HEAD COACH JEFF FISHER, AUG. 26, 2008
(On playing the starters the most in the fourth preseason game as opposed to the third)
I wouldn't necessarily refer to it as a dress rehearsal. What it is is you have to go through the experience of going through halftime. I think it's unfair to ask players, especially young players, to play in the first half or in the second half and not go through the halftime experience. It is unique. You're warmed up, you play, you're emotional. When you come in at halftime you go through adjustments and have to get yourself back ready to play and that's the primary reason for playing the first series of the third quarter.
(On why he now uses the fourth game instead of the third)
Well, the reason is pretty simple. Our opinion is if you play our starters a series, or not at all, then they've gone at least two weeks without playing. That's like a bye week without being used to what you're doing. We want them to build their reps. You're constantly emphasizing building reps and conditioning level through the end of the offseason program and all the way through camp and then you contradict yourself if you take all this time off between the preseason game and the opener.
(On if he's surprised that more teams don't adapt to that strategy)
I don't pay much attention to what everyone else is doing. It's just kind of the way we do things here. We feel like it's been successful for us.
(On if he feels the players can still get good work if the opposing team pulls their starters early)
Well let me ask you this. Did we have good work in the third quarter last week when they left their starters in and we subbed? So it's good work. Work is work. We don't discuss with other coaches what their plans are, we just stick to our philosophy.
(On what he wants out of the final preseason game)
I want to minimize mistakes. I want to eliminate the needless penalties that took place last week, those that didn't have anything to do with the play. I want to see some execution. I want to see some younger guys step up a little bit in different areas.
(On if moving Rafael Little to the Physically Unable to Perform lists enables the team to evaluate him later in the season)
Yes, that's exactly why we did it.
(On if Little has a chance to make the team)
Well, we have time. He had ACL repair after the season was over and obviously he's not ready now. He's way ahead of schedule, he's working very, very hard, he's strong. So we'll give him six more weeks to continue to rehab and then we'll have the luxury of having him on the practice field for 20 more days.
(On if he has determined how the carries will be divided up between LenDale White and Chris Johnson)
We're going to use them both depending on the game plans and it makes sense to take advantage of both of their abilities. I think we'll have a better gauge once we get to the middle part of the season how the carries and the touches are going to work. Provided they're healthy week in and week out I would assume it would be close to 50-50, maybe 60-40.
(On how Chris Carr performed today in practice after being out)
He's been running and he's been in good shape. He just wanted to get out and move around and I thought he did pretty well. He did some good things.
(On Roydell Williams so far this week)
Well, he's been practicing this week without a day off. He made some plays today so that's good. I think he expected to be a little further along than where he is right now but we have to keep going this week. Hopefully, he'll get in the ball game this week and make some plays for us.
(On if Roydell Williams is guaranteed a roster spot because of his experience)
I'm not going to go into prospective decisions that we're going to make later in the week. Whether he is or not is not fair.
