HEAD COACH BRIAN CALLAHAN
Opening Statement:
"Good to come in and play well in the second half there to take a chance to win a game. It was some good production by a lot of players tonight. I thought Cedric Gray played really well. He showed up kind of all over the field in a bunch of different ways, which was good to see. Elic [Ayomano], really kind of a positive game for him. I thought we had a shot to him on that third down on that big box phase, sort of one on one. Got a little physical in there, didn't get a call and didn't get the catch, but it was good for him to take that one on one. Let's see who else, Gunnar Helm, obviously another positive night for him. That's two games in a row where he's played well, so it's good to see him coming along. And I think [Jordan] Mims ran the ball well in the second half for us. Really all three of those backs, [Julius] Chestnut, [Jordan] Mims, and [Kalel] Mullings had some nice carries there in the second half. And then I thought we answered well, had a couple of explosive plays we gave up on defense, and we came back and answered with drives and points. Ultimately to have a chance to win the game, and then a great fourth down stop there at the end, which was good to see, to give us a chance to go win it. So overall, pleased, we'll get to all the things we have to correct over the next week and get ready for our last preseason game."
On whether QB Cam Ward talked him into playing more:
"No, I wanted to send it back out there. The play number was still low. Those penalties kind of knocked us out of some of those favorable down and distances, and we didn't convert third downs. And so we wanted to get him one more series because the play count was still relatively low, so I felt like it was good for him to go back out there one more time."
On how much LB Cedirc Gray has been on his mind whether he'll play next to LB Cody Barton:
"Yeah, he's really come along, come on strong for us in the joint practice work and in the games. He keeps showing up, which is great to see. He's certainly making himself a case to be able to play next to Cody there, linebacker spot, it's not over yet, but very pleased with what he's shown."
On QB Cam Wards performance after two preseason games:
"Yeah, I'm very encouraged, and that ball he threw that got dropped was an unbelievable throw. He's shown all the things that we need to see from an operations standpoint. Certainly the penalties put us in some unfavorable down and distances. Would have liked to have stayed on the field, obviously, and move the ball a little bit. But the holding and a false start on the third and short that put us in the third and longer, not ideal. But that's really not on him. Those are things that we have to do better around him. But everything about Cam as far as handling the operation, being in the stadium, two road environments, all that's great. Really good start for him, and then we got one more chance to come play at home and get ready to go."
On what QB Brandon Allen does to make himself standout:
"He's a really tough kid mentally, and he doesn't get rattled by too much. He's a lot like Cam in that regard. Comes back from a bad play or a poor series, usually plays pretty well after that. So it's good to see that resilience. But he had a nice game tonight, had a big explosive play early, which was good to see. He got a chance to go work up against some good players. And I felt the secondary going against AJ Terrell a few times in the practices. So you got a taste of what real NFL corners look like. AJ's one of the better ones out there, and so he got tested. And I think that was good for him. Any rep that these young players are getting is going to be beneficial for us in the long run. And I think he's done a really nice job responding."
On WR Van Jefferson and the position battle he's in at the wide receiver positon:
"Yeah, we're going to need all of them. There's no doubt about that. Those guys are going to rotate and play. But there's competition. None of these guys, I would say, are starters at the moment. And we're trying to figure out what that group's going to look like in week one. But they've all done good things for us over the course of training camp. And I'm excited about the group. So the competition remains ongoing. And those young guys have done a nice job. And then really, Van's [Jefferson] had a good camp. The one drop, I don't think, is a telltale of the type of player he'll be for us. But certainly he's had a good training camp."
On OL Dan Moore Jr. and his status:
"No, they were done. And he got rolled up on a little bit. But as of right now, no, nothing of any certain, anything to note of seriousness."
On OL Lloyd Cushenberry III and the timeline of his return from injury:
Yes, he went all days this week with pads on in individual periods. And we kept adding to his plate, keep adding volume to his work. Hopefully get him back maybe in some actual practice periods this week with pads on. And he's progressing nicely, happy with where he's at. And part of the process is just getting him back on a game day field and getting warmed up and under the lights and all that. So that was good to see."
On his evaluation of the past week as a whole:
"It was excellent. It was everything I could have hoped for. I'm proud of the way the guys handled it. We put them in some uncomfortable spots along the way. It was long, it was multiple hotels, a lot of different travel. And they didn't flinch, they actually enjoyed it.
I think you can ask the guys when you talk to them, but I think it was beneficial. We're a better team now than we were ten days ago, which is what we were hoping for. And everything that we hoped to get from a team building standpoint, from a practice standpoint against two good teams. And then a little bit of the being on the road life that's adverse and uncomfortable, I think that part was good. So all these things I think will help us in the long run, and really proud of the way that we handled our business."
On WR Calvin Ridley and whether he's felt like he's gotten enough work this week:
"Yeah, he had a lot of work in the last two days, and good to see him practice well. He was amped up for practice. He practiced hard like he always did. And I had talked to him after the second practice and just asked him how he's feeling. He goes, I could use it. If you're not going to put me in, I'm not gonna complain. So I said, no problem. We'll let the young guys play a little bit more, and it ends up being beneficial, because we've got to look at some more guys over a longer period of time. We know what Calvin can do for us."
On the mistakes on special teams throughout the game:
"I mean the penalties, I think our average starting field position was not great today. Got to clean those things up. I think most of them were holdings, just hand placement and feet. Making sure we clean up the technical part of that thing. Got to hold on to the football, there's really no other way to say it. We can't fumble a kickoff return in plus territory.
Defense bowed up with a hold in the three, the 20 yard line or wherever it was, that was good to see. But yeah, there's some things to clean up for sure. And some of that's the depth pieces and guys playing in different spots. So I'm not pleased with the performance overall. But we got plenty of time to get some of those things corrected."
