Aug. 6, 2008

Head coach Kyle Whittingham discussed his early thoughts on preseason football camp at media day on Wednesday, Aug. 6.

Opening Statement: Three days in I feel good about our progress. Although you can't put too much stock into it at this point, we are off to a good start. The most encouraging thing is the return of our injured players - Brent Casteel, Brian Johnson, Robert Johnson and Matt Asiata. Getting those guys back was huge for us.

Practice has gone about how we expected. We put the pads on today. The defense is probably a little ahead of the offense, but the offense is executing well after the first two days. Brian (Johnson) is back at full strength. The receiver corps is a fast group, including David Reed. We are still waiting on Aiona Key. The running backs - Darrell Mack and Matt Asiata - are 1a and 1b. Ray Stowers and Eddie Wide are right behind them.

We have a lot of football left before we line up on August 30.

On early expectations: This early we are concerned about our preparation and worrying about doing the things we need to do well and not projecting ahead. We are trying to get better at the things we do, fundamentally and with our technique. We are constantly evaluating, figuring out which of the new guys will help us right away and making sure we're on track. It will probably be a week to 10 days before we can solidify some of that.