OPENING REMARKS: “Good afternoon. Had a little assignment period inside which I think under the new guidelines, take on even more importance because we’re not getting quite as many reps out at practice as we normally would. So, those assignment periods take on even more meaning than they always have. I think it’s good for especially the young guys. You guys got a chance to talk to a bunch of them today I understand. As you can probably tell, I think it’s a good young group of men that we’re excited to have in here. They’re having a lot thrown at them from a lot of different directions as usual for young guys. I think this year with the situation a little different than always, in that normally those guys would have been around in April on their own for a weekend. Then kind of acclimate in starting a couple of weeks after that through May and June. Then training camp starts and it’s always a bit of a whirlwind for guys anyway so, having missed a lot of that, these guys have their noses to the grindstone and understand that their nose needs to be to the grindstone and each guy has their own individual plan as set by us. It may take a little more time to sort through some of them; what they’re capable of, what they do best, what their role potentially could be; obviously assuming that they would make the team. Then go from there. I’m glad you all got to visit with them a little bit. I hope it went alright.”

Q: What have been your early impressions of Jonathan Baldwin?HALEY: “He’s big. I’m encouraged by Jonathan and really the entire group. Again, as a whole they look like they have their heads screwed on straight and understand the task in front of them. It’s early and we haven’t got to know each other the way you normally would through the process or the process as we know it. The indicators are good. He’s serious, I don’t see much else other than football. He’s asking to do extra things. He wants to talk about receiver play; what’s expected of him. Not just to me but to the coaches. Yesterday, on the day off I was over here for whatever reason and he was walking back in 120 degree heat, just kind of walking by himself. To me, those are good signs that a guy is focused in the right place and he wants to succeed. I’m getting late night texts from him and those are all good signs.”Q: So he’d been over here running around?

HALEY: “Yeah, I think he’d probably been taking care of his body like we’ve asked him; maybe in the hot tub and the cold tub. Again, not that it’s an indicator of anything but to me, I felt good when I saw a guy not worrying about much else other than doing the things that we’re asking him to do.”

  Q: What do you see as the options in the passing game?

HALEY: “Our goal is to continue to improve the competition at all positions. I feel like we did that in the passing game options. Bigger picture than that, I think that this year; matchups are always going to be critical. One of the things we’re stressing though, especially to Matt (Cassel) is, where are the advantageous matchups? It’s too early for any of that because guys are really just trying to get to a point where we’re getting full practices in. Numbers wise, we’re at the low end and we’re trying to do things the right way considering everything. So matchups, right now probably isn’t the time to talk about it. But that’s what we’re stressing. When you start talking about matchups with our present roster, again not knowing who’s going to be here and who’s not. There are some interesting things to think about with some of the skill position guys we have. Between Jamaal’s (Charles) ability to catch the ball or having played some receiver. Dexter’s (McCluster) versatility. Now we have more competition at receiver between Baldwin, (Steve) Breaston, some of these young guys developing, (Jeremy) Horne, (Verran) Tucker continues to make progress through last year and into this year. He ought to be feeling a lot more comfortable as far as what he needs to do. We have a nice combination of players that have ability in the pass game.”

Q: Is Baldwin faster than you would think for a guy his size?

HALEY: “His timed speed is fast. A lot faster than it looks because he is so big and he’s a bit of a longer strider which is always a little deceptive. Speed is not an issue. I think it’s easy to just say he’s a big possession guy. Until we get going and pads are on and these guys get their legs under them, I don’t know that we’ll see really all that’s there.”

Q: Are you going to practice in pads today?

HALEY: “Kind of like yesterday or two days ago, we’ll have an early portion of practice, again at my discretion, I have a point where I know I’m taking them off no matter what tonight. If I don’t like the way things are going then I can adjust. We’re excited tonight’s out there under the lights on the turf. That will be new for everybody that hasn’t been here and the first time this year. It’s always a bit of an adjustment. It’s good for the players, I think. That’s why we started that because I believe it’s another variable. You play all your preseason games at night. We’ll obviously have some night games this year once we get into the season. I’m excited about tonight, I know the players are and I hope the fans are because I know last year there was some great energy and that helps everybody push through. It will be new and we’re not quite as full scale as we were last year at this time but it ought to be a good test for us.”

