Q. The last time we talked, you had yet to cut the roster down to 53. How did that process go?
A. It was a challenging process because we had a good 90-man roster, and that's how I always view it. If you want to have a good 53, it first starts with a good 90. Then you take them through a fair and transparent process, which we work to do, and they do the rest. And they did. We had some tough decisions, some really close competitions for roster spots, but that's as it should be. And so it was a difficult process for us.
Q. So you mentioned about having a good 90-man roster, and I guess that was reflected in the fact that in getting down to 53 you didn't claim anybody off waivers, and when you put together your first practice squad, it was made up completely with guys you had in camp.
A. Certainly, that is reflective of the 90.
Q. Another part of the process leading up to the start of the regular season is the selection of the captains. What is that process?
A. This really is a simple process for us. Our captains are voted on by their peers, and so on Monday of game week, at the very beginning of our team meeting everybody gets a ballot. They vote for one offensive captain, one defensive captain, and one special teams captain. And then we tally up those votes, and we let the results speak for themselves. And so we got four quality guys representing us in that space. On offense, Aaron Rodgers; on defense, T.J. Watt and Cam Heyward; and on special teams, Miles Killebrew.
Q. Do you have any opinion about how it turned out, either in the number of players elected, or who those players were?
A. It was very definitive from a numbers standpoint, and so I was not surprised at all. All are very deserving men, and I'm sure those guys have been captains before.
Q. Do you have a sense of your team's readiness for the start of this regular season?
A. I do, and I base that sense on what I've seen in preparation. I think we're doing the things that will make us a tough team to beat. I don't anticipate us being highly penalized, or us being sloppy, which on offense is displayed by pre-snap penalties. Certainly I don't anticipate us playing perfect, and nobody does play perfect, but the penalties that we do get I want them to occur in play and be technically related, not as a result of lack of knowledge of the game or a lack of situational awareness. I feel good from those perspectives. All of those things, the controllables, if you will, we've done a nice job checking the boxes in the process.
Q. So when it comes to the things that you just talked about, did you see that from the team during the training camp process at St Vincent College?
A. Yes, I have, and it's critical to do more than just to talk about those things, but to take tangible action. For example, all week at practice – on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday – we had officials work our practices. I know that penalties are a major component of Week 1 football at every level, and so as opposed to just talking to the guys about it all week, about how significant it is to play clean, we brought officials to practice, and we officiated all three of our practices in an effort to make a point of emphasis in that regard.
Q. Is there any type of unique challenge posed to either the coaching staff or to the players in opening a season with a starting quarterback who is new to the team?
A. No, not at this juncture. Certainly, there are some things that we'll discover along the way as a collective. But in our particular instance, particularly because Aaron is so experienced and seasoned, I don't anticipate his newness being an issue for us in terms of continuity, communication, things of that nature. He is just so good in those spaces.
Q. Today's opponent is the New York Jets, and their starting quarterback is Justin Fields, who started the first 6 games of last season for you. Will you be able to take anything from the relationship you developed with him last season and use it in trying to defend him today?
A. Most certainly, but I'm sure he's in position to say the same thing about me. You know, we spent a lot of time together, talking about likes and dislikes, comfort zones and so forth, so I have an intimate understanding about the things that he prefers schematically, how he sees the game, his potential strengths and weaknesses. But the same could be said about his perspective regarding us. Those last weeks that he didn't start, he faced our defense every day in practice, and so he got an in-helmet perspective on the nuances of our defense, the communication and so forth. And so there's going to be some things that he knows about us. There's going to be some things that we know about him. It'll probably be a wash in the big scheme of things. And ultimately, the playmaking is going to determine the winner.
Q. You said in your Tuesday news conference that there are some global things teams generally do in terms of designed QB runs. What are some of those things?
A. The things that this generation of mobile quarterbacks have grown up doing, zone-read concepts, quarterback-follows, and so forth. There are some right-handed runs, if you will, some global right-handed runs that all mobile quarterbacks at all levels partake in, and that generally is the guts, if you will, of base quarterback running game.
