Head Coach Mike Martz

[RamDez]

Head Coach Mike Martz
Monday, August 9, 2004


(On returning after the one-day break)
“It’s good to get them out here without pressing them real hard. Their bodies have rejected them and now we’re going to try and let them get their bodies back again and have a good couple of days and get ready to play the Bears. By putting our guys in shells today we were able to get a lot of guys out here, but if we would have gone in pads a couple of guys wouldn’t have been able to go since they’re still trying to work through things. Tomorrow we’ll be in pads and we should get some good work in. We’re laying back a little bit because I’m very pleased with this team. They’ve got a great attitude, a terrific attitude.”

(On QB Chris Chandler)
“The thing that he is doing now is not so much the complicated plays, but it’s just the attention to the tiny things that we think make a difference. You’ve just got to be focused on the little things and when you have to think about it it’s hard, but once you know it it’s a lot easier. A year from now he’ll be a lot more comfortable. But, you can’t go six for six against air and not have a good day. I’m very pleased with him and his development. Veterans always have their way of doing things and on Chris’ behalf, for a guy that has been as successful as he has been, he’s not done that. You couldn’t ask for a better situation with a veteran like Chris.”

(On development of RB Arlen Harris)
“Last year, Arlen, like the young wide receivers, was trying to so hard to figure everything out and it’s different conditioning wise for them because you’re so much more fatigued when you don’t know what’s going on because you’re stressed. However, when you have a better idea of what’s going on you’re conditioning is better and everything is just better.”

(On development of WR Dane Looker, WR Kevin Curtis, and WR Mike Furrey)
“Well, all those guys, Looker particularly, has such a great feel for what we’re doing. When we get in that seven-on-seven in the red zone he makes nice little moves and just has a great feel for that. Mike and Kevin have progressed very well. We’re in a good spot with these guys, but you can’t get satisfied with them. We just want to make sure that they improve every week.”


(On the development of S Adam Archuleta)
“The hardest thing about Adam is we’ve thrown him into a role since a rookie, in terms of leadership, making plays, and being an impact player. That’s way too much to ask of any rookie, but we did that with him and he’s responded very well. He’s carried a certain load and a stress level that very few people can tolerate or deal with, and he’s done it extremely well. He’s extremely vital to what we do on defense. He’s an emotional leader just by how he plays, and the aggressiveness that he brings to the defense. The passion and the love for playing this game and his competitiveness are just hard to find. When you find a guy like Adam, they just stick out like a sore thumb. As good as everybody else is in the NFL, guys like Adam are just truly unique, they’re hard to come by.”

(On hearing anything from T Kyle Turley)
“No we haven’t. Our medical staff and Jay (Zygmunt) have been in contact with Kyle’s agent. Kyle’s down in the dumps, this thing isn’t as far along as he wants it to be. He’s very frustrated. We just have to get a conclusion medically in terms of the course of action he needs to take. We’re not there yet, so I’m not going to worry about it. I understand what Kyle’s going through, I feel for the guy. As soon as we can get some sort of answer to his medical situation, I’m sure we can move forward with it.”

(On Optimism of Turley’s return)
“I don’t know what to think, because we don’t have all the facts from the three doctors he knows.”

(On RB Lamar Gordon’s Ankle Injury)
“Lamar is going to have surgery on his ankle. Nothing has shown up on the MRI or x-rays. They did a scan on him and they think there’s a potential slight bone chip in there somewhere. They would like to go in and explore and see if they can’t take care of that. He’s been really consistent with this pain and in the same spot, so we’re pushing forward to try and see if they can reveal something. It’s nice to have it resolved, to know exactly what’s causing him all this pain.”

(On C Dave Wohlabaugh)
“He’s in St. Louis today, and he’s going back to Ohio tomorrow. He’s going to be seen by two doctors (for further examination).”

(On DE Kevin Aldridge)
“Aldridge has been given permission to leave camp. He has a personal issue that he needs to deal with, so we gave him permission to leave. Yes, (we anticipate him back). I don’t know when it’s going to be, but he’ll be back.”

(On T Jeremy Phillips)
“Jeremy went down with Lamar (Gordon) to get a scan on his neck. He (Phillips) has some stingers on his neck and we want to make sure he takes care of that.”

(On G Adam Timmerman)
“Adam has a sore shoulder. They treated him and he was sore today, so we kept him out. We had a lot of those things today. So as you can see, we are running them today to still get conditioning done.”