(Opening statement)
"Good morning everybody. Today's practice, the only guy that won't be practicing will be John St. Clair. (Jason) Trusnik will be back today, the three defensive linemen should be back today. Another question mark I would say would be (Derrick) Roberson. That's still up in the air but everybody else should be. I thought Jake (Delhomme) had a pretty good first day back. Moved around pretty well considering and he'll get a little more work today and we'll see where he is and how he responds tomorrow morning. We're working on red zone, working on goal line, short yardage review, so nothing out of the ordinary in terms of our typical week of preparation."
(On if he is optimistic about Jake Delhomme playing on Sunday)
"Just having him out there and throwing and going through the plays, yes it's good to see. It was the next step for us. Now it's a function of seeing how he does today and how he responds tomorrow."
(On how Delhomme didn't look like the same player on his first day back)
"I think that's going to be natural the first day back. You go through some of those movements. You simulate them and that sort of thing during the rehab process but doing them in conjunction with a play and all the things that go into it. It's going to look a little different initially. As time goes on that will get better and better."
(On what number quarterback Delhomme would be Sunday)
"I think any combination is really possible two, three, one. It's just really how he does today, how it responds tomorrow and then we do have another 24 hours between Saturday and Sunday to see what it's like. I don't know what the combination will be just because it's only day two of him actually working on the field."
(On St. Clair's injury and if Tony Pashos would start if he can't play)
"I think it's going to be tough for him. I'm hopeful, but it's going to be tough for him right now. Tony would start in that case."
(On if Delhomme would be prepared enough to play this week)
"Yes, his overall knowledge is really solid and he didn't miss a beat in terms of his preparation. He's got a pretty consistent routine that he has developed over years so that's stayed the same while he's been off the field."
(On when he will decide which quarterback will start)
"Probably Saturday night. You want to give it as much time as you can. I'll talk to Jake (Delhomme). I'll talk to Joe (Sheehan), the doc, (Brian) Daboll, just go through the whole process gather as much information and make the best decision and give it as much time as you can to see where it is."
(On if Jason Trusnik has a concussion in the game)
"Yes."
(On if Eric Wright has been more focused this week at practice)
"I didn't really see a significant lack of focus in the previous week. Eric's played a lot of games, and a lot of games well. My expectation is that he'll come back and play at the same level. We all go through this in different ways and different positions, coaches, players and you go back and attack the next challenge."
(On if he would come at a cornerback who was coming off a bad week)
"I can go either way. Maybe you catch him when he's still slumping or maybe you get him when he's back on fire. You got to take that chance I guess."
(On if Joe Haden is closer to getting a starting position)
"He's working and he's done good things with his opportunities. I don't think it's any different than it was last week."
(On how often they are in the nickel package)
"It really depends, Jeff (Schudel), based on what their personnel group is. Some games you get a ton of a personnel group where you play nickel and it's first down, it's second down, it's third down so those reps are really high. I'd say any given year half the snaps end up being with extra defensive backs."
(On how T.J. Ward has been able to start right away but it has taken Haden longer for him to get there)
"I think they both have both done well. I think there's some more opportunity at the safety spot, that always helps. As you insert yourself, what you do with those chances and T.J. has done a really nice job."
(On how T.J. Ward's pass coverage has been the first few weeks)
"He's done well. I thought he made a really nice play last week, it ended up being like a middle read going to the tunnel side where he came over and broke it up. I thought that was a good deep part of the field play. I think he's sick about the chance he had on the sideline, but he's made I think quite a few plays in coverage that show his ability there whether it be man to man or zone he's done them both."
(On if Peyton Hillis" running style reminds him of any other running backs)
"Not one that just jumps off the chart for me. I hadn't really thought of it that way to tell you the truth."
(On if Peyton Hillis is in line for a short career because of his position with collisions)
"How long did (John) Riggins play? Did he get 12? I don't really think he is an upright runner. I think a lot of times one of the things he does really well is lower his shoulder on contact and drive forward. Often times he is the guy that's delivering the blow. You see some upright runners where they just get tattooed because they don't ever lower their shoulders, they don't get that leverage going forward and those hits tend to add up more quickly. Where with Peyton I think it's different because a lot of times he is the one applying force, applying leverage. He does have pretty good short area quickness for a guy his size where he can makes some people miss. I think it's more apparent in the passing game where your catching some of those balls out in the flat makes the guy miss. He's got that as well which is a little deceptive based on his size."
(On if Hillis will last more than five years)
"I don't know what the numbers will be but it's only been three games so he's got a ways to go to get there."