Q: Can the guys that haven’t been able to practice yet be able to practice tomorrow?

HALEY: “Assuming everything goes the way we’ve heard.”

  Q: Will you have to get the guys that come in tomorrow up to the same level of fitness, like you’ve done with these other guys so far?

HALEY: “I think we need to be cognoscente of it; that they haven’t done anything and now the other guys have a week under their belts. That’s all part of this fluid process that we’re talking about. The good thing that we have going for us with that group is, they’re veteran guys. For the most part, they understand and have been through it. That rust comes off a little quicker as opposed to saying we have 17 rookies or whatever sitting out there that have never been in the NFL. I think that’s a positive for those guys. They’ve been doing everything on their own, but every time I walk by they’re all walking to this building which is another good sign.”

Q: Is it realistic to think any of those guys can play in the first preseason game?

HALEY: “I don’t know. Again I want to make sure to take everything into account and we’ll have a handful of practices to get an idea. I don’t want to set anything or say anything too quick. I want to evaluate how our team’s doing. I know we’ve had a couple really good days of work on and off the field and that’s good for us. That’s what we need and I think everybody’s feeling like we’re making progress in a number of different areas.”

Q: Are you comfortable with your three quarterbacks right now?

HALEY: “I’m very comfortable with those guys. Us offensive coaches or those offensive coaches; they’re always differing opinions on numbers of arms, three or four. In this circumstance and the way we’re doing things, that’s not an issue as far as keeping guys fresh and active. If that became an issue as we move along, obviously we would adjust or as we’ve said at all spots, if there is somebody out there that we feel like improves the competition or helps make us better. Again, I’ll keep that open at all positions.”

Q: Is there a complete change in Tyler Palko from last year to this year?

HALEY: “I think Tyler understands this is a big year for him as it is for everybody. He’s getting to that point where he’s trying to find his way. He’s made the progression. He wasn’t able to hang on a roster then he’s on a practice squad. Last year he was able to jump up and be on a roster. He’s continuing to progress. That’s one of the reasons I’m really excited about coach (Jim) Zorn. I think there’s a definite connection there. Tyler has worked really hard from the point he got into this league. I would like to see him continue to make progress and be a factor for us even more so than he was last year. That’s the plan and I know that’s his mindset. He’s competitive, he’s tough, he’s trying to soak it all in right now. I know all of those quarterbacks are excited about working with coach Zorn and I think they all should see some positive results. We’ll just see how it goes.”

  Q: What will the competition be like this year to return kicks and punts?

HALEY: “I think ideally the way we started last year was a great setup for our team because depending upon how many snaps each of those guys was playing in a game, I tried to adjust accordingly. You felt completely confident doing it because you felt like either guy gave you a chance to make a big play. I think in the San Diego game that actually occurred. Javier (Arenas) had done a bunch and I felt like he was worn down and went to Dexter and he obviously made a huge play for us. But then they both got beat up in a number of different ways, which happens. It didn’t look so hot as we went through the season. More bodies, more capable guys; I’ve been there in Arizona and watched Breaston return four touchdowns in big games so, that’s a good problem to have. They’ll be competing; they all want to do it. There might be somebody we don’t even know about right now. I know those three all like to do it, they want to do it, and they are impact returners, each and every one of them. I think it will depend a little bit on how everything else plays out also. It’s great to have options. It’s great to have competition.”

Q: Would you rather have just one guy do it?

HALEY: “If that was all that player did, if that were his number one job then, I would be all for that if he was a big-time returner which they all have the chance to be. As the situation looks right now, I don’t know if that’s going to be the case. Those guys are contributing in other areas in which we need them; all three of them. As we kind of go forward, we’ll see how many plays each one, what part of the offense or defense they’ll be and then how it relates to special teams. Or vice versa; if one of them is clearly the best returner then that may have an impact on what we do on their side of the ball.”

