HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (opening comments)
"It was nice to have a full day off (Thursday). It doesn't happen very much in our business. I think our players took advantage of it. I know our coaches did, and now our task is to get back and get our rhythm regained and have a great practice (Friday). I think we're ready for that. Looking forward to the weekend in a lot of ways, find out what we're going to do in this game (vs. Tennessee) and see how we do and then see who we're going to play (in the first round of the playoffs)."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on players ruled out for Sunday)
"At this point, (LB) Gary Brackett for sure will not play, (LB) Freddy Keiaho's not going to play and (DB) Bob Sanders. Other than that, everybody else is probably up and we'll make those determinations on Sunday. (RB) Dom(inic Rhodes) is the fourth guy who will not play."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on DB-Bob Sanders)
"He actually did fine, came through (Thursday's) game very well and so that was a good sign. Being able to have another week and not have to play him is good for us, so we'll keep him out."
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HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if RB-Najeh Davenport will get carries on Sunday)
"We're hoping (RB) Chad (Simpson) is good and ready to go and gets some carries, but if he's not the next guys to go in will be Najeh, and we'll probably have (RB) Lance Ball up (from the practice squad) as well."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if the team will make a roster move)
"I would say before Sunday we probably will."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on when that move will be made)
"Probably (Saturday) once we see how everybody is, who's going to play and who's not."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if the team has made a roster move this week)
"We have not, no."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on LB-Tyjuan Hagler)
"He plays well when he's in there, and we'd like to see him come in. I think he'll play well for sure. The question is, is he going to be able to do that, play well, and then be ready to go next week? That's what we're hoping for. That would be an ideal situation."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if Sunday's game is an audition for Hagler)
"Not really an audition, just hoping that he can string a few games back-to-back. Bob (Sanders) wasn't able to in '06 until the playoffs and then he did. Hopefully, that'll be the same thing."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if having 37 different starters is unusual for one season)
"I'd have to check back, I'm not sure. I know we had a stretch like that last year. We went through Tampa and San Diego and a few games where we had six or seven guys out. It's probably been more different guys. In the past, it's probably been the same guys sometimes in and sometimes out. But, you get to the point where, as a coach, you really don't notice it because you plan and you plug the guys in, whoever's ready to go."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if he expects to plug players in and not miss a beat)
"I don't take for granted winning eight in a row any time, but I do feel like you plug guys in and go and those guys normally are going to play pretty well if they are well trained, which our assistant coaches do a great job of doing. When I look back at years and you had the same starting lineup for 13 weeks out of 16, those don't come by very often. So, as a coach, you expect to have backup guys play. We talk about it from day one of training camp – we talk about it day one of mini camp. I generally show them tape of a game late in the year when we have five or six backup guys in who made big plays for us. We talk about it from day one, the first day our young guys get here, that if they make the team they're going to be expected to contribute in some big situations."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on saying earlier this week that he cost WR-Reggie Wayne money a few seasons ago)
"I did, yes. He had an incentive and didn't say anything about it, never mentioned it, and came up one or two catches short in Denver a few years ago when we played him in the first quarter and took him out. We could have thrown him two balls and he would've made more than you and I make in a year. I still feel bad about that, and that was about five years ago. I heard from someone else. He never did mention it. I went up and apologized to him later and he said, 'Don't worry about it. If it had been that big of a deal I would've told you.' But, yes, I still feel bad about that."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if QB-Peyton Manning being an MVP candidate will influence his playing time on Sunday)
"It really doesn't. Peyton set the (TD) record a couple of years ago and played one series in the last game. We've had some situations like that where some of the guys haven't played as much in the last couple of games. It just goes with the territory. I think all of our players would rather have it this way than have to fight through and win on the last play of the last game. It's one of those things you can't really help. We discuss it, we talk about it, we're aware of what guys need. Last year Reggie, it was a big thing, he wanted to lead the league in yardage, and we made sure we did that. Sometimes you can and sometimes you can't."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on trying to get players to milestones)
"You'd like to, but it can't override the whole grand scheme of things."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if Manning would go back in the game if QB-Jim Sorgi gets hurt Sunday)
"We always have that contingency plan. Not having a third quarterback, you always have to worry about that, but again, it's not something that we've worried too much about."
HEAD COACH TONY DUNGY (on if it was disappointing to start 0-2 in Lucas Oil Stadium)
"Extremely disappointing, and it hurt us to lose those two home games. You're going to be very hard-pressed to win your division, to get a bye in the playoffs if you don't take care of your home field, and that's what happened to us. We had some errors and mistakes in home games and didn't win them, and it comes back to haunt you at the end of the year."
