Coach Jackson addresses the media. Photo by Tony Gonzales.
Q: With Jason Campbell, are you just holding him out with what happened yesterday to be cautious?
Coach Jackson: Yes I did, absolutely. Jason is fine. Again my goal is to make sure that all of our players are always healthy as they go out, and sometimes he has been throwing a lot and running around a lot. So I said, "today buddy, lets back you off for a day," and I am sure probably might rotate all of the guys as we go through. I want to make sure that their bodies are good with all of the crossing over that they do, and all the throwing sometimes a guy can get a little sore. There is nothing wrong with Jason, he is ready to go.
Q: But on the other hand if you have a situation like that, then it helps the guys get more reps?
Coach Jackson: Absolutely those guys, obviously Kyle Boller went with the first group and Trent Edwards went with the second group and those guys did a good job today.
Q: How about Louis Murphy been out three days is he still nicked up or is it worst?
Coach Jackson: No, he is still nicked up. He is getting close. I think pretty soon we will get a lot of these guys back and I think that will be exciting. I am really proud of our football team. Our football team is working hard, fighting everyday and competing. I couldn't ask for a better effort than what we had today.
Q: With Kevin Boss, are you just giving him a couple of days to get moved?
Coach Jackson: No I have been expecting to get him here as soon as we can. I am excited about getting Kevin but I tell you, we do have some very young athletic prospects with David Ausberry and Gordon and obviously the two veteran guys - Brandon Myers and Kevin Brock. I mean these guys are working hard as I told you. I am very excited that Kevin is a part of our football team and we look to do great things with him.
Q: So is he going to be here the next day?
Coach Jackson: Oh no doubt. It is time to go to work. I mean we have work to do, so I am excited about it, he is and we are so excited about our young guys too. I mean our young guys are battling everyday and they just keep growing and getting better and I think the sky is the limit at that position.
Q: Obviously the focus so far has been the young offensive players; how have the young defensive players progressed?
Coach Jackson: They are doing good. I mean DVD [DeMarcus Van Dyke] is making plays. I can't wait to get Chimdi Chekwa back out there. I mean he is not out there very much. Obviously he is down right now. He is nicked up. So pretty soon we will get him back, but I like a lot of our young talent and even some of the young free agent guys, Sterling Moore. These guys are out there competing each and every day. The young linebackers we have, I mean the guys take a lot of reps, but I am just happy with our young players from over the last two years. The draft classes that we have had; this organization has put a lot of really good young talent on this team. Starting last year, with Rolando McClain and that group and Lamarr Houston. Then you couple that with this year's draft, with Stefen Wisniewski and Barksdale and all the guys that we have brought in. Denarius Moore, are you kidding me, I mean everyday this guy finds a way to make me say, I won't say it, but you know. I won't say it because he is something, but again it is a tribute to our organization. It is a tribute to what we do with our process of drafting players. I always give great credit to coach about that because he is in on that process and boy we have infused this team with a lot of talent.
Q: What are the things that Kevin Boss does that did well with this offense; what made him attractive to you?
Coach Jackson: He is tall. He is 6"6". He can run. He can catch. He is a good blocker. He has played in some really good football games. Very personable young man that loves football, loves competition, and wants to be a part of something great. My conversation with him at dinner the other night is that I needed a guy that wanted to help get us to where we want to go. Sometimes guys have to make that commitment because out here it is work.
Q: Zach's numbers the past couple years were very good. A lot of that seemed to be on the bailout plays as a safety net kind of guy. In your eyes, how important is the tight end?
Coach Jackson: Very, if you have a talent on our football team, we're going to find a way to get you the ball. I don't subscribe to any theory about what my offense is; my offense is what our players can do. If he has a skill I'm going to highlight and showcase his talent and skill, just like we do with all of our players. I'm not going to put him in a box and say, "you've got to do this," or "you've got to do that." There are quite a lot of things in our offensive system that a young man needs to do and he showed those characteristics on videotape.
Q: We saw Samson taking a lot of first team snaps today and Wisniewski getting a little bit of work at left guard. Was that more of Wisniewski kind of getting his feet wet the first week and now that Samson's here, getting a chance to learn from him?
Coach Jackson: Oh yeah. It's respect, I think you earn your way. As I said, when we drafted him we didn't have a center on our team at that time. We brought back a guy who started a lot of games for us so you have to earn your way up here. I'm not just giving anybody anything; you're going to earn it. He's in there competing and he's doing a tremendous job. He did a great job before Sammy got here; he's done a great job since Sammy got here. I'm going to find the best five guys to put on that offensive line and play. I think you've seen, we've infused that group with a lot of different types of bodies and players and attitudes, and now we're going to put this thing together. I think we have a chance to have a really, really good offensive line. I think our coaches are doing great. A lot of young talent there with Stefen Wisniewksi and Barksdale, then you take some of those veteran guys with Carlisle and Khalif Barnes. Then Jared Veldheer who is second year in the league and you've got a chance to have a good line. So I'm excited about that group.
Q: You had Stephon Heyer working a little guard too; I guess he's played some in his past?
Coach Jackson:Yes, absolutely we're going to keep finding where these guys' best help us in our system. The thing that's exciting is all of those guys are willing to do whatever we ask, to try to go out and compete. Obviously everybody's trying to earn a job, everybody's trying to earn an opportunity to play and again, these men understand the challenge at hand and they go out and get it done.
Q: Taiwan Jones close?
Coach Jackson: I think he's getting closer. How close he is, after I walk in then I'll have a better idea, but I think a lot of those guys who have been a little nicked here and there, I think they're getting closer. You know how it is, it gets closer to a game time and guys all of a sudden come out of that training room, you know. They want to get out there and show their stuff, but again, that'll be a judgment call because you don't want to get a guy back too soon and then lose him right away. I think it's all about making sure our players are healthy and putting them out there so they have the best opportunity to have success.
Q: It seems like you've been moving Goethel around a lot in the linebacker core whenever somebody is out he's played all three positions; what've you seen from him so far?
Coach Jackson: Again, another one of those young players on our football team we drafted a year ago that can do it all. He can play all three spots, he's very bright, he's a hitter, he likes the game, and he likes to rush stuff. So he's a guy that we kind of lean on a lot to do a lot of different things. But again, another one of those players who are young and talented on this football team.
Q: Derrick Jones and McClain, are those guys just minor injuries?
Coach Jackson: No, Derrick Jones tore his Achilles, that's what he did. And you said McClain? I'd take McClain's helmet, that's kind of a coaches call, again if I think a guy's not exactly where he needs to be, I'm not going to put him out there. It's been unfortunate we've had a couple guys get some things in the heat of football that happen, that you can't control. But if I know that a guy is having a little bit of something here and there, I'm going to do everything I can to make sure that I can get him healthy first before I stick him back out there.
Q: Any update on McFadden, is he still two weeks?
Coach Jackson: Yeah, I think so. But you look at him, like somebody said, he looks handsome. I mean there's nothing wrong with him. He's got a beautiful smile on his face; I was teasing him today, I said, "buddy, what's wrong with you?" He said, "coach, I'm feeling good." He's going to be fine and it's exciting, because again like I said, a year ago it was about a couple weeks he was out with the hamstring and the guy had 1,157 yards. So we've got to do better than that this time, that's what we've got to do.
