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Opening statement: “Good afternoon. Just a couple of things and an injury update. Montario Hardesty was able to return to practice today. Desmond Bryant as well. Josh Gordon was out. He continues to have tendinitis in his knee. I expect him back within the next couple days. It was good to get back on the field after the day off. These four days are going to be critical for us. In terms of our development, these are key times. The competition is heating up at a different number of positions. We are really looking for our execution to improve as we go. I had a chance to spend some time with Coach (Sam) Rutigliano today. We had a good time talking about the Kardiac Kids and various other things.” On the kickers:“No, we are charting out here. Particularly, the periods with a two-minute situation, for example, at the end of those things every other day we are having them do some charting. We are trying as much pressure and game-like situations on those guys. Of course, the preseason will factor in. It will be a factor of all of them.” On an update on Ryan Miller:“Ryan is still in the concussion protocol right now. We will take it day-by-day with him.”
On if Ryan Miller is allowed to go to meetings:“He’s allowed to, but he hasn’t so far.” On Trent Richardson’s collision in practice, whether it was helmet-to-helmet: “I’d have to see that to see if it would be a penalty or not. That's on the edge in terms of we just want to make sure we are protecting each other out here in practice.”
On the fine line of hard hits during practice:“We definitely want to see the hitting and the contact. For the most part in the box close to the line of scrimmage particularly in the run situation sometimes things are going to happen. There is a fine line. We have to be smart about that. We want to make sure that we get all of our guys to the game.” On anything special for the fans on Saturday night practice: “We are going to do it as a normal practice. We will have some situations, work some and move-the-ball periods that we do as well. With our install and how tight it is as in terms of the number of days before the game, we have to get some things done more so than opening up for a scrimmage-type situation. In reality we are going to be playing on Thursday. That is not a lot of time between now and Thursday.”
On TJ Ward dealing with an injury“He has a little bit of a hamstring, but nothing too bad.” On Josh Aubrey taking some reps in absence of Ward: “It's a combination of both. We want to get some younger guys out there so we can take a look at them as well.”
On what you see out of Gary Barnidge: “Gary is a steady guy. He really understands this offense. He is versatile. He can catch the ball. You see him making some plays in the passing game. He has really improved since I've known him. As a blocker he gives us a good versatile option at that position.” On Desmond Bryant’s status:“We’ve brought him back to practice. So, he’s practicing and going through individual drills. He might have even got a little bit of team today. He’s just battling some muscle spasms in his back.” On having a standard drill when dealing with players coming off an injury:“It varies by player and it varies by injury.” On having the day off yesterday:“Today was a lot warmer than it’s been. Structurally, from a practice standpoint, we wanted to put them in some situations where they were out there for more plays in a row. So we had a two-minute drill that we did today. During team period, we had them moving the ball. We had them seven or eight plays at a time; more like drives that they’re going to be having to execute in the games.” On quarterbacks looking better than the numbers show during training camp:“The numbers are hard to track progress with a guy, as well judge them on those. We are asking them to do things, asking them to throw certain throws and put them in certain situations we want to see them in and see how they react to those. Sometimes, you see an incompletion and it may not just be the quarterback; it could be the route, it could be pretty much anything. It’s hard to assess that until you get in at watch the film and go through it that way.” On whether Josh Gordon has needed an MRI:“No. It’s tendinitis.”