(On what happened with Hillis last year in Denver)
"I wasn't there and they drafted a guy number one and they either traded for a guy or signed for a free agent. Sometimes you just get numbers and it just happens that way. Sometimes guys get pegged as being a fullback instead of a tailback and that's where you end up getting your work so you don't end up carrying the ball that much. In the year prior to that I think when he was getting a lot of carries he ended up getting hurt so he didn't really get the volume of carries that maybe he would have gotten which could have solidified his role as a tailback."
(On Cincinnati's run defense compared to Baltimore's)
"I think they're both very good in that area. It's a different style, it's more of a true 4-3. There's more penetration, there's more line stunts as opposed to Baltimore, which is not the traditional 3-4, but it's the 3-4 that builds over and under schemes. One, they're both very good. Style-wise, they're different because one's a 4-3 penetrating and one's a 3-4. Not that Baltimore doesn't penetrate, but it's not the same volume of penetration."
(On how much Marcus Benard and Shaun Rogers being out last week affected the pass rush)
"It helps having them. How much more we would have gotten, I'm not really sure. You always like to go to the game with your full complement of guys, but every team is dealing with it in one way or the other. When someone goes down, the next person that goes in has to fill that void. When we have the opportunities to zone blitz, full blitz or a four man rush, we have got to take advantage of those."
(On Carson Palmer having a quick release and getting rid of the ball quickly)
"He has both of those things and then he runs, which is a pain in the neck. He understands the defenses, so if you make it clean, he is going to go to the right place. He does have a quick release and a strong arm. He feels pressure well and then he has the ability to hurt you with his feet like he did last year against us in overtime and he hurt us one other time in the red zone that set up a field goal. He does that where it's enough that you better be sound in your pass rush. You can't just tee off and lose contain or not have the lane integrity inside because if you do that and you're covered downfield, he just takes off and picks up 15-20 yards."
(On what grade he would give his fourth quarter defense)
"I don't know, I haven't assigned a grade to it. I think there have been spots where we have been really good and things we can improve on. I really liked what we did in Tampa Bay at the end where we had to get the ball back. We stopped them on the goal line, forced the fumble, had to get the ball back again and did a good job there. I was disappointed last week that we didn't have a chance on third down to see whether or not we could have stopped the play. You get in that opportunity, you've got to give yourself a chance to play it out. We jumped offside and I thought that was, obviously, not acceptable. I'm disappointed that we didn't have that chance."
(On if Cincinnati's defense is more susceptible to shorter passes than Baltimore's)
"The numbers are the same in terms of how many guys you have in coverage. Whether it's a 4-3 or a 3-4, usually in a 3-4 you just rush one of the linebackers and that becomes the fourth player. Numbers-wise, it's pretty consistent. In terms of what they play, we are going to face different coverages from both groups, but both defenses have the full complement of coverages and they mix in pressure. I don't think the amount of defensive linemen necessarily dictates the shorter passing game would be better."
(On Carlton Mitchell's progress)
"I think he's made some progress but I think he's got some more progress to make. I've been happy with the jumps that he's made but it needs to keep going. Part of that too is if he goes to the game what's his role going to be on special teams because he's not going to be a starter if he goes, so there's another area we have to define a role. We have Sam Aiken right now who is an outstanding special teams player and can do some things offensively and has done things offensively over the course of years. He's got to establish a role."
(On if the three defensive linemen who are returning to practice today will play on Sunday)
"That's my expectation, but we'll see how it is."
(On what Shaun Rogers does that doesn't show up in a box score)
"It just depends on how offenses treat him. Sometimes with that if they give him extra attention that frees up some people but each team we face kind of looks at the players a different way. I'd say that'd be the main thing with any play, how are they going to deal with him. What's their plan? Does it change, if it doesn't change then you would like to see that player make some explosive plays. If it does change what does it open up for someone else."
(On which of his players he would want to watch the most on a reality TV show)
"Robert Royal would be pretty funny if he had a reality TV show. I'd probably want to group them together like get four or five guys together and put them in a house sort of like the Cleveland Shore, something like that, the Lakefront. I'd have to do the full casting to see what the theme is but Robert is definitely one of them, (Lawrence) Vickers he'd be fun to have in that mix. (Blake) Costanzo, throw him in that house. I don't know give me another day or two but I could get a good cast. You throw Rob (Ryan) in there, he could be the house mother or something. What do they call that in college, an RA? He'd walk down every night make sure everyone's asleep. I think we've got something. Sports Time Ohio, you'll see it."
Transcript courtesy of the Cleveland Browns