Q: Is it more difficult to get a rookie quarterback like Ricky Stanzi up to speed?

HALEY: “The quarterback position is, again I don’t know if you can say one position is more difficult than another. But the quarterback position definitely involves more moving parts so to speak. There is more to it as far as leadership and you’re touching the ball on every snap, all those things factor in to make it a difficult position to just come in and be an impact guy. He’s a smart guy, he’s a hard worker, he’s into it and he’s going to be well coached. Each guy has a plan or we have a plan for each guy. I just think as we move through this more things will come to light that help us evaluate. That’s going to be one of the keys this year in my opinion, is our ability as coaches to evaluate our players because there is less time to do it. We haven’t had the last three months to watch these guys, to see how they act and what they’re doing. Now the guys we know, we obviously have more information. Specifically these young guys, you don’t want to be wrong on your evaluation yet you’re in a condensed situation that limits some of that evaluation time. We have a plan, I have a plan and you’ll see it start to play out a little bit and it may be unique, it may not, I don’t know but it’s different. We have to get it right and evaluation will be key I think this year. It’s always key but this year your margin of error I think is just a little smaller.”

Q: Are the upgrades you made in the passing game going to affect the running game that you had success with last year?

HALEY: “I don’t think any. I think that our identity as an offense will be to be a good running team. As we define it in there with the players, to be able to run the ball when they know you’re running the ball. We did that really well at times last year, sometimes not great. We want to be a running team first and then build from there. That part of it’s not going to change. I’m excited about some of the things we’re doing and some of the improvements and tweaks and things after going through an offseason of evaluation. Because we ran the ball well last year doesn’t mean we’re going to run it well this year. We need to work and get ready to go and a little less practice time and some of those things could be a potential factor. That will come back to the plan and what we’re going to do to ensure that we’re able to get better.”

Q: Is Jamaal Charles the starter?

HALEY: “Right now, we’re across the board we’re evaluating. The guys that give us the best chance to win on September 11 will be out there and they still might not be starters.”

Q: Do you know that at 12 o’clock tomorrow you’re going to have all these guys?

HALEY: “We’ve been given times like the afternoon practice, these guys will be able to be out there and start participating. I’m superstitious, so I’m not counting on anything until I see it.”

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters featured article: A ‘Malign Intellectual Subculture’ – George Monbiot Smears Chomsky, Herman, Peterson, Pilger And Media Lens.

Kansas City Chiefs : News

OPENING REMARKS: “Good afternoon. Had a little assignment period inside which I think under the new guidelines, take on even more importance because we’re not getting quite as many reps out at practice as we normally would. So, those assignment periods take on even more meaning than they always have. I think it’s good for especially the young guys. You guys got a chance to talk to a bunch of them today I understand. As you can probably tell, I think it’s a good young group of men that we’re excited to have in here. They’re having a lot thrown at them from a lot of different directions as usual for young guys. I think this year with the situation a little different than always, in that normally those guys would have been around in April on their own for a weekend. Then kind of acclimate in starting a couple of weeks after that through May and June. Then training camp starts and it’s always a bit of a whirlwind for guys anyway so, having missed a lot of that, these guys have their noses to the grindstone and understand that their nose needs to be to the grindstone and each guy has their own individual plan as set by us. It may take a little more time to sort through some of them; what they’re capable of, what they do best, what their role potentially could be; obviously assuming that they would make the team. Then go from there. I’m glad you all got to visit with them a little bit. I hope it went alright.”

