Q: Any updates on Hiram (Eugene) or Chaz (Schilens) and the other guys who got banged up last night?
Coach Jackson: Obviously, I talked about Hiram last night that he hurt his hip. There was a dislocation there. As for the other guys, we are further evaluating some leads and we will know more as we move forward.
Q: Did you find out anything that you saw on tape between yesterday and today that you didn't see on the field?
Coach Jackson:Yes I did. Obviously, when you get a chance to go back and watch it all, there were a lot of positives. There were also some things to clean up, but starting off with positives; just the tempo of the defense. The six plays that they were able to play, I thought were outstanding. Obviously, Sebastian (Janikowski) was incredible in the game. The offense kept the ball for 31-plus minutes for 21 first downs. We threw the ball, I thought, with more confidence and more assurance. There was only one three and out the whole football game, so I thought those were positives. Obviously there were some negatives too with the penalties, our issue in the scoring zone; and we have to fix that. Obviously the explosive plays that we kind of gave up on defense, but those things, in a first game, in a first preseason game, are things that I think a lot of people are trying to overcome and we will. But it was good to see some guys really competing and getting after it and I think we have something to build on now.
Q: Hue, you said last night that the scoring zone you think you know how to fix it. Is it a matter of practicing more or is it a matter of what you call down there?
Coach Jackson: It is a matter of practicing more. You know as I said we have been here for two weeks and we are trying to pack everything in as fast as we can and sometimes you don't get to hit on things that you have to hit on right away. You get little bits and pieces and I definitely wasn't trying to truly game plan a team. At those times it was Trent's (Edwards) and another time it was Kyle (Boller). Kyle has been around me, but we might have an opportunity to do some different things with him. But you know Trent hasn't been here very long so you don't want to put a guy in a situation to try to do something when he really hasn't had the opportunity to practice. As we move forward, we will make sure that those things are tied up and ready to go.
Q: For the young guys who didn't play as well as they'd like, is that something where they have to learn that it's a lot different in a game than it is up here in Napa?
Coach Jackson: There's no question. As I keep talking about, it's the performance in games that matters, not at this beautiful, very comfortable, very great place to train and prepare a football team. When it's all said and done, you have to go do it on game day. When the lights are on and you're playing against an opponent it's all about performance. I think that light is on now. I think our guys understand that, and I think those young guys will come back and fight this week.
Q: Are you comfortable right now with the options you have at backup cornerback?
Coach Jackson: I'm comfortable because they're young players, and young players have to play to get better. Obviously it's something that we will continue to look at as we move forward, but those young guys will step up. They have to rise up and I expect that they will.
Q: You talked about those young players stepping up, is that something that can happen quickly with the season a month away?
Coach Jackson: Yeah I think so because they're getting back into the groove of practicing, competing, and understanding your opponents. As you know, last night we didn't do anything to take one certain receiver away by assisting or helping. Sometimes you have to put them out there and let them fail a little bit so you can find out about them. Like I said, I think our guys will rise up to the challenge this week.
Q: Were you glad to see DVD (DeMarcus Van Dyke) go up against [Larry] Fitzgerald as his introduction to the NFL?
Coach Jackson: Absolutely. What I'm going to tell the young man is that I've seen that man catch that ball on a lot of great cornerbacks. The thing that was most impressive was the next opportunity that he had to cover him, they threw another deep ball and he was right with him stride for stride and there was no opportunity for Fitzgerald to make a play on the ball. This guy is not afraid; I think he wants to compete. Again, we just have to continue to indoctrinate these young players into pro football, and they will learn that every play you have to go out there and compete as hard and as fast as you can to give yourself a chance to have success.
Q: Is there a time table on Hiram?
Coach Jackson: No, I don't know that information at this time.
Q: What about Schilens? Is there any update on Schilens?
Coach Jackson: Oh no, right now we are just further evaluating exactly what's going on. I think as we go through the week, we'll know more.
Q: Some coaches make guys run if they commit false starts in practice, are there some things you are going to have to do to get the point across about some of those penalties?
Coach Jackson: Yes, if it continues to exist. I want to chalk it up to two weeks into training camp, first game jitters, out with the old in with the new, more emphasis on snap count, and all the things we've tried to address, that's what I want to say this was about. Now if it continues to exist, yeah we are going to turn the page and try something different. I'm not going to just sit there and keep watching that happen, but obviously Khalif was very disappointed, and all the young men who had illegal procedures. After the game I was able address all that with our team. They were very disappointed, they know it's something we have to fix, and I don't want them to stress about it too much but it is something that we have to take care of.
Q: Any injuries of note, what about Etheridge? Was he hurt last night?
Coach Jackson: Yes, he did get hurt last night. I think he's dealing with a knee, but again we are getting
all that information, and we'll get back to you guys as soon as possible.
Q: What are the main things you want to see in a game, that didn't happen last night, besides the obvious, to cut down on penalties and not putting the ball on the ground?
