HEAD COACH MIKE MUNCHAK 

(on if the team had a difficult time focusing due to O.J. Murdock’s passing)

I think it always is. I think that’s something in the back of people’s mind when something unexpected like that happens. You talk about it a lot, but I think once they get out here, and they start practicing, obviously it goes, football takes over. It’s the first time we have pads on, so you have some good and some bad. Guys getting used to it. We do a lot of things that we can’t in other practices which was good to see. A lot of the half line stuff. A lot of the linebackers on guards and backs.

(on the team getting into fights with pads on)

It wasn’t bad. We had a couple of guys. Craig Stevens usually starts it off. He got one going right off the bat which I thought would happen. I was right. If you had to predict one guy, your tough guy, your tight end that doesn’t say a word usually gets someone mad at him. So, we had a couple. You are going to have plenty of those and that’s fine. It’s just so when we pull it apart, it stops. That’s fine. You want guys competing. You want guys upset if they don’t make a play, but you just don’t want anything that’s going to cause a 15-yarder in a game. So they don’t get in bad habits.

(on if he has a policy on fighting)

Only if it gets out of hand. Only if we think it goes beyond the scope of what it should be or if there is any intent to hurt. If we something that just doesn’t look right or something that I’ve seen over the years happen, those are the things you are smart with. Like I said, you kind of encourage these guys. You want them to be going hard. You know guys are going to get upset when you’re out here and you’re hot and you’re tired. You want guys to handle themselves and control themselves because you don’t want it to bleed over to games when they think they can get away with that in a game. So, there is a fine line. I think last year we maybe had one fine the whole year on fights. Well, maybe a couple, but that was it. We pretty much practice pretty well together.

(on if Munchak gets angry at guys continuously dropping passes at practice)

Yeah, that’s something you keep track of on a daily basis. It’s not just drops; it’s anything, any position. If you are making the same mistakes which is dropping a ball, missing an assignment, or missing a read if you are a quarterback, we’re not real happy. You just can’t afford to have those things happen. You want to see someone come back and put that behind them. That is something that definitely would be upsetting if someone’s dropping the ball that many times.

(on if the dropped balls a first day in pad thing)

I think it’s a mental toughness thing. You have a guy like Lavelle Hawkins who tweaked his foot early so we had one less receiver; we were doing a lot of three wide receiver stuff today. So I think you have the pads on, its hot we just practiced last night, so I thinks it’s part of that, guys get a little tired and I think that is why balls start dropping and you have to learn how to fight through. Occasionally you are going to have a defensive guy make a play that is also part of the reason the ball is on the ground but you have to fight through that and of course temperatures are going to be hot because you have to catch the ball.

(on what you liked from Ryan Mouton  today)

He is a tough kid; last year we didn’t get a chance to see him because of the injury right from the start. He got drafted for a reason. I like his attitude, for special teams he is a guy that helps you there too. He is aggressive on the field, he takes chances, and so far so good. This is what you are hoping to see from the kid. You are happy for him because he came back. That is a long rehab. He got hurt the first week of training camp and he just got out here during OTAs, so you’re happy that he gets a chance to show people what he can do.

(on the quarterbacks)

Quarterbacks, they both looked great to me today. Just keep going and we are getting into a few more things. We are adding plays in a few more days, once you get to the weekend we will have everything in and practice is more interesting to watch for us. Having a game like practice on Saturday at the end of the week and with Monday in Atlanta, those are the things that will help us evaluate a lot of things.

(on Taylor Thompson dropping the ball)

He is learning a new position that he hasn’t played in a long time and that excuse will get old and it has and he knows it’s not one for him to use and he doesn’t but we put a lot on these guys. We want to see the tight ends get back to moving around, playing a lot of positions, lining up in a lot of spots and shifting. So we are not easing in on him. We gave him the OTAs to get a feel for everything. His head is spinning to some degree. We have to be smart when we get to games, but once you get to games we will cut it back. You limit a lot what you do against Seattle, Atlanta and against the Buccaneers so these guys have a chance to have a lot of success. But now we are trying to push the limit with the tight ends because the more you can do with those guys and the more formations you can show and the more they get used to doing those things the better we will be in September.