Q: What have been your early impressions of Jonathan Baldwin?HALEY: “He’s big. I’m encouraged by Jonathan and really the entire group. Again, as a whole they look like they have their heads screwed on straight and understand the task in front of them. It’s early and we haven’t got to know each other the way you normally would through the process or the process as we know it. The indicators are good. He’s serious, I don’t see much else other than football. He’s asking to do extra things. He wants to talk about receiver play; what’s expected of him. Not just to me but to the coaches. Yesterday, on the day off I was over here for whatever reason and he was walking back in 120 degree heat, just kind of walking by himself. To me, those are good signs that a guy is focused in the right place and he wants to succeed. I’m getting late night texts from him and those are all good signs.”Q: So he’d been over here running around?

HALEY: “Yeah, I think he’d probably been taking care of his body like we’ve asked him; maybe in the hot tub and the cold tub. Again, not that it’s an indicator of anything but to me, I felt good when I saw a guy not worrying about much else other than doing the things that we’re asking him to do.”

  Q: What do you see as the options in the passing game?

HALEY: “Our goal is to continue to improve the competition at all positions. I feel like we did that in the passing game options. Bigger picture than that, I think that this year; matchups are always going to be critical. One of the things we’re stressing though, especially to Matt (Cassel) is, where are the advantageous matchups? It’s too early for any of that because guys are really just trying to get to a point where we’re getting full practices in. Numbers wise, we’re at the low end and we’re trying to do things the right way considering everything. So matchups, right now probably isn’t the time to talk about it. But that’s what we’re stressing. When you start talking about matchups with our present roster, again not knowing who’s going to be here and who’s not. There are some interesting things to think about with some of the skill position guys we have. Between Jamaal’s (Charles) ability to catch the ball or having played some receiver. Dexter’s (McCluster) versatility. Now we have more competition at receiver between Baldwin, (Steve) Breaston, some of these young guys developing, (Jeremy) Horne, (Verran) Tucker continues to make progress through last year and into this year. He ought to be feeling a lot more comfortable as far as what he needs to do. We have a nice combination of players that have ability in the pass game.”

Q: Is Baldwin faster than you would think for a guy his size?

HALEY: “His timed speed is fast. A lot faster than it looks because he is so big and he’s a bit of a longer strider which is always a little deceptive. Speed is not an issue. I think it’s easy to just say he’s a big possession guy. Until we get going and pads are on and these guys get their legs under them, I don’t know that we’ll see really all that’s there.”

Q: Are you going to practice in pads today?

HALEY: “Kind of like yesterday or two days ago, we’ll have an early portion of practice, again at my discretion, I have a point where I know I’m taking them off no matter what tonight. If I don’t like the way things are going then I can adjust. We’re excited tonight’s out there under the lights on the turf. That will be new for everybody that hasn’t been here and the first time this year. It’s always a bit of an adjustment. It’s good for the players, I think. That’s why we started that because I believe it’s another variable. You play all your preseason games at night. We’ll obviously have some night games this year once we get into the season. I’m excited about tonight, I know the players are and I hope the fans are because I know last year there was some great energy and that helps everybody push through. It will be new and we’re not quite as full scale as we were last year at this time but it ought to be a good test for us.”

Q: Can the guys that haven’t been able to practice yet be able to practice tomorrow?

HALEY: “Assuming everything goes the way we’ve heard.”

  Q: Will you have to get the guys that come in tomorrow up to the same level of fitness, like you’ve done with these other guys so far?

HALEY: “I think we need to be cognoscente of it; that they haven’t done anything and now the other guys have a week under their belts. That’s all part of this fluid process that we’re talking about. The good thing that we have going for us with that group is, they’re veteran guys. For the most part, they understand and have been through it. That rust comes off a little quicker as opposed to saying we have 17 rookies or whatever sitting out there that have never been in the NFL. I think that’s a positive for those guys. They’ve been doing everything on their own, but every time I walk by they’re all walking to this building which is another good sign.”

Q: Is it realistic to think any of those guys can play in the first preseason game?

HALEY: “I don’t know. Again I want to make sure to take everything into account and we’ll have a handful of practices to get an idea. I don’t want to set anything or say anything too quick. I want to evaluate how our team’s doing. I know we’ve had a couple really good days of work on and off the field and that’s good for us. That’s what we need and I think everybody’s feeling like we’re making progress in a number of different areas.”

