Opening remarks: "We sure are excited about this game. We are excited to get to Carolina and play the football game."
On how many new pieces they have in their offense and how much of a process it will be to get it to where they want to be: "We'll see. Every team is a little bit different. Hopefully it comes together quickly. I would expect us to get a little bit better each and every game, especially early in the season just because of the lack of experience playing together. That's really important; hopefully we can do that very quickly, even in this first ball game. We'll see."
On who will be listed as the third quarterback for Sunday's game: "We practice that late in the week. I (will) do some work on that tonight. I don't feel comfortable commenting on that really, anyways, but we will have a third quarterback ready. That looks like it will be the case."
On whether the third quarterback will be someone who is already on the roster: "Yeah. That's right. It appears that way."
On what some of the big positives from preseason are in regards to the first-team offense: "I think we have some pretty good skill guys. I think (QB) Donovan (McNabb) has had an excellent camp. Donovan is just an outstanding player, one of the very best. You have that as your foundation, offensively – all that experience and high level of play there at that important spot, that's important. (TE) Brent Celek had an excellent camp. Our o-line, individually, all of them had really good camps; we just haven't practiced or played at all together, so that'll be a big key in this game."
On how comfortable he is with TE Alex Smith: "Alex Smith is a bright young man, first. Second, this man is highly skilled. We'll be able to use him in various ways. We'll see just how much in these next couple of days. We'll see how much he's comfortable with."
On how the offensive line is coming together: "They look pretty good. (Offensive line) Coach (Juan) Castillo is one of the very best. I know he'll have them ready to go. Then we'll see."
On whether he has ever gone into a season with this many parts of the offense untested: "Yeah. Probably not quite as many (parts untested). It's certainly one of those seasons with some important positions that hadn't played, or hadn't played much, or were brand new – the center, in particular. Then, you get every week to put them in the best position possible for the immediate future and they get better every week. Our guys have done a heck of a job now. We've been through many, many injuries over the past several years. The fellows have done just an excellent job of the next man stepping up and playing at a high level. The other thing that I think I've gotten a few times in first games, you see some crazy things happening – a bunch of penalties, balls flying all over, so you try to minimize that. We're really, the players and coaches, are emphasizing that part of it. If we can play it pretty clean that way, then that gives us certainly a better chance to win the football game."
On whether he thinks both RB LeSean McCoy and WR Jeremy Maclin have come along as quickly as he hoped they would: "Yeah. Really both of them have done an outstanding job through camp. Maclin, as you know, was in a little bit of a catch-up mode. (Wide receivers coach) David Culley has done an excellent job there before and after almost every practice, hammering one thing out a day. He's ready to help us a little bit at least situationally, as is LeSean. One of the keys for both of them was staying healthy so they got their reps, especially LeSean for the whole training camp. I'm excited about both of those players."
On whether there is a difficulty in dispersing the touches among ball carriers with RB Brian Westbrook back healthy: "No. Brian is pretty healthy right now. There's not that situation. However, it will be your main halfback on every team that gets pretty sore through Wednesday and Thursday of the next week. That's normal for most every team, certainly for us. We've done that for several years here."
On whether he sees the role of the running backs changing, or whether he sees McCoy having a similar role that Broncos RB Correll Buckhalter had last year: "Yeah, it'll be similar. Really, you have to see how the thing works its way out. I have great confidence in Brian to play the whole game. If you get into a situation there and he's gassed just a little bit, then LeSean will play a little bit more."
On whether they will monitor Westbrook more this year than in years past because he's coming off some injuries: "We've done that before in first games, a couple of years back. Yeah. The answer is yes."
On whether there is a way to accelerate the process of gelling the offensive line: "There are many ways you can try and speed it up; you can speed it up just a little bit. Much of it is reps, full-speed reps because things happen. A lot of things happen and they happen very fast by big, physical, strong people. You have to get it live or at least at a high, high tempo."
On Panthers defensive coordinator Ron Meeks' defense: "He is a fine, fine coach, first. He has some excellent talent there. Then, in the past he's done a heck of a job putting that talent in the best position to create some havoc. Now, philosophically, he's a little bit different than Carolina has been in the past. These first games we're planning for what he's done in the past, what we've seen in this preseason, and then we're planning on many things that Carolina has done in the past. They are quite different, so the fellows have a few things to prepare for."
On whether it's tough to prepare because they don't know exactly what the defense will look like: "That's right. We have an idea there, a pretty good idea. However, you're never 100 percent until you're playing the game."
On how he expects Carolina to utilize DE Julius Peppers:"I would expect him to move. I would expect him to show up both sides on the outside. Then, they do have a package where he roams inside, so I would expect multiple different areas."
