News

(Where was your new nose tackle this morning?)
Howard Green is en route, just having some traveling issues with the weather. We expect him sometime late this afternoon.

(Does that throw off any hopes you had to use him this week?)
It didn’t help. We would have liked to have Howard here this morning for the meetings and practice. Can’t really do anything about it. It’s travel issues. So we’ll work with him this evening.

(Is the time with him this evening and tomorrow enough to get him ready?)
That’s something that really will be answered probably over the next 24 hours. He has history with Dom Capers. Dom drafted him in Houston. I was with him in New Orleans. We’re hoping for some carry-over as far as the defenses that he’s played in compared to our defense, but we won’t know that until we have time to work with him.

(Does Mark Tauscher have any chance to reclaim his job this week?)
Bryan Bulaga will start at right tackle this week.

(What have you seen from Harris and Bigby and do you feel good about their chances to help you this weekend?)
We’re just analyzing it day by day. They’re taking reps with the first unit, so we’ll do exactly what we did last week. We’ll sit down and we’ll talk about all three days. Joe Whitt has been giving me an evaluation every day, and Darren Perry has been giving me an evaluation every day, and we’ll make a decision at the end of the week.

(With Brad Jones, that’s four shoulder injuries. Is that something you look at now or at the end of the season?)
That’s something you’re always looking at. You’re looking at how the injury occurred. Every player has a strength and conditioning program, they have auxiliary workouts for their specific needs, so that’s always an ongoing process, yes.

(Have you found some connection yet?)
No.

(Is Tauscher healthy enough to at least help you as a backup?)
He’s getting better. But I don’t know if we’re to that point yet.

(Are you hearing anything encouraging from the training staff on Jenkins or Pickett?)
Really nothing has changed with Ryan Pickett and Cullen Jenkins. It’s going to take the full week. We’ve talked about possibly working them tomorrow. We’ll revisit that today, as far as their plan. Really, with their specific injuries, the testing on Friday may not be the best thing for them. That’s what I’m being told from the medical staff. We’ll revisit with Dr. McKenzie in the morning.