(What happened to Harrell?)
Justin had an ankle sprain in Tuesday's practice. He had an offensive lineman roll up on the back of his legs. He may be a couple weeks.
(How did Montgomery look?)
Looks good. He looks to be strong. He's going through a little bit of what Koren Robinson's going through, getting used to his pads and things like that. I think he looks good.
(What does he bring to that group?)
Mike's a good football player. He can play both end positions for us. He's unique in that he's got a big-body type. He's a good match-up for us on special teams. He's a young player that's really turning the corner. He just had some unfortunate injuries here the last two years.
(Can you assess the defensive line's performance through six games?)
I think it's probably our most productive position to this point. They give us consistency. They do an excellent job of staying square in the run game. We're able to play with a four-man pass rush in the passing game. I think they're off to a very good start.
(Denver has had trouble stopping the run. Are teams running more outside or inside?)
People don't really run outside as much any more. The speed of defenses in this league, outside runs are secondary runs or variation runs in my opinion. Their problems are never one thing. You can tell that it's a concern because of the primary run support they have in their coverage units. I thought they played better against Pittsburgh than in prior weeks. It looks like they have it fixed or the direction they've gone with some of the things they changed schematically with the emphasis being on run defense.
(Were you able to set aside time this week for fundamentals?)
Yes we are and we'll continue to do so tomorrow. We've added another 20 minutes of individual time. We've been able to gain close to 40 extra snaps of team-run work for our offense. I'm very happy with the padded work we had Monday, Tuesday and today. I think it's been excellent.
(Is that something you'll continue to do in the weeks to come?)
I don't think so. We're approaching the point of the season where you have to start to cut back as far as operating from a scheduling standpoint. I cannot jeopardize this football team based on one or two segments that we need to improve on. Our guys do a really good job of staying after practice and working. They're probably out there a good 10, 15 minutes every day. A lot of those things will be done on an individual basis. To stretch our team out and keep them on the field for an extra 15 minutes each practice, I'm not interested in doing that.
(How careful do you have to be with Wynn the rest of the week?)
He was a full participant today. He took his full share of reps.
(All things considered, is he your best running back right now?)
He's in the No. 1 slot right now. He has an opportunity to take it and do something with it. We'll see what he can do.
(Did you have to talk to him about this latest injury?)
No, we can all overreact to that. He's done a good job. He's been a professional. He's been on time. He's done all the things that are asked of him as far as the weight room, training room and so forth. He had a neck spasm. He took a shot at practice that was frankly unnecessary. It bothered him in the weight room. It happens. This is not a reflection of anything that's happened in the past.
(Did Jennings get healthier over the bye?)
He's healthier. He feels that he is beyond the hamstring situation. His shoulder is feeling a lot better.
(What happened with Ruvell Martin?)
Ruvell Martin hurt his lower back and was unable to go today. We'll have more information when he sees Dr. McKenzie in the morning.
(Was that in practice on Tuesday?)
It's something that bothered him Monday and Tuesday. We kept him out today.
(How did Koren bounce back with the day off?)
I think he's OK. I think there's an excitement for Koren to play. We all have that. It's more for what he's accomplished and the type of player that he is. We have to be smart. He's had three practices. He was sore yesterday so he came in and got some work on the players' day off. He did OK. Certain signals in the game-type situation, you try to give him as many opportunities to get ready for that. When we do play him that's something he's going to have to work through. I had him go through the ball-security drill three to four times on purpose so he gets used to people tugging on his arms. It's one thing to work out and run routes but when you run routes with people leaning on you and tugging on you it's a whole different situation. That's what's referred to as being in football shape and he's not there yet.
(You could see him bobble a couple of kickoffs. How big a deal is that?)
You hope he doesn't do that. That's just where he is. He's got to knock the rust off. He can't get enough work in those situations, ball drills, kickoff drills.
(Is it easier to get back into the flow as a kick returner or receiver?)
I would say kick returner.
(Is there a big risk factor in not playing for that long and putting him out there Monday night?)
You just need to be smart. I don't think it would be smart to throw him out there and play him for 60 snaps. I don't think that's what you're looking for. If he's ready to go and we feel it's in our best interest to put him out there then we will. I want to take the full week and watch him practice. I want to see how his body responded today to the first two days. I thought he looked OK. I'll know better once I watch the film. He's just not sharp right now. He's doing a lot of good things. He just needs to play. He just needs to practice.
{sportsad300}(Can you run all the same packages with Ryan Krause as with Bubba or have you changed the game plan?)
I think that Ryan's really done a nice job but we're not asking him to do all the things that Bubba did. I don't think that's the best direction for him individually. He's done a very good job. It's helped having him here. He's trained in everything that we do, run blocking, pass protection and the pass perimeter. He's a natural pass catcher. He does a good job of dropping his weight and separating in and out of breaks. I think he's had a good week of work.
(Do you ask more of Donald Lee with Bubba out?)
Donald Lee will play more. We have a lot of football in front of us. We've talked about this in the past. The most important statistic that I was concerned about with the tight end position is that they both play 16 games. Availability is on the forefront of focus as far as the tight end position. Ryan needs to play.
(Have you gotten what you've expected out of Lee?)
I think Donald's off to a very good year. He's made the best of his opportunities, that's for sure.
(With Jenkins, will he try to go tomorrow?)
He did not have as good a day as we hoped. He was limited, went through the individual. He did some rehab and was sore. Tomorrow he'll visit with the doctor and that will be a strong indicator of where we are.
(Do you have several guys you'll combine there if he's not able to play?)
We have a couple different directions we can go there. That's the benefit of having 11 defensive linemen, 10 with Justin hurt right now. Our guys will be ready to go.
(Is Coston still working his way back to full health?)
He's the same situation. He went through the individual, did some limited work at practice. I thought he looked good in the individual drills. That'll be close.
(Have you talked to Jags at all?)
Traded messages with him yesterday. He's got a big one tonight. We'll be watching.