Wade Phillips press conference 9/25/08

Summary of Wade Phillips' press conference today.

Tank Johnson didn't practice today, he has a slight ankle sprain. He worked with the trainers today, I think he'll be fine. If he practices tomorrow he should play. Everybody else practiced who wasn't already out of the game.

Montrae Holland is getting closer to being ready to go, to step in and play some, maybe even in this game. Not to start, but maybe play. We haven't had him on the team before and he hasn't played for us yet, Cory Procter has so we know what we're getting there.

For different receivers on different teams we use different strategies. Some you bump, some you play off, some you run with. We have different strategies for different players and different strategies for different players on our own team to use. One of our corners might bump and another corner we might play off. Yeah you want to hold Santana Moss up at the line every time but then you have to have someone behind in case he gets by. We'll mix it up and we'll double him as much as we can.

Jason Campbell looks really good, his passing percentage is good, he gets into the keys quickly and gets rid of the ball quickly. Hardly any sacks against him and no interceptions. He seems comfortable now in the offense.

Anthony Spencer has looked fine, I think he's healthy again, looks ready to go.

Chris Cooley doesn't move around as much in this offense but you have to know where he is. They don't do as much 2 and 3 TE's so it's easier to find him, but he's still really effective, in pass catching and blocking.

Under 100 yards on run defense is always our goal. Keep them down to 80 to 85 yards a game. If you get ahead or stuff the running game and force them to throw it's easier. 150 yards per game is not good. Teams that lead the league in pass defense are sometimes the worst teams. It's not a direct correlation to winning and losing.

Jon Jansen may play and they used to run to his side a lot so they can run either way, not just behind Chris Samuels. Clinton Portis can go inside, outside, left or right.

We worked Marcus Spears some at nose some today because Tank wasn't out there. We have to be ready just in case.

Zach Thomas - we all thought all along he's a real good football player, he has a nose for the ball. We could play him more but we think it's best to utilize him now on first and second down, but he could play all three. He makes plays. He played middle in a 4-3 which is really hard. He played a position where you shouldn't make as many plays but he does. His work ethic and study habits made the transition to a 3-4 defense easier.  This position allows him to run to the ball more and he's more protected a little more.