Coach Jackson: I think the biggest thing I want to see is executing our offense and defense at the next level, where when we are in the scoring zone we expect to score touchdowns, and when we are defending the scoring zone that we know exactly where we need to be, and sometimes communication things. There were a couple of communication breakdowns here and there. That this team takes the next jump from training camp to one preseason game to the second preseason game. It's time to turn up the intensity a little more and continue to get better.
Q: Watching the film, did you see anything more out of your three quarterbacks?
Coach Jackson: I was impressed with all of them. Jason [Campbell] did a fabulous job of running the first team and getting the ball to different people. That's what we're trying to do in getting everybody to touch the ball. We got Kevin Boss involved real early, we tried to get Marcel [Reese] involved real early, we tried to get Darrius Heyward-Bey involved real early, and Jason did a great job of spreading the ball around. Kyle came in and he lit it up. He was eight of nine so he was spectacular and that's what I expect from him. Trent, who hasn't been here very long, I was impressed with him because he's trying to get the information from me, figure it out and then go out and execute pretty flawlessly. I thought he did an excellent job even though I know there are some throws he wishes he had back. But all three of guys showed me the poise and that they have the ability to lead this football team.
Q: Do you think this is one of the most intriguing camp battles for that backup quarterback position between Edwards and Boller?
Coach Jackson: It could be, no doubt. Both of those young men are competitive and they want that opportunity. I think that's what makes it really fun because they compete in the classroom, they compete on the field, and they're very good friends. It's a very good quarterbacks room, there's very good chemistry in there and I think it's exciting.
Q: Along the lines with that being a camp battle, do you think there are games where you might flip it around and give Boller some more time than Edwards to see what he can bring to the table?
Coach Jackson: Oh yes, we'll see as we go. Obviously, we're getting ready to play a game and I have to make sure that our first team is ready to go. There's no doubt I have to know what our backup quarterbacks can do and there's no doubt we have two very good candidates back there that we can pick from.
Q: How did things go with you in game one? Were you okay with throwing the red flag, with the timing, having to worry about timeouts and communicating with Al [Saunders] up in the box?
Coach Jackson: [Laughs]. I didn't talk to Al up in the box. I don't know where that one came from. I felt very comfortable. As I told you, I have good coaches who give me very good information. I threw the flag last night and the officials were great, except for maybe a couple situations. I thought it was a great night for everyone involved. Obviously, we wanted to win the game. We didn't do the ultimate, which was to win the game. But for the first time, all of us had the opportunity to go play a game, be in the stadium, be on the headsets, coach a game, talk to each other, and get the players out there to play a different opponent. I thought it was a good start and I think that's all it was. By no imagination is that who we are or what we're going to be. As I tell everybody, we're going to become something and I really like what we're going to become.
Q: On one of those drives when you were inside around the three-yard line, did you consider just maybe trying to punt into the end zone as opposed to kicking a field goal?
Coach Jackson: Yes I did, I truly did. All those things, like you said, all those thoughts go through your mind but there's a time and place for everything. The thing I liked about last night is there's so many different situational football things that we got to practice. We got to practice coming out, I got to practice making a decision, exactly where that ball was as you're talking about at the three-yard line, we have to work on scoring zone, which we weren't very good at last night. We have to work on a two-minute situation, we have to work at the last three, four plays of the game. There were so many things that were on this tape to grow from and get better at that we would have already done back in OTAs and mini-camp and not against an opponent, but things we would have rehearsed over and over and over. Now those things are coming up and for the first time out of the chute to have all those things happen, I thought it was fantastic.
Q: Which of the offensive linemen did well last night in your eye?
Coach Jackson: I think when I go back and watch the tape I really thought that Sammy Satele played good; I thought Wisniewski did an excellent job, an unbelievable job; I thought that Stephon Heyer did some really good things. I thought that even Joe Barksdale was in there battling; I thought our second group, because they played more football, obviously, than the ones, those guys really showed up, they did a great job. Our quarterback, there was one sack that we had that was a communication issue and the other was right before the half that never should have been a sack, so for the most part they kept the quarterback pretty clean and that was good to see. Do we need to continue to get better? No doubt, but I think that front is really starting to come together.
Q: That sack that happened just before half, you said it shouldn't have happened; what do you attribute it to?
Coach Jackson: Well sometimes when you ID a defense, sometimes the communication between everybody has to go throughout the whole offense from the front to the back and a guy didn't see it correctly and those things happen. Sometimes those things do creep up on you when you haven't had a ton of practice time.
Q: It seemed like Veldheer did a nice job against Joey Porter; is he a guy now that you can almost, not take for granted, but definitely be very comfortable with the job he's doing out there?
Coach Jackson: There's no question and I feel remiss in not mentioning him; he did a great job too. Again, Stefen, Jared, Sammy, Barksdale, those guys all did a real good job, and obviously Heyer. I think those guys battled last night and I think they'll continue to get better as we go.