Q: Are you comfortable with your three quarterbacks right now?

HALEY: “I’m very comfortable with those guys. Us offensive coaches or those offensive coaches; they’re always differing opinions on numbers of arms, three or four. In this circumstance and the way we’re doing things, that’s not an issue as far as keeping guys fresh and active. If that became an issue as we move along, obviously we would adjust or as we’ve said at all spots, if there is somebody out there that we feel like improves the competition or helps make us better. Again, I’ll keep that open at all positions.”

Q: Is there a complete change in Tyler Palko from last year to this year?

HALEY: “I think Tyler understands this is a big year for him as it is for everybody. He’s getting to that point where he’s trying to find his way. He’s made the progression. He wasn’t able to hang on a roster then he’s on a practice squad. Last year he was able to jump up and be on a roster. He’s continuing to progress. That’s one of the reasons I’m really excited about coach (Jim) Zorn. I think there’s a definite connection there. Tyler has worked really hard from the point he got into this league. I would like to see him continue to make progress and be a factor for us even more so than he was last year. That’s the plan and I know that’s his mindset. He’s competitive, he’s tough, he’s trying to soak it all in right now. I know all of those quarterbacks are excited about working with coach Zorn and I think they all should see some positive results. We’ll just see how it goes.”

  Q: What will the competition be like this year to return kicks and punts?

HALEY: “I think ideally the way we started last year was a great setup for our team because depending upon how many snaps each of those guys was playing in a game, I tried to adjust accordingly. You felt completely confident doing it because you felt like either guy gave you a chance to make a big play. I think in the San Diego game that actually occurred. Javier (Arenas) had done a bunch and I felt like he was worn down and went to Dexter and he obviously made a huge play for us. But then they both got beat up in a number of different ways, which happens. It didn’t look so hot as we went through the season. More bodies, more capable guys; I’ve been there in Arizona and watched Breaston return four touchdowns in big games so, that’s a good problem to have. They’ll be competing; they all want to do it. There might be somebody we don’t even know about right now. I know those three all like to do it, they want to do it, and they are impact returners, each and every one of them. I think it will depend a little bit on how everything else plays out also. It’s great to have options. It’s great to have competition.”

Q: Would you rather have just one guy do it?

HALEY: “If that was all that player did, if that were his number one job then, I would be all for that if he was a big-time returner which they all have the chance to be. As the situation looks right now, I don’t know if that’s going to be the case. Those guys are contributing in other areas in which we need them; all three of them. As we kind of go forward, we’ll see how many plays each one, what part of the offense or defense they’ll be and then how it relates to special teams. Or vice versa; if one of them is clearly the best returner then that may have an impact on what we do on their side of the ball.”

Q: Is it more difficult to get a rookie quarterback like Ricky Stanzi up to speed?

HALEY: “The quarterback position is, again I don’t know if you can say one position is more difficult than another. But the quarterback position definitely involves more moving parts so to speak. There is more to it as far as leadership and you’re touching the ball on every snap, all those things factor in to make it a difficult position to just come in and be an impact guy. He’s a smart guy, he’s a hard worker, he’s into it and he’s going to be well coached. Each guy has a plan or we have a plan for each guy. I just think as we move through this more things will come to light that help us evaluate. That’s going to be one of the keys this year in my opinion, is our ability as coaches to evaluate our players because there is less time to do it. We haven’t had the last three months to watch these guys, to see how they act and what they’re doing. Now the guys we know, we obviously have more information. Specifically these young guys, you don’t want to be wrong on your evaluation yet you’re in a condensed situation that limits some of that evaluation time. We have a plan, I have a plan and you’ll see it start to play out a little bit and it may be unique, it may not, I don’t know but it’s different. We have to get it right and evaluation will be key I think this year. It’s always key but this year your margin of error I think is just a little smaller.”

