On P Sav Rocca's performance against Pittsburgh: "Sav did a great job there. We were very pleased to see him have that kind of success. A lot of credit to him; he has worked really hard. He worked hard through the season last year and made a lot of progress as he went along. He really worked hard in the offseason to get his game to where it is. Hopefully he can continue to improve from there. He has great leg strength and we expect big things out of him."
On how his gameplan will change if Bears KR Devin Hester doesn't play: "We have a flexible plan. Not to get into the plan on things there, but he's a dangerous returner. You have to make sure you don't let him beat you by putting the ball in the end zone. Right now, we're planning on him being there and we will adjust if he's not."
On what Rocca lacked last year: "I think the main thing was just experience and understanding of the game. We knew he had great leg strength, but he had never punted a football before. It was just a matter of learning the game and learning the techniques involved. Not just learning them, but also trusting them and then going out and executing each week, just like any other position. You have your fundamentals there and it was just a big learning curve for him. Not only was he learning how to punt; he was learning how to hold at the same time. He had a lot on his plate. Again, he worked hard there and made a lot of progress as the season went along."
On what was most impressive about Rocca's performance against Pittsburgh: "Well you try to get the combination of both (hang time and distance). You don't want to out-punt your coverage. The thing he can do is punt such a long ball that you have the effective hang there with the returner trying to run backwards to field the ball. That's just as good as the ball hanging up in the air at times. At the same time, you want to make sure you're not putting it in his hands on a line-drive kick and giving him an opportunity to run."
On how he plans to kick to Hester if he plays: "We definitely won't get into the plan on things. Again, he's a dangerous guy. We want to make sure he's not putting points on the board. We will do some things, in terms of coverage, to make sure we are getting hats to the ball. The main thing with Sav is making sure we are getting the distance on the punts but also hanging them up there and not giving him a lot of space to create some opportunities for himself."
On whether there is a dropoff on the Bears return game without Hester: "They have some great returners on their roster. (CB Nathan) Vasher returning punts, (S Danieal) Manning returning kicks. Both of those guys are very explosive and very dangerous guys back there. Whether Hester is back or not, they still have a very explosive return game. We still have to make sure we're sharp in our coverage phases."
On whether he thinks Rocca's success will continue as the weather worsens: "Obviously, any time you experience some weather changes, there are going to be some variables. We have been fortunate enough that during practice we have had some windy days. I think part of the fundamentals and the learning process is understanding what is going to happen with certain winds. If it's pushing the ball in and coming in your face, what are you going to have to do to adjust? Sav has made some good corrections, in terms of understanding the different factors and how things are going to play in. Obviously, we won't know until we get in those situations, but we feel pretty good with him at this point and he is pretty confident in what he is doing. He's done a lot in terms of learning."
On comparing PR DeSean Jackson to Hester: "Both of them have great instincts. Both of them have great field vision. Hester is a big-time tackle breaker. He's a guy who can not only see it and get there, but he can also break tackles once he gets to the crease. They are both explosive guys and both of them are really good returners. There's no doubt right now that with Hester with 13 touchdown returns that he has to be considered the best in the league at this point. We feel pretty good with DeSean and I think he's going to make some progress as we go along through the season."
On whether he feels like Jackson is close to breaking a touchdown return: "Absolutely. You have to look at the different punts he's getting. If the ball is hanging up there and not giving him a lot of room to run right when he catches it, obviously things are going to be a little different, depending on the holdup at the line of scrimmage and things there. He definitely has the ability. Give him a little crease and he has an opportunity to do that for us. Right now we are just trying to make steps in the right direction and go from there."
On whether he gets nervous when Jackson doubles back to try to break a big return: "You are never going to fault a guy for trying to make a play. At the same time, you want to make sure you're not losing yardage on a play. There is kind of a fine line there between telling him to go ahead and catch the ball and got up the field. The long return he did have this year is when he did catch it and get up the field. Unfortunately, there is a little bit of a learning curve for him. He's going to make mistakes as a rookie. The more opportunities we can give him there, the better chance he has at breaking one and understanding that he needs to just catch it and get north with it."
On whether the Bears are the best special teams unit they will face yet this season: "We have faced a couple of good crews. Obviously, Dallas was a really good special teams unit. Chicago has a lot of speed. That is probably their number one factor right now. They have speed at every position—linebackers, safeties, all across the board. They are going to be a fast team. They are going to be a fast team, they can position up on their return units to get in position to make blocks. Coverage-wise, they try to beat you down the field and beat you to the set-up point. Speed, right now, is the number one factor. They are probably the fastest we've played so far."
