DAN QUINN
Opening statement:
"Good to be back out today. We had a day off yesterday for the players to rest and recover. We went right back and got a good bit of red zone work in today. That was good. It was finished at the end with the two minute. We're encouraged by that. From an injury standpoint, it was good to see some guys back. It was our first chance getting some reps for Takk McKinley. He was kind of on the plan that Adrian Clayborn did last week. He did the individual and then worked some team today. Then we'll do that for this week as the guys kind of return to play. We loved the speed of the guys today and the situations that we did."
On how McKinley played today:
"Just being back on the field, you know? For him, it was good to be back with his guys and his teammates and getting in the huddle and playing. He hasn't done that for a while. He didn't get the access to go into minicamp or even here for the first few days. Just being back with the guys and playing some real football, not just drills by himself. We're just getting started with him and we're anxious to put the work in here over the next month."
On when the doctors cleared McKinley:
"We tried to change that. He's been cleared, but we chose to take some days to work individual and then we're going to take this next block. We're choosing to get him back into it this week with some more specific team things and then we'll go. We did that with a few guys and so far, that's been the case with Julio Jones, Clayborn, and McKinley."
On whether McKinley missing offseason activities has affected his play:
"No issues on that front. Him and Bryant Young have done a good job together to make sure they put the work in and that was his way to show how committed he is. Although the frustration of not playing, he can still do his part from a mental standpoint. Now we have a lot of work to do to get the football side right. I have to commend him for putting the work in over the summer to get there."
On how Duke Riley is doing:
"Riley is off to a great start. We knew he had something there all the way back in the spring with the leadership, even for a young guy, that he demonstrated. He's totally pushing it. He's making the mistakes that a young player should at times, but I have been encouraged by his speed and attitude. He fits right into the style of defense that we play. We're anxious to throw him into the mix and see where we go."
On whether communication is one of Riley's strong points:
"Well number one is the speed. He's able to play fast. Some guys can time fast and there's a whole other one where you can take that speed and apply it. As a younger player in a new system, sometimes it may seem like you're slower because you're still trying to process. He's mentally quick. He can really close. We're going to give him a lot of turns here and in the preseason. He's got a lot of ground to make up. We're putting him in new situations and new plays. We try to stress him and put him into all different environments and he handles it well."
On what he evaluates from players after a day off:
"Really it's the older guys who are the ones that lead the way and so many of the guys are looking up to them. They're looking for that model. Every single day we are going for it. That mindset to go put out and say 'We're getting after it. Every day we are getting it on'. There's no timing it here, timing it there. For us to have the off day and then come out and push each other like we did, I was encouraged by that."
On his evaluation of Mohamed Sanu's camp so far:
"To me, Sanu is one who set it off from the spring. He came back so fit for the OTAs and the spring. You could really see his intent was right. That really carried over into the summer. I singled him out this morning as well. I thought that he's off to a hell of a camp. It's the small things that he wanted to work on and improve. He really took that job seriously and worked like crazy to fine tune some parts of his game that he wanted to improve on."
On how Brian Hill is doing:
"Hill is off to a good start. We're trying him on special teams too. That's really got to be a factor for him. All the time he can get with Keith Armstrong, that really comes alive. He shows up more in these padded practices. He's such a physical runner. That part of his game shows up maybe more so than the times we're in shorts. For a guy that has his size, we're counting on him to be a run and hit factor on special teams as well as adding value to the backfield. With Terron Ward, Hill, and B.J. Daniels, you know, right now there's a number of guys splitting carries and battling to see where it goes."
On what he's learned from the right guard position after a couple of days in pads:
"I learned that we're not there yet. We've got plenty of time to evaluate. Just when you think somebody is making a move, we're going to take it all the way through and make sure we're getting the pass protection looks, the blitz looks, and the matchups. Sometimes in the staff meeting, and even in the one-on-one's, we're trying to create matchups to see who we go against. The staff gets to vote each day and say 'I want this matchup and this matchup'. We go around the table and then when we get to the one-on-one's, we feature those ones usually as the first one or second one of the rack. Then we show them in the team meeting. The competition is everywhere and it especially shows up in those one-on-one settings."
On Kemal Ishmael’s transition from a safety to linebacker:
“It’s dealing with the linemen on a regular basis because he’s had such experience at safety and we play our safety down by the line of scrimmage quite a bit. He’s equipped to play here where things can happen quickly. Now when you move him further inside, taking on guards and centers, it will be a little bit different. But the way we feature our safeties, it’s a transition. We knew after seeing him play that that he would be capable. Adding that speed to the linebacker group, which is something we’re always looking to do, and he seemed like the ideal fit to do it. He gained some size to do it and he hasn’t lost a step.”
On how the kicking game has been:
"Mike Meyer has been somebody in this camp, well really at the end of minicamp we challenged him to hit a couple of long ones. It's those times where you can nail them. We try to stress him as much as we can. The crowd was terrific today making noise. He hit a 60 yarder two days ago. We're fortunate because of Matt Bryant in here, but to have a guy like Meyer come in and uphold the standard that we want in placekicking. He's really a guy that has shown that he can really kick in this league."
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