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Transcript: Falcons Head Coach Bobby Petrino

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October 10, 2007

How is your preparation going this week?

It is going alright.  Yesterday was a day off, back in this morning; back at work.  We know we have a lot of work ahead of us, but we are certainly back at it.

Renardo Foster is your new left tackle after your starter (Wayne Gandy) going down with an injury?

Renardo will start there.  He has played both this year and through the preseason.  That is a positive that he has played in both the left-handed and right-handed stance.  He does have good size.  He is about 6-7, 328 pounds, but he is young.

How much concern do you have putting a rookie left tackle up against Osi Umenyiora?

It is a pretty good concern.  We watch him on tape, and he is a great pass rusher and obviously has all kinds of production, so we certainly have to make sure we try to take care of Renardo and help him as much as we can.

How difficult has your transition to the NFL been?

Well, it certainly hasn't been smooth.  Particularly when you go through your minicamp and your OTAs thinking Michael (Vick) is going to be the quarterback and trying to go in that direction.  Then the day we start camp everything goes down.  It certainly has been a challenge.  We didn't play well last week on offense.  We have gotten better each game, I think, and we know it is going to be hard, but we need some wins to help us out. 

Has the Michael Vick thing been a continuous distraction or did it go away when he went away?

No, it went away.  It took a lot of time for healing, a lot of energy.  There are a lot of guys that have been here and have played with him their entire career and a lot of close relationships, so certainly it went away but there are still some feelings about it.

What are the qualities in Osi Umenyiora that make him a great pass rusher?

The ability to get off the ball.  I think that is the thing that impresses me the most is how quick he is off the ball.  He has long arms.  He has the non-stop - he just continues to come and continues to bring it.  He has a couple of really good moves, counter-moves, so we certainly have our hands full with him.

Do you have any regrets now about trading Matt Schaub?

No, you can't look back on that.  We felt like we needed the draft picks to help us with developing the rest of our team and getting other players.  The second round pick, we moved up in the first, and we got a second next year.  At the time we felt like we were making the right decision.

Plaxico Burress has been playing on a sprained ankle; does it look that way to you?

No, I think it is hard to tell.  He has done a nice job in strides and he has always run the great routes.  He has that stride ability to catch the ball, go up and catch it. You can't tell that on video.

How is your quarterback situation for this week?

How is our quarterback situation?

Joey Harrington is going to start again?

Yeah.  Joey is the starter and then Byron (Leftwich) will be the backup.

Did you ever come close to making a switch this week?

No, I did not.  Joey has been playing well for us.  We got in a situation last week where we were getting a lot of pass rush, he got hit a few times, he usually completes the throws that in the third quarter he was not, and we were just trying to get a spark when we put Byron in there.

What do you remember about your time with Tom Coughlin; what did you learn from him?

I remember a lot.  I was there for three years in Jacksonville.  The first year we came in we were very good, we had very good depth, went 15-3, couldn't beat the Titans. Still haven't done that, I guess.  I learned a tremendous amount of football, and it was a valuable, valuable time for me.

What is your situation with DeAngelo Hall?  Is he back in the starting lineup?

Yeah, he started the other day and picked up a fumble and ran it back for a touchdown.  He had a very good game.  The situation that happened in the middle of a ball game was very intense and just had to be dealt with.  We have completely put it behind us.

How do you handle it when a veteran like Alge Crumpler is critical of the offensive plan?

I think we have not had the success.  We have had things go wrong whenever we have been in the red area and not being able to get touchdowns.  We have had fumbles, we have turned the ball over, we have missed field goals, and it is kind of something that we have been really working on getting better.  I think it is just a reflection of what we have been concentrating on and working on getting better in practice.

Were you bothered by what Crumpler said?  Or do you just chalk it up to frustration?

I was bothered by the other statements about the vets because that is completely untrue.  Everyone knows that we put all kinds of hours in, all kinds of effort in, as do the players, as does everyone in the organization, to win the game you are playing every week.  That is the bottom line; that is what you are trying to do.

Would you discipline him?

We have already had meetings and talked about it.  Alge and I are just fine.

Is this a chance to put a new face on the team moving forward from the Michael Vick situation because of the national attention of Monday Night Football?

Yeah, there will be a lot of national attention and know that we did play our third preseason game on Monday Night and we knew it there.  We need to go out and play well. That is the thing we are looking for the most.  Go out and play well, keep continuing to improve. We are playing a team that is very hot, plays great defense lately, and can score a lot of points, so it is a great challenge for us.  I certainly believe that our players will be ready for it and we will go out and play well and play as hard as we can.

Has it been hard to keep talk of a 'rebuilding year' out of the locker room?

We have tried to approach it that we play the one game at a time and we know it will take some growth.  We will have to get better as the year goes on.  The one thing we have going for us is in our division right now with the records, we are two games out.  We certainly have a lot of time to make a move in that division.