Q. What kind of a runner is Justin Fields, in terms of quick vs. fast, strong vs. shifty, things like that?
A. He certainly is straight-line fast for the position. But I think more unique than his straight-line speed is his ability to run in angles. His knee and ankle flexibility, his ability to run horizontally, to create space that way, to change direction. He really is a talented athlete below the waist, for sure.
Q. When do you expect the Jets to utilize Fields on designed running plays? Short-yardage? Goal-line?
A. Certainly it's going to be a component of what they do, but there's a risk associated with running your quarterback, and you have to weigh that component of the equation as well. They've got to keep that guy upright for 17 weeks, and so most people – although quarterback mobility is a significant weapon – they're prudent in their usage. Oftentimes they only deploy it when it's a line to gain or in search of points. Globally, in the National Football League, you'll see a lot of quarterback runs on possession downs, third downs and fourth downs. You'll see a lot of quarterback runs in the red zone, where you're searching for that 4-point swing between scoring a touchdown and settling for a field goal. But to do it on your own 25-yard line on first-and-10, it's risk-oriented in today's game, because most NFL teams have 11 defenders on the field who hunt quarterbacks.
Q. How do you expect defensive coordinator Steve Wilkes to utilize Sauce Gardner today?
A. Sauce is a very talented bump-and-run, man-to-man corner. They've given him a new contract, and so I expect Coach Wilkes to utilize him for his known talents. Sauce is going to travel and play man-to-man. Normally he lines up on the defense's left, which is the offense's right, but he's capable of matching-up with a receiver all over the field. We'll see if he matches and travels with DK (Metcalf). He's certainly capable and compensated to do so, but it's all about how many variables they want to put into their pre-snap process in Week 1. A lot of times people think that matching-up with a receiver is easy business. Their focus is only on Sauce, but there's someone who has to play corner opposite of Sauce who's also going to have to travel. And so there are multiple people involved when you start talking about traveling. I don't know whether or not Sauce is going to travel, but certainly he is a talented bump-and-run corner, and I expect Coach Wilkes to utilize those skills.
Q. In terms of playing style and what he means to a defense, is Sauce Gardner similar to Jalen Ramsey?
A. I'd compare Sauce more to Joey Porter. They're outside, long, bump-and-run corners. Joey came out in the draft a year after Sauce, and the comparison of those guys was a part of my draft summary, if you will. The length, the physical structure. Jalen is a different animal. There's so much physicality in his game. He's safety capable, he's inside nickel capable. He's outside capable. He's a unique animal in terms of his position flexibility that doesn't make that an apples-to-apples conversation.
Q. In last season's opener in Atlanta, part of the offensive plan was to have your quarterback avoid the middle of the field because of the presence of Falcons safety Jessie Bates. Is there ever any area of the field you would instruct Aaron Rodgers to avoid?
A. Not at this juncture. I've just got so much respect for his experience and expertise. There certainly are conversations about the capabilities of those we compete against and the potential schematics that guys like Steven Wilkes will deploy, but I hadn't put any guardrails or boundaries and so forth on him like I've done with less experienced quarterbacks or less established quarterbacks. But nothing about that is jaw-dropping, to be quite honest with you. You make decisions based on the tools that you're working with, and certainly I'm working with a guy who's got some experience and expertise in that space, and so shame on me if I don't utilize those things.
Q. I have asked you this question many times – that being what do you need from your starting quarterback today? I ask it again now, and does the answer change at all because that starting quarterback is Aaron Rodgers?
A. It certainly changes, because we make plans based on capabilities, and we've got a great belief in what this guy's capabilities are. And so we expect his contributions to be more significant. In scenarios with less experienced guys, you just want him to not wreck the Ferrari, if you will. If I'm talking to Duck Hodges, I'm saying, don't throw the ball to the other team, for example. I'm not having those conversations with Aaron Rodgers. Expectations are based on experience and capabilities, and that's just the truth. I think anything other than that is misleading, and so I have high expectations for him from a performance standpoint, as I'm sure he does for himself.
Q. So is it fair to say he needs to be dynamic?
A. I don't think any of us are scared of that conversation. I know that's on his agenda, and so why wouldn't it be on mine?
