want to get him back and get his feet wet a little bit and get back into the swing of things."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On RB-Mike Hart) Monday,
"He is progressing. He's making good progress. He is coming along and healing. I am not quite sure of the timetable. He is moving forward."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (On CB-Marlin Jackson coming out OK after the game) Monday, August 31, 2009
"He did. He did a nice job while he was in there. It was great to see him back on the field."
