Q: Any updates on the injuries?
Coach Allen: Basically same update. Nothing new from what we had at the game, everybody is pretty much the same as what we thought.
Q: Any MRI results from Jacoby [Ford]?
Coach Allen: Jacoby's MRI is basically there is no change from where his foot was. He felt a lot better today, but obviously if we had to go out and play he would not play. That will be one that we are going to have to closely monitor and see where he is at. He might miss some time with that.
Q: Is he the most seriously injured, one of the most likely to miss time in the regular season?
Coach Allen: Potentially yes. You never really know. There wasn't really any structural changes from where his foot was before and there is not any swelling so in that regard that is a good thing. It just really is a matter of pain right now.
Q: So it is not one of these Lisfranc things that Darren [McFadden] went through last year?
Coach Allen: No.
Q: What were some of the positives you took away from Friday night's game? And what do you want to build on going into this week?
Coach Allen: I thought defensively we did some nice things. We took the ball away, we scored twice on defense so that was a positive. We were better on our field goal operation than we were the previous week. I thought offensively there were a couple of drives where we moved the ball extremely well. The drive at the end of the first half was a 20-play drive but we have got to be better and punch it in. This is preseason, this is training camp, this is still a work in progress. We are trying to be ready for the opening game of the season.
Q: Taiwan Jones got a lot of work out there for being out as long as he was. Did he look pretty good to you?
Coach Allen: It looked like he had fresh legs. He looked good, was explosive, and so it was good to have him back out there.
Q: How about Mike Goodson? It looked like he was really concentrated on protecting the ball when he was around the bodies out there.
Coach Allen: He has to. When you have the ball in your hand, when you are in charge and responsible for the football, you have got to protect it and take care of it. He has got to do a better job of that and he understands that.
Q: With the day off yesterday and another day off tomorrow, why the relatively short practice today?
Coach Allen: We had a short week last week. I felt the team was a little sluggish, so I wanted to give them an opportunity to regroup. I didn't want to lose the timing. So I wanted to come out here and get some work done today, they'll get the day off tomorrow and then we will be in a regular season mode next week or the rest of the week.
Q: Do you have any idea when [Aaron] Curry is going to get back to practicing?
Coach Allen: No I don't. He feels better, but we are not going to activate him until he is really ready to go and he is not really ready to go yet.
Q: Is Denarius Moore any closer?
Coach Allen: He is closer. He felt better. Don't know exactly when that day is but we are getting closer to that day.
Q: Do you think Shane [Lechler] will punt this week?
Coach Allen: I am anticipating that.
Q: He looked pretty good out there today.
Coach Allen:Yeah he did. The first one kind of knuckled out there. I asked him if we were doing down it punt. He is the least of the worries. He is a Hall of Fame type of punter, so I am not real concerned about that.
Q: We saw the play that [Carl] Ihenacho made, stripping the ball and forcing the fumble. He is pretty much a down lineman guy and I think he was with the Chargers too. How is he doing in space?
Coach Allen: That's where he needs the most work. When we stack him off the ball and he is the off-the-ball linebacker that is where you see that he just has not done it a lot. Those are the things that with him we are really working on. We have been impressed with some of his abilities to rush the passer. He brings that element to our defense. I think he is still learning to play the linebacker position, especially when we play him off the ball, but he has done some nice things.
Q: You break camp Thursday, what is the key to keeping everybody fresh and motivated the last few days here in Napa?
Coach Allen: Well, we are still working to get better. We have got to have the end in mind as we work. So nothing changes, we have to eliminate all the outside distractions and focus in on what our job is and that is to get prepared to play the Detroit Lions.
Q: Does [Richard] Seymour have any kind of injury thing? Or is he just a veteran so sometimes he gets the day off?
Coach Allen: Yes, he has been playing in the league a long time and you have got to give those guys a day off every now and then and let them recover. So it is not an injury situation as it is just getting him a chance to recover.
Q: Anyone else like that today? I saw DHB [Darrius Heyward-Bey] does he have a serious injury?
Coach Allen: No. it is nothing serious, but he did have a little thing with his shoulder in the game the other day. But I don't anticipate this being anything serious.
