Jeff Fisher Speaks About Players, Preseasons And Penalties

(On how they make sure the players stay hydrated on hot days like today)
“They did a great job. We’re monitoring everything from a recovery standpoint and they came back really well last night, today. They know. Today, we were back-to-back padded days. Tomorrow we’ll take the pads off and start our preparation for the preseason tomorrow.”

(On what he wants to get out of the preseason opener)
“It’s out there but it’s close. We’re talking about Monday right now and shoot, tomorrow is Tuesday and we play Friday night, so we have a lot of work to do. We have to go through our pregame warm-up routine and go through all that stuff. We’ll get together tomorrow as a staff and talk about play time. So it’s here. Of course, then we have that unique opportunity to go out in between the two games, one and two, and practice against the (Dallas) Cowboys, so that will be a great experience for us.”

(On what he looks for in the first week of the preseason)
“You’re going to evaluate your younger players to see how they respond under pressure. That’s always the first thing that we’re looking at. Don’t know how much everyone’s going to play at this point. It’s a great opportunity to play against a very talented team. (Oakland Head Coach) Jack’s (Del Rio) done a good job. He’s got a good roster. They’re ready to practice and play against somebody else and so are we, so we’ll go out there and then our focus will go immediately to the Cowboys preparation.”

(On the baseball field surface coming into play regarding how much guys will play)
“No, they’ve been dealing with it forever. It’s not the only place. Really, the only consideration is your kicking game. Are you going to kick or do you want to use a timeout and switch ends and kick off the grass versus kicking off the dirt. So it’s not a consideration and it’s not a safety hazard or a safety issue, or else the league would never allow that to happen.”

(On the new extra point distance)
“Basically, what it is, is it’s just a longer extra point. I think it’ll take some time once we get into the regular season to see approaches that coaches take, from the standpoint of, do you go for two or go for one from the 30. I think you may see some teams elect to go for two later in the year as the weather changes. We have to be prepared for, and we’ve worked on it, you have to be prepared for your opponent to rush you. The extra point, you don’t get the typical rush effort that you would get on a field goal, but now when the defense gets a chance to block it and has a scoring opportunity, you’re going to see a lot more rush attempts.”

(On what they get if the defense returns an extra point)
“It’s two points yes, like the college rule.”

(On how to keep guys in check when they’re practicing against another team)
“We’re not going to have a problem with that. I’ve been talking to Dallas and I’ll have conversations with (Cowboy’s Head Coach) Jason (Garrett) and Stephen (Jones) and Jerry (Jones). We’re not going to have a problem with that. We’re going out there to get better and compete against them. We’re not going out there to have joint practices that end up being practices on your own because you can’t get along. I mean, it’ll be competitive but, there’s a, I’ll guarantee a respect factor between both teams.”

(On how realistic it is to expect execution and fewer penalties with playing 90 players)
“Well, I mean our focus has been on reducing the penalties and so we want to execute. We’re not going to have a lot from our game plan standpoint in the first preseason game, we never do. We just want to go out and let players play. Again, when you’re playing your vets and your starters early in the game, you want it clean. We want to avoid penalties. We want to avoid the line of scrimmage things and the things that have victimized us in years past. Hopefully, our emphasis here on the practice field will carry over.”

(On getting a chance to look at the younger guys with injuries to the team)
“It gives the younger guys opportunities. That’s always the case in preseason. If you got guys that are nicked that you’re going to hold out or that can’t potentially go, the younger guys get more play time and so that’s what we’re going to evaluate.”

(On an update on CB E.J. Gaines)
“At this point, no. The only thing I can say is that he’s seeing the specialist right now and we haven’t gotten any results yet.”