Q: How much have you seen from Rhett (Bomar) in these last 10 days?
A: Rhett has made some excellent throws. He's had some completions in tight coverage down the field and short. The biggest thing for Rhett, from a consistency standpoint, is not missing some of the open targets. He's also had some poor throws but he brings a level of athleticism and toughness so we're excited about his progress and we just hope that he can continue to develop that consistency that we need to be a playmaker for us.
Q: What about Jim Sorgi?
A: Jim came in from a different system so there is a little bit of a learning curve. He's making better decisions and I think he is more familiar and more comfortable with the offense than he was in the spring. The decisions are good ones but they need to be faster and we're talking to Jim about just from a tempo standpoint about making the right reads, making the right audibles at the line and so forth but just from a tempo standpoint, just being faster will put him in good shape.
Q: So obviously this first preseason game is huge for those two guys (Rhett Bomar and Jim Sorgi)?
A: It'll be a great opportunity for both of them against a great defense and a great challenge like the Jets. I think they're both looking forward to it and of course it's going to give them ample opportunities to show if they can improve in those areas that we talked about.
Q: How much harder does it make your job with all these receivers being on the sidelines?
A: Well there's no question that rhythm is critical, rhythm between the quarterback and the receiver and one of the things that Eli (Manning) brings to the table is that he was tremendous when I was a receivers coach and he continues to show that great leadership. He goes to those guys and makes sure everyone's on the same page and talks to them by saying 'Hey, this is what I see, this is what I'm expecting, what did you see?' and he's an excellent teacher and motivator and I think when those receivers see number 10 come over, they're going to listen and I think he's done a great job with that. There's no question though that getting everybody out there would be ideal, however it's given guys like Ramses Barden and some of these other receivers a chance to get in rhythm and get on the same page with Eli and of course that will ultimately help us in the long run.
Q: Is that something that you're used to?
A: It seems to be a trend. I know all the years that I was a receivers coach here, there might be one guy that was a little bit dinged coming into the season or coming off of surgery or maybe had an injury and of course when that happens, the other guys have to pick up the workload and that adds a strain so it becomes a battle and it just becomes a situation where obviously these guys have to take care of their bodies and really dig down deep. We know it's training camp and this is where we're going to make our team so get out there and the guys that are winning, those are the ones that Eli is going to feel comfortable throwing to so I think we all want to be out there.
Q: Do you think that he's underrated?
A: I think Eli's credentials, you know Super Bowl winner, Super Bowl MVP, Pro Bowl quarterback, and I think the big thing for him is trying to raise his game to the next level from a consistency standpoint. He's had some excellent performances and some performances in the past that were obviously below his standard and below the team standard and as I've said time and again, the joy of working with Eli Manning is that he is so committed to improvement in every small detail. It's really been exciting to see a guy that has accomplished this much but yet is so committed to the small things and tries to improve and increase his rhythm and speed and tempo, both from the huddle, at the line of scrimmage and with the receivers so I think he's aware of that challenge. Again, the gratifying thing as a coach is that he's working to improve all those areas.
Q: Sean Ryan is a local guy, has he leaned on you at all since you obviously went through it?
A: Sean is doing an excellent job. I work closely with Sean, he worked with me with the receivers the past couple of years and he's very diligent and a very good teacher. Of course, he's got his own personality and way of doing things but we do work closely together particularly with the pass game and as far as protections and so forth. So, he's doing a great job and we do work quite well together and of course he obviously also embraces the communication that we have to have as coaches and with the quarterback and receivers as well.
Q: Where is Eli (Manning) in terms of where you want him to be at this point?
A: I think Eli is continuing to improve, especially from a rhythm standpoint like I said. Training camp, with different receivers and looking at our offense, this is the time to go ahead and stretch, and when I say stretch I mean go ahead and give some other guys an opportunity. Try to take a chance and see if another receiver who hasn't had that much playing time but had to step up because of injuries, maybe he's not as open as he should be but take a chance and give him an opportunity. Maybe it's an opportunity in training camp where, based upon our scheme, usually we might go to a certain side or to a certain receiver within the pattern but that might be taken away and we don't want to wait until the Carolina game when the regular season starts to go to that so he's being a little more aggressive and experimenting and trying to stretch his comfort level and I think he's doing a great job with that.