Q: Are the upgrades you made in the passing game going to affect the running game that you had success with last year?

HALEY: “I don’t think any. I think that our identity as an offense will be to be a good running team. As we define it in there with the players, to be able to run the ball when they know you’re running the ball. We did that really well at times last year, sometimes not great. We want to be a running team first and then build from there. That part of it’s not going to change. I’m excited about some of the things we’re doing and some of the improvements and tweaks and things after going through an offseason of evaluation. Because we ran the ball well last year doesn’t mean we’re going to run it well this year. We need to work and get ready to go and a little less practice time and some of those things could be a potential factor. That will come back to the plan and what we’re going to do to ensure that we’re able to get better.”

Q: Is Jamaal Charles the starter?

HALEY: “Right now, we’re across the board we’re evaluating. The guys that give us the best chance to win on September 11 will be out there and they still might not be starters.”

Q: Do you know that at 12 o’clock tomorrow you’re going to have all these guys?

HALEY: “We’ve been given times like the afternoon practice, these guys will be able to be out there and start participating. I’m superstitious, so I’m not counting on anything until I see it.”

This entry passed through the Full-Text RSS service — if this is your content and you’re reading it on someone else’s site, please read the FAQ at fivefilters.org/content-only/faq.php#publishers. Five Filters featured article: A ‘Malign Intellectual Subculture’ – George Monbiot Smears Chomsky, Herman, Peterson, Pilger And Media Lens.

Kansas City Chiefs : News

OPENING REMARKS: “Good afternoon. Had a little assignment period inside which I think under the new guidelines, take on even more importance because we’re not getting quite as many reps out at practice as we normally would. So, those assignment periods take on even more meaning than they always have. I think it’s good for especially the young guys. You guys got a chance to talk to a bunch of them today I understand. As you can probably tell, I think it’s a good young group of men that we’re excited to have in here. They’re having a lot thrown at them from a lot of different directions as usual for young guys. I think this year with the situation a little different than always, in that normally those guys would have been around in April on their own for a weekend. Then kind of acclimate in starting a couple of weeks after that through May and June. Then training camp starts and it’s always a bit of a whirlwind for guys anyway so, having missed a lot of that, these guys have their noses to the grindstone and understand that their nose needs to be to the grindstone and each guy has their own individual plan as set by us. It may take a little more time to sort through some of them; what they’re capable of, what they do best, what their role potentially could be; obviously assuming that they would make the team. Then go from there. I’m glad you all got to visit with them a little bit. I hope it went alright.”

Q: What have been your early impressions of Jonathan Baldwin?HALEY: “He’s big. I’m encouraged by Jonathan and really the entire group. Again, as a whole they look like they have their heads screwed on straight and understand the task in front of them. It’s early and we haven’t got to know each other the way you normally would through the process or the process as we know it. The indicators are good. He’s serious, I don’t see much else other than football. He’s asking to do extra things. He wants to talk about receiver play; what’s expected of him. Not just to me but to the coaches. Yesterday, on the day off I was over here for whatever reason and he was walking back in 120 degree heat, just kind of walking by himself. To me, those are good signs that a guy is focused in the right place and he wants to succeed. I’m getting late night texts from him and those are all good signs.”Q: So he’d been over here running around?

HALEY: “Yeah, I think he’d probably been taking care of his body like we’ve asked him; maybe in the hot tub and the cold tub. Again, not that it’s an indicator of anything but to me, I felt good when I saw a guy not worrying about much else other than doing the things that we’re asking him to do.”

  Q: What do you see as the options in the passing game?