Q: I saw [Dave] Tollefson out there on special teams. For a guy that has been around as long as he has, the whole toughness thing you talk about, do you want it to carry over to special teams too? Most guys that have been around that long don't normally do that.
Coach Allen: That's the type of player he is and that's how he's been able to stay in this league for as long as he has because he's done those types of things. He'll continue to do those because he knows that's what he has to do to stay in the National Football League. And I think it's a plus for us that we can get something out of a defensive lineman special teams wise because you don't get that all throughout the league.
Q: How bad is this team missing Aaron Curry?
Coach Allen: He's a veteran player. And Miles [Burris] is going to have some learning curve there. It's been great for Miles, but we'd certainly like to have a veteran player out there.
Q: Looking at him running on the side… What's going to be the decision criteria to see when he is ready?
Coach Allen: Just his ability to change directions at full speed. Because that is what you do in the National Football League. It's one thing to run straight ahead full speed. When he demonstrates he can bend and change directions full speed then he'll be ready to go.
Q: What areas have you seen Burris improve at the most in camp?
Coach Allen: I think really when you look at it, he's done a pretty good job of when he makes a mistake he gets it corrected. And he doesn't make the same mistake over and over. But as you keep going on and you see a little bit more game plan, you're going to see different looks. So there's still going to be times where it's going to be the first time he sees it and it's going to take a little time getting adjusted to it.
Q: In your years in the NFL, now you're a head coach, is there one thing you took out of camp that you think is the most important besides staying healthy? Which you have no control over…
Coach Allen: The biggest thing when you go to camp is when you end camp you want to be better than you were when you started camp. And that's the only reason why we do this is to get better. So I think we've done that. We're better than we were when we started camp. And we are going to continue to improve throughout the season.
Q: With Burris, does he have a hard time shedding blocks? Is that common with those rookies coming in? What's that process been like?
Coach Allen: That's part of the deal. Learning how to play with your pads down. A lot of times as a college football player you're able to get away with some things you can't necessarily get away with in the National Football League. A lot of those things are a part of the learning curve. He's getting better at that. He's going to be fine. He's just got to be on an accelerated learning curve.
Q: How did [Brandon] Myers look out there? I saw he didn't do much team stuff.
Coach Allen: He was okay. We wanted him to get out here and move around. He's still a little sore. But I think he's going to be just fine.
Q: Anticipate him for this game?
Coach Allen: I would hope so.
Q: Tight ends haven't been real involved in the first two weeks. Is that part of missing Myers?
Coach Allen: No, I think it's just the way the preseason games have worked out as far as what we've done from a game plan situation. We haven't necessarily tried to feature them in anyway. The coverage that the defense plays a lot of time is going to dictate where you go with the football. So even though you might have something up and want to get the ball to somebody, depending on how they play their coverage, that might be taken away.
Q: After two preseason games are there areas in the team where you are pleasantly surprised about what you've seen? And other areas where you've seen less than what you expected?
Coach Allen: I think we've had some explosiveness. Obviously Darren has been explosive. The biggest thing I've been disappointed with has been the consistency. And really it's consistency in all phases. We have to learn how to be more consistent offensively. We've got to be able to hit when we get our shots. We've got to be able to take them and hit them. We've got to protect the ball better. And when we get down in the end zone we got to be able to punch it in and get touchdowns not field goals. Defensively we were put in a couple tough situations in the game the other day. One time I thought we responded really well. And another time the other two situations after the punt return, I didn't think we responded the way we needed to in the first drive. So we've got to be more consistent in all phases. Special teams, we corrected one thing than something else came up. We got to do a better job.
Q: With Curry is the window closing as far as him being able to come back week one?
Coach Allen: Yes.
Q: Come back this week?
Coach Allen: I don't know what that date is. But I know we are fast approaching that date where he's going to be out here ready to go or he's not. Because it's not a game where you just show up and play. You got to get some work. Got to get some practice in. So whenever he's ready he'll get out here and start working and we'll see when we can get him ready to play.
Q: But you are confident based upon what you have seen he will be back?
Coach Allen: I would expect him to be back. Yes, but he hasn't gotten to that point yet.
