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Opening Comments:**"I'm very excited to see the guys. It's always nice when the guys – in the offseason, everybody is doing their own thing. Everybody is working. A lot of guys are here working, some guys are out. When you get a chance after the draft to see some of the younger guys, of course some of the older guys – it's a nice day. I think we went out and got what we needed done today and we'll just continue for the next three days, to get the work in."
On how he has the four days structured and whether he has it broken up in days:"It's broken up pretty much the way it is today, for the rest of the week. I sat down with the coordinators and just had them work out. What do we need to focus on. In these four days to get the most out of it so you get a chance to see what we need to do in the next set of OTAs that we have. We are just taking it step by step."
On how S Taylor Mays is looking to him:"Not bad. He's going to be just fine. He's a young guy. At USC, they had him basically get in the middle of the field and try to make plays. Here, we are going to try to focus on some other things, as well as that. We will get him where he needs to be to make plays."
On whether he sees him as a free or strong safety:"Our safeties are interchangeable. It really doesn't matter. He's going to have to be able to play in the box and he's going to have to be able to play off the ball and make plays in the deep third."
On how he balances making plays versus telling the players to back off:"One of the things that we talked about before the practice – I had the captains talk about it. Obviously, it did not sink in deep enough, but when the receivers have a chance to catch the ball, let them catch the ball. If you are position to make the play, great, but let the guys catch the ball. That's something that we don't want to do. It's nice to see that guys are trying to make plays, but I don't want that right now."
On what he likes about CB Will James:"I like the fact that he's a competitor. One thing that you are going to see when you put on the film, is he competes. He competes every down and I like the experience factor. He was with [assistant to the head coach/secondary coach] Johnnie Lynn in New York for about five years. Some of the things that we do very similar to what they did there, so we are not going to ask him to do something outside of his capabilities. He's very familiar with what we do and I think he'll add depth to what we are trying to get done."
On whether it's going to beneficial for the young cornerbacks that the starters aren't here and they'll get a better look at them:"Yes, I think it definitely is a benefit for some of the younger guys. We've got some guys - every opportunity that these young guys get is a chance to come in and get some reps and gets you a step closer to having an idea of what they can and cannot do. That's why, when guys decide, 'Coach I'm doing this. I think I'd like to miss because I want to keep doing what I'm doing.' You go right ahead. You know the players. You know what we're doing. Just be ready to go when we have to go."
On whether DT Kentwan Balmer is around rehabbing his shoulder:"He's been around for the most part. He's not here now. He's working with a guy back home for maybe 10 days or so. He'll be back and we'll go from there. He's getting done what he needs to get done."
On whether it is to be expected that there were many passes dropped this early in the process:"Well, I guess it depends on who the receiver was. I think some of the guys just have to get used to catching the ball again. Some guys are natural at catching the ball. There are others that are not and they have to work up to it. I'm confident that with the balls on the ground there will be fewer and fewer balls on the ground going forward."
On whether he gets more out of watching the corners in the passing game than the run game:"I guess if you look at it, yes, it definitely makes sense. There are a lot of things that you really can't see and I talk to the guys about that. No one is going to make the team in shorts. It looks pretty, but no one is going to make the team in shorts. Let's take care of each other. But the passing game, you really want to focus on the offensive line, those guys going through the technique. The defensive line getting through the technique, get off the ball for the first two or three steps then pull it back. The DBs [defensive backs] making sure that every little technique, if it's a tight third, a loose third, whatever it might be. Just making sure that right now, the most important thing is that you're really getting the reps mentally in terms of the technical part, the detailed part of your position."
On whether players will be in pads on the first day of training camp:"Absolutely."
On whether he expects T Anthony Davis and G Mike Iupati to be inserted to first team reps:"I think one of the things that we're going to do is, just because we drafted a guy in the first round, we're not going to bring him in and put him in as a starter right away. I want to make sure, for both of those guys, that we really listen to them. When they get out here, they're going to dictate, they're going to tell us they're ready. More than anything right now, it's the learning curve. It's learning all of the little details that come with the position when they're pulling. The protection, which is a big part of it, just making sure they're comfortable and we don't put them in a position that they feel pressure or anything else. I feel very confident in the guys we had last year to continue to get better, continue to compete. We'll let the natural thing happen as it comes.
On whether he let Davis and Iupati know that they're going to have to earn starting positions and it won't be handed to them because of their draft status:"Absolutely."
On whether the young guys will get more reps as the days go on:"We'll see. I think after today, you have some veteran guys that some of the coaches will say, 'You know what, I've seen enough of him right now. I saw him today, that's enough. We'll let the next guy go. We'll let the young guy go.' Or, 'I want to see a bit more.' I think it all depends on the coaching staff and the coordinators and what they're feeling and maybe they need to see a little bit more here or there. We'll let that dictate itself."
On whether he likes what he's seen so far from his punt returners today:"I like that we have some guys that can catch the ball first of all and go. It's nice to have some options. Last year, we were scratching our heads every day, trying to figure it out. Thankfully, we have some guys that will continue to get better, that you get excited about blocking for."
