I do think through the evaluation process an individual does make his claim in either direction. His performance is the indicator. I think although it is a difficult time, it is really based upon how an individual actually performs is what really counts.

Its more of a body of work. You take everything into consideration. You try to make an assessment of how they will fit in and if they make your team stronger and that type of thing. We look at every single aspect.

It would be reasonable to assume that.

I think so. I think he is a young, developing player who has skill and ability and just needs reps. He will certainly get some on Thursday.

The thing about this game is that it moves along pretty quickly. I think for the most part young guys at the onset really start to develop as the season goes along. They develop through OTAs, they develop through training camp and then it takes a little while, in terms of development, for them to actually find their niche, and I think that is probably what is happening with Jerry, as well. He just continues to get better, little by little, but it’s not something that is going to happen instantly. It does take a little while.

I can tell you overall we have improved. I think that is quite evident, just in terms of return yardage and things of that nature. The battle between the individuals that have been doing those duties for us continues and Thursday night will be another night to assess and see where they are.

We look at all of it, every bit of it, everything, not only in the ballgames, but also in practice and meetings. It all certainly adds up. Is it important? I think obviously this game is a big game. It is very, very important, primarily for a few reasons. One, anytime you have an opportunity to take the field in this league it is one that individuals have to relish and take advantage of. Two, I think there are a lot of men out there that are going to be jockeying for position for jobs and opportunities because of the fact that is what we are doing. We are assessing them and seeing where they fit in. It is very, very important for them, this particular ballgame. Number three, it gives us an opportunity to strengthen our team. We can help ourselves in terms of depth. We forge maybe a little bit more strength in certain areas. This game is very important for us to evaluate and make certain that we make the right decisions that best suit us.

Not everybody can be in the exact same boat, in terms of what is going to happen in this particular ballgame. Those who need the work, we will get them the work. But also there may be some situations where we have a guy or two that is a little nicked up, and we might not play him very much. That will kind of depend on what happens just before game time. It depends. You are referring to Donald, I think that he’s shown that he is moving in the right direction, that he is doing the things we ask of him and we anticipate that he is going to have an injury-free season. That is what we are praying for because he can certainly help us.

In a nutshell, he is going to be back adjacent to the back judge. His job is going to be to help in the realm of passing. He is going to actually take a little bit of the load off of the back judge. The back judge would usually stand in the middle, so they will be side-by-side. He will have one side of the field, the back judge will have the other. In kicking situations, kickoff and things of that nature, he will be following the kicker down the field more or less, maybe four or five yards behind him in the kickoff and he will be working his way down kind of just outside of the fray.

I think much like anything it is somewhat experimental. We will see what happens as a result of it.

Typically, at some point, you come to a conclusion after you have taken a look and exhausted all avenues. He is certainly an important part of our team, so he was able to go through the early part of training camp in terms of the learning process and things of that nature. In creating a little room in terms of where we are now with numbers it gets us to where we should be at this point and time.

Where we are right now, there are a lot of guys that this is a big night for them, just in terms of competition, being able to make an assessment and evaluation of them. Certainly in the return game that would be true. We have another round of guys to have an opportunity to take a look. Devin Moore will be back there again. We may have an opportunity to sprinkle Brandon James in there a little bit more as well. There will be a few guys getting a look, but obviously this will be the final one.

Not necessarily. It just kind of depends on opportunities. You dont always get as many opportunities in certain phases as you would like. We have to monitor that accordingly.

It just depends. He is going to do both.

No, sir.

I think it is one of those things where competition is good and healthy for everyone. Not all of them have been perfect, but nevertheless you can say both have been able to do some pretty good things that are able to catch your eye.

For the most part we take this game into consideration and we are still trying to get better each and every week in all phases. This game in particular we are trying to make certain we get guys in the right position to do our evaluations and stay sharp, and we are still looking for execution, although there are a lot of things we are still working on. Timing in terms of just an overall system from an offensive standpoint, that is extremely important for us. Effectiveness, obviously, in terms of the running game. Defensively, just running to the ball and tackling. Both of those phases have to be continued to be worked upon. Then our kicking game as well, we still have to be a good, strong cover team, but we still have to make certain that we generate some return yardage as well. In some of those areas you can see some improvement, but we still are working to improve even more. That is a very, very important thing that is happening right now in terms of our team. Overall, we are just trying to find ways to get better.

Well, it is not over up to this point. I think we can see some improvement in a lot of different areas. I think when you look at it you can see some incremental improvement in several different phases. We have never been accustomed to ever using injuries or anything like that as an excuse. Whoever is in there has to certainly play well and up to the standards we expect. Our culture is such that that is the way it is done and we live by it. I can just tell you that there are just some things we have done better. I think we have thrown the ball well. We have gotten off to fast starts, particularly in the last game. Defense has been one that we have improved upon missed tackles, but we still have to get better in that area. I think there are a lot of things we’ve improved upon. We still have a lot of work to do. I think that you can see in our return game there has been some improvement in that area despite the turnover on the punt return. When you look at it we have been able to gain some yardage. Kickoff return we have been able to gain some yardage. There are a lot of things I think you can point to and see some improvement, but we still have a long way to go.

I think that would be the common refrain. If you look at our history, don’t expect anything to deviate from the norm in that regard. Sometimes it depends a lot on the health of your team and those kinds of things as well. You take a look at those and have to adjust accordingly. We will look at that closer to game time and make our adjustments.

The best way I can tell you is to take a look at what we have done previously. It will be pretty close. At this stage right here today I could not give you any direct sort of answers and feel that I would be comfortable telling you who’s playing and who’s not playing until we get a little bit closer to game time.

It has been. Obviously we are still in it. It has been good up to this point. I don’t think there has been anything out of the ordinary. Every year you are faced with real challenges. Sometimes it hits one position more than others, but that is not unusual. I think that is your typical training camp. As a matter of fact, I think those things serve to give you a little sense of what’s going to happen during the season. What you have to do is embrace those challenges and difficulties and move forward. Like I have said time and time again, we have to find ways to emerge out of those situations stronger. I think that is they key.

I have not heard anything at all. I know they have a Competition Committee meeting conference call today for tomorrow. From that I would suspect there would be a little bit of conversation and maybe somewhat of some closure. I think the final meeting is set for September 10 when they will talk about it a little bit more in detail and etch in stone I guess exactly what they anticipate is going to be the protocol for handling the new position. Also, making certain the teams can also operate at the speed at which they would like to operate consistently.

I have not looked at the officiating assignments. I know it is in on my desk, but I have not looked at it as of yet. I know that is a possibility. If you ask me anything other than that, that is all I know. Once I determine it is an eighth one, I will find out (where he will be located). They may have it listed on the information that they sent to us where he is located.

It has been the same thing we have done for a number of years now. In his 13th season, I think we have gotten a pretty good look at what he can do. I think the biggest thing is whether or not he has reached his state of readiness. I think he is getting close to that.

I can tell you we are getting healthier. That would probably be the best way to state it.

I couldn’t say a blanket statement across the board, but we are moving forward. That is probably the best I can tell you.

I think he is OK. He is sore as I think most guys would be, but I think he is doing OK.