HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on how DB-Bob Sanders felt after practice Wednesday) * *
"He did good. He's in good shape. We feel good about his progress and where he is. He feels good about it. We kind of allow the physicians to guide us and those guys that are working with him, in terms of his rehab. Obviously, he has to listen to his own body, as well. We just kind of adjust to his needs."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on how important is it for DB-Bob Sanders to get back both physically and mentally)
"The mental aspect of it I think he's been on top of for awhile. He has not missed a meeting. He's been at every single situation that he can be a part of. He's listened and grasped all the information he possibly could. He's been soaking that in for awhile now. In that regard, we certainly feel he's going to be up to speed. In terms of game speed, that is what practice is for. It gives him a good sense of that. He's doing well in that aspect."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if DB-Bob Sanders will start at St. Louis on Sunday)
"We haven't talked in detail as of yet. We will by the end of the week, but the fact of the matter is if he's capable of going we probably will start him."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on how many snaps DB-Bob Sanders will play)
"We'll make that determination after we get a sense of the next few days and we get a feel for where he is."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on how the nickel package will look at St. Louis on Sunday)
"We have several options. We'll probably do it somewhat similar to the way we've done it the last couple of weeks, where (DB-Jacob) Lacey will probably come in, and we may bump (DB-Jerraud) Powers inside. That's what we did last week. You'll probably see something similar to that."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on playing three safeties)
"That's also a possibility. He's (DB-Melvin Bullitt) been there. He's played there (in the slot) for us. He's versatile enough."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on a win Sunday at St. Louis giving him a 6-0 start for his career and putting him on a short list of coaches to accomplish that)
"I don't (take pride in it), and I probably would if it meant something. Really, what does it give you? It's not a declaration that you've won the division or able to enter the playoffs with that mark or anything of that nature. So, no, I really don't."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if it will mean something if the Colts go 19-0 and win the Super Bowl)
"That's a different story." (laughing)
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on DT-Dan Muir)
"Dan is a very hard worker. He's a guy that pays attention to detail. He's a scrapper in there. He'll fight and give you everything he's got. Dan is a guy that will run to the ball and hustle. Certainly, he's strong enough to anchor down and hold his responsibilities and make plays in his gap. Those are the things that we expect of him. Those are the things we've seen from him in practice, and even when he's been in ballgames, he's been quite effective. We're excited about him getting a few more snaps, and hopefully he'll continue to improve."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on DT-Dan Muir fitting into the Colts system)
"He sure does. When he first arrived he was a guy that had to learn quite a bit about how we do things, but he took on the challenge, got himself in good shape and worked at it. Then, he got a good sense of how we do things, in terms of our running to the ball and things of that nature. He's certainly been a guy that has bought into what we've been selling. I think you're going to see him to continue to grow and develop within the system."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on when WR-Anthony Gonzalez is expected back)
"I'm not real sure. Right now, it's one of those things that's day-to-day. He's been feeling really good. He has not practiced to this point, but we do anticipate that he's going to start shortly. When that is, I'm not certain. It could be tomorrow. It could be Saturday. It could be next week. A lot of it just depends on how he feels and how the doctors feel about where he is at that time."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on Rams' LB-James Laurinaitis)
"He's obviously a very bright young man. It's not a simplistic system that they run. It's pretty complex, but he does a tremendous job of getting everything set. He makes all of their calls on the interior, and not only that, he's been playing well. He's a guy that runs to the ball. He hustles. He does all the things that you would anticipate that a middle linebacker in this league does, and he fits in very, very well. Obviously, he's from a background of winning. He had some great years at Ohio State when he was there. He's a guy that you have to contend with. You better block him and block him soundly or he's going to make a lot of plays on you."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on winning the third-down battle)
"I think on both sides of the ball it's extremely important. It's probably as simple as this, on one side of the ball it gives you an opportunity to extend drives and get yourself in scoring position, (and) on the other side of the ball, it takes the ball out of their hands and makes them punt it to your offense. For us, it's a couple of areas that we harp on and look at. From a defensive standpoint, we're always talking about, 'Hey, we got to make sure that we win that third-down battle. We have to get off the field.' From an offensive standpoint, we want to be able to continue to move the ball, and the way you do it is to convert those third downs into first downs. So, yes, it's a very, very important part of your preparation. It's a big part of our preparation on Thursdays. We work those third-down situations and try to get to the point where we're very, very effective in those areas. That's our goal. Oftentimes, along with turnovers and penalties, those things decide whether or not you win or lose a ballgame."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if he's seen the progress he's wanted in the run game)
"I think it's improving steadily, although each and every week it may not show in terms of the stats. I do feel good about what we've been doing and how it's been progressing. Even in the last ballgame, although we threw the ball quite a few times, and you'd have to consider maybe sometimes the check downs that we threw in some situations, the screen passes that we threw could serve as what runs typically give you. But, also, where we use the run we're pretty effective, in terms of converting third-down-and-two's and a couple of second-down situations. I thought we ran the ball effectively. We didn't have many 12-yard gains or explosive plays in the running game, which we certainly would love to have, but I think we were efficient."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on it being important to be able to run in certain situations)
"Those are key. You have to go back and kind of look at those situations, and you can see we ran the ball pretty effectively. The big thing is you don't take a number of lost yardage plays. I think we've been able to stay on the plus-side of it, for the most part. It's one thing that you have to keep working on. It's not an easy thing, running the ball consistently in this league. That's an area that we have to just continue to work and work and work and try to continue to improve. I think our guys are doing a good job of that."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on if the team has a goal on how many yards to average per carry)
"Not really. I think oftentimes, just like this last ballgame, if you didn't go back and look at the game and see the running game and how effective it was, in terms of converting first downs, then you would look at it and say, 'Your yards per carry aren't quite what you're looking for, not quite what you want.' Even in the red zone we ran it pretty effectively. Three yards in the red zone is pretty big when you get down in there tight. You have to look at those things and assess it from that vantage point. If you just strictly look at the numbers, it maybe is not always going to be a pretty picture. The most important thing is that we're effective, and that we win. Sometimes, it depends on who you're playing. It may require that you throw it a lot more than you run it. The way our offense is set up it just depends on what the defense does. If they give us a situation where we can run it, we run it. If they give us situations where we can't, we throw it. A lot of it depends on the opposition."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on the team using the passing game to set up the running game)
"I think there's no question that we do have some weapons in those areas, but we also have to make certain that we have good balance, because what it does is it gives the defense the opportunity to back everybody off and strictly play pass the entire time. If they do that to you, they can slow you down in the pass game. That's why you have to be able to run the ball, at least efficiently, so they have to honor it. I think up until this last game, just in terms of sheer numbers with yards per carry, we were pretty good. We were right around four yards carry, somewhere in that area the last couple of games before this. That to me is where you want to be."
HEAD COACH JIM CALDWELL (on new head coach Steve Spagnuolo's influence on the Rams' defense)
"Yes, they were very sound with New York (Giants). They challenged you. They gave you a lot of problems, and they are doing the same thing. It's the same system. They can certainly get after you if you don't take care of business. They do a good job, in terms of pressuring your quarterback, and they have pass rushers that can get up the field. What we've seen is that he's brought that system with him, it's in place. They're very, very sound. They know exactly what they're doing. They know exactly what they're doing to you, in terms of their schemes. They make it tough on you. You see the similarities. Obviously, the personnel is different, but in terms of what they're trying to get accomplished and get done, they're doing maybe a couple of things differently due to personnel, but they're still a team that is very capable and very effective."
