(How did the new punter do today?)
Jeremy did a nice job today. I thought he handled the snaps clean. He definitely has some power in his leg, did a good job with the directional kicking. He had a good day's work.
(How big a challenge will it be for him in the conditions?)
It's definitely a challenge. I think his background helps him based on where he played college and his time in professional football. He just needs to go out and kick to the proper direction. He's been impressive through his workout, and that's why he's here. I thought he got off to a good start today.
(Matt is still the holder?)
Matt Flynn, correct, is still the holder.
(Any plans to change?)
No, we'll go that way the rest of the way. We're going to stay with Matt. I think it just gives you more options. Also with Brian working behind Matt, and also we have Ruvell Martin. So those are our three holders.
(What did you think of the way the players reacted to how Jeremy punted?)
We had a bet inside that you'd ask the question about the reaction of the players. I'm just kidding. Was it $5 that I win? No, that's all fine. You guys saw. He has some leg strength. I thought he did a nice job. It's all part of the practice environment. All positive reactions are good reactions.
(Are you going to go outside with him at some point?)
We're going to go out tomorrow, just because of the availability on the field today. The kickers and the punter, the whole battery will go out tomorrow.
(Will you be able to get on Lambeau, or on a practice field?)
Well, we've been getting on Lambeau, so our goal is to get on Lambeau, or if we have to, we can go on the practice field.
(You won't do any team drills outside?)
No, it will be an individual workout, with the punter, kicker and snapper.
(Any change in the testing for Scott Wells?)
He's making progress, so we'll have his final test tomorrow. Based on what's gone on so far this week, I assume Dr. McKenzie will clear Scott tomorrow. That's my anticipation, but we'll see what happens. He's doing fine, getting better. Worked out today as far as limited practice, went through the jog-through and went through the rehab part of it with Mark Lovat again.
(Have you ever experienced that before, where a guy got knocked on the head and nobody knew about it?)
Yeah, I think it's happened before. I can't stand here and quote an individual instance. There's a natural check and balance system I think in place pretty much for every team. I know personally as a coach when the offense or the defense comes off, particularly the offense because of my involvement in the offense, you always look at the quarterback's eyes or a particular player if there is a hit you see in a game that's out of the ordinary. Plus the interaction from player to player, coach to player, trainers to players. There's a natural interaction and communication that goes on during the course of the time that pretty much takes care of those particular instances. That wasn't the case for Scott as far as us seeing it right away, and it obviously affected him on that play.
(What happened to Chillar?)
Brandon had a groin strain yesterday. In yesterday's practice he felt that, and he was just limited today. Felt a lot better this morning than he did yesterday when he left here. Hopefully he'll still be able to go. I think testing tomorrow will be the goal to see where he is.
(What would be your best alternative if you didn't have him?)
I would say Bishop would probably be the next linebacker up, yes. Bishop can also play will.
(You've said before you'd like to get outside once a week for team drills. Have you not been able to do that because of the snow cover?)
The snow cover is not the issue. It's the temperature of the field. Last week I thought we clearly were going to get outside, but that was not the case, and even the week before, both times the equipment manager Red Batty, just felt based on the surface, the shoe wear and so forth that it wasn't the best condition to do that. But I'd like to get outside. I'd like to be outside once a week.
(Last year you said going outside could affect the practice environment, didn't give you as clean a practice. Did you re-think that?)
The practice that I referred to was the impact it has on the practice environment as far as what stage in the practice environment. I don't think it's necessary to stand outside and go through a jog-through. The first year we used Nitschke Field. We would go inside, do the preliminary work, do the early parts of practice, and then go out for the team drills. That would be the plan when we do get to go outside. We did not use Nitschke last year, for other reasons. Our goal would be to get back to that format that I used the first year. That's how I would prefer to do the practice structure this time of year.
(Do you feel it has a positive effect to get guys outside and moving around in these temps?)
We'd like to do our team drills outside.
(Have they cleared that field yet?)
Not this week, because of the temperature. It was cleared the last two weeks.
(Did Woodson come out of the game any different playing safety, as far as the cutting and movement with his foot?)
That's a good question. I did not ask him that. As far as when we go through the report with Pat McKenzie, he said Charles is doing better was where he was at, and wanted to keep him on the same schedule. I would say maybe not less cutting, but he was in a lot more tackles around the ball. I don't have a feel for that.
(With Woodson at safety and Lee injured, is Joe Porter a candidate to play some nickel or dime?)
Joe gets some work there in the dime. He's also a candidate to possibly play on special teams. All our practice squad guys that we've been bringing up, their vehicle to get on the 45 has been special teams.
(Was Jennings able to finish practice? It looked like he jammed his finger.)
He finished practice.
(Did you get what you wanted out of that back-to-basics portion of kickoff coverage?)
Yes. I thought the work was good. We actually extended the special teams period from 15 minutes to 23 minutes. We went an extra eight minutes. I was pleased with the work we got.