HALEY: “Our goal is to continue to improve the competition at all positions. I feel like we did that in the passing game options. Bigger picture than that, I think that this year; matchups are always going to be critical. One of the things we’re stressing though, especially to Matt (Cassel) is, where are the advantageous matchups? It’s too early for any of that because guys are really just trying to get to a point where we’re getting full practices in. Numbers wise, we’re at the low end and we’re trying to do things the right way considering everything. So matchups, right now probably isn’t the time to talk about it. But that’s what we’re stressing. When you start talking about matchups with our present roster, again not knowing who’s going to be here and who’s not. There are some interesting things to think about with some of the skill position guys we have. Between Jamaal’s (Charles) ability to catch the ball or having played some receiver. Dexter’s (McCluster) versatility. Now we have more competition at receiver between Baldwin, (Steve) Breaston, some of these young guys developing, (Jeremy) Horne, (Verran) Tucker continues to make progress through last year and into this year. He ought to be feeling a lot more comfortable as far as what he needs to do. We have a nice combination of players that have ability in the pass game.”

Q: Is Baldwin faster than you would think for a guy his size?

HALEY: “His timed speed is fast. A lot faster than it looks because he is so big and he’s a bit of a longer strider which is always a little deceptive. Speed is not an issue. I think it’s easy to just say he’s a big possession guy. Until we get going and pads are on and these guys get their legs under them, I don’t know that we’ll see really all that’s there.”

Q: Are you going to practice in pads today?

HALEY: “Kind of like yesterday or two days ago, we’ll have an early portion of practice, again at my discretion, I have a point where I know I’m taking them off no matter what tonight. If I don’t like the way things are going then I can adjust. We’re excited tonight’s out there under the lights on the turf. That will be new for everybody that hasn’t been here and the first time this year. It’s always a bit of an adjustment. It’s good for the players, I think. That’s why we started that because I believe it’s another variable. You play all your preseason games at night. We’ll obviously have some night games this year once we get into the season. I’m excited about tonight, I know the players are and I hope the fans are because I know last year there was some great energy and that helps everybody push through. It will be new and we’re not quite as full scale as we were last year at this time but it ought to be a good test for us.”

Q: Can the guys that haven’t been able to practice yet be able to practice tomorrow?

HALEY: “Assuming everything goes the way we’ve heard.”

  Q: Will you have to get the guys that come in tomorrow up to the same level of fitness, like you’ve done with these other guys so far?

HALEY: “I think we need to be cognoscente of it; that they haven’t done anything and now the other guys have a week under their belts. That’s all part of this fluid process that we’re talking about. The good thing that we have going for us with that group is, they’re veteran guys. For the most part, they understand and have been through it. That rust comes off a little quicker as opposed to saying we have 17 rookies or whatever sitting out there that have never been in the NFL. I think that’s a positive for those guys. They’ve been doing everything on their own, but every time I walk by they’re all walking to this building which is another good sign.”

Q: Is it realistic to think any of those guys can play in the first preseason game?

HALEY: “I don’t know. Again I want to make sure to take everything into account and we’ll have a handful of practices to get an idea. I don’t want to set anything or say anything too quick. I want to evaluate how our team’s doing. I know we’ve had a couple really good days of work on and off the field and that’s good for us. That’s what we need and I think everybody’s feeling like we’re making progress in a number of different areas.”

Q: Are you comfortable with your three quarterbacks right now?

HALEY: “I’m very comfortable with those guys. Us offensive coaches or those offensive coaches; they’re always differing opinions on numbers of arms, three or four. In this circumstance and the way we’re doing things, that’s not an issue as far as keeping guys fresh and active. If that became an issue as we move along, obviously we would adjust or as we’ve said at all spots, if there is somebody out there that we feel like improves the competition or helps make us better. Again, I’ll keep that open at all positions.”

Q: Is there a complete change in Tyler Palko from last year to this year?

HALEY: “I think Tyler understands this is a big year for him as it is for everybody. He’s getting to that point where he’s trying to find his way. He’s made the progression. He wasn’t able to hang on a roster then he’s on a practice squad. Last year he was able to jump up and be on a roster. He’s continuing to progress. That’s one of the reasons I’m really excited about coach (Jim) Zorn. I think there’s a definite connection there. Tyler has worked really hard from the point he got into this league. I would like to see him continue to make progress and be a factor for us even more so than he was last year. That’s the plan and I know that’s his mindset. He’s competitive, he’s tough, he’s trying to soak it all in right now. I know all of those quarterbacks are excited about working with coach Zorn and I think they all should see some positive results. We’ll just see how it goes.”

  Q: What will the competition be like this year to return kicks and punts?

HALEY: “I think ideally the way we started last year was a great setup for our team because depending upon how many snaps each of those guys was playing in a game, I tried to adjust accordingly. You felt completely confident doing it because you felt like either guy gave you a chance to make a big play. I think in the San Diego game that actually occurred. Javier (Arenas) had done a bunch and I felt like he was worn down and went to Dexter and he obviously made a huge play for us. But then they both got beat up in a number of different ways, which happens. It didn’t look so hot as we went through the season. More bodies, more capable guys; I’ve been there in Arizona and watched Breaston return four touchdowns in big games so, that’s a good problem to have. They’ll be competing; they all want to do it. There might be somebody we don’t even know about right now. I know those three all like to do it, they want to do it, and they are impact returners, each and every one of them. I think it will depend a little bit on how everything else plays out also. It’s great to have options. It’s great to have competition.”

Q: Would you rather have just one guy do it?

HALEY: “If that was all that player did, if that were his number one job then, I would be all for that if he was a big-time returner which they all have the chance to be. As the situation looks right now, I don’t know if that’s going to be the case. Those guys are contributing in other areas in which we need them; all three of them. As we kind of go forward, we’ll see how many plays each one, what part of the offense or defense they’ll be and then how it relates to special teams. Or vice versa; if one of them is clearly the best returner then that may have an impact on what we do on their side of the ball.”

Q: Is it more difficult to get a rookie quarterback like Ricky Stanzi up to speed?

HALEY: “The quarterback position is, again I don’t know if you can say one position is more difficult than another. But the quarterback position definitely involves more moving parts so to speak. There is more to it as far as leadership and you’re touching the ball on every snap, all those things factor in to make it a difficult position to just come in and be an impact guy. He’s a smart guy, he’s a hard worker, he’s into it and he’s going to be well coached. Each guy has a plan or we have a plan for each guy. I just think as we move through this more things will come to light that help us evaluate. That’s going to be one of the keys this year in my opinion, is our ability as coaches to evaluate our players because there is less time to do it. We haven’t had the last three months to watch these guys, to see how they act and what they’re doing. Now the guys we know, we obviously have more information. Specifically these young guys, you don’t want to be wrong on your evaluation yet you’re in a condensed situation that limits some of that evaluation time. We have a plan, I have a plan and you’ll see it start to play out a little bit and it may be unique, it may not, I don’t know but it’s different. We have to get it right and evaluation will be key I think this year. It’s always key but this year your margin of error I think is just a little smaller.”

Q: Are the upgrades you made in the passing game going to affect the running game that you had success with last year?

HALEY: “I don’t think any. I think that our identity as an offense will be to be a good running team. As we define it in there with the players, to be able to run the ball when they know you’re running the ball. We did that really well at times last year, sometimes not great. We want to be a running team first and then build from there. That part of it’s not going to change. I’m excited about some of the things we’re doing and some of the improvements and tweaks and things after going through an offseason of evaluation. Because we ran the ball well last year doesn’t mean we’re going to run it well this year. We need to work and get ready to go and a little less practice time and some of those things could be a potential factor. That will come back to the plan and what we’re going to do to ensure that we’re able to get better.”

Q: Is Jamaal Charles the starter?

HALEY: “Right now, we’re across the board we’re evaluating. The guys that give us the best chance to win on September 11 will be out there and they still might not be starters.”

Q: Do you know that at 12 o’clock tomorrow you’re going to have all these guys?

HALEY: “We’ve been given times like the afternoon practice, these guys will be able to be out there and start participating. I’m superstitious, so I’m not counting on anything until I see it.”

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