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Ron Rivera Presser: We’re looking at a couple of options at LB right now

Ron Rivera, Kendall Fuller, and Cole Turner spoke to the media after today's practice

Ron Rivera

Cole Turner:

“Well, I think the biggest thing, as far as when you look at the offense tape more so than anything else is just his ability to be a good route runner, present a good target and make some tough catches. The biggest thing that we really didn’t see a lot of was in block. You know, they were in that quote unquote air raid offense. They spread the field and they’re running all over the place. This is a little bit different. He’s done a nice job in terms of learning to be physical and he’s, he is really excelling at what he does for us.”

Connection between QB Carson Wentz and TE Cole Tuner:

“Oh, very much so and I can’t wait till we get John Bates back out there. Can’t wait till we get Logan [Thomas] back out there as well. I mean, the relationship he can have with that unit as a group could be very good just because I like that group. It’s a very versatile guy group of guys. Each guy has his own personality in terms of what they can do and I think that’s big for us.”

Curtis Samuel:

“Okay, the biggest thing again, just so everybody understands. I talked about this last time I was asked about Curtis we’re ramping Curtis up; we’re ramping Curtis down. It’s all about conditioning him to play football more so than anything else and I think that’s the biggest thing everybody has to understand is that Curtis, you know, didn’t play a lot last year and what we’ve started to do is we’re just trying to ramp him up, get him into football, shaped football conditioning, and then slow it back down, bring him back up. Our ideal plan for him is just to continue with that, get him ready to play the regular season this has nothing to do with last year’s injury. This is all about how we’re gonna maintain him to get him prep prepared and ready to go. It’s the way we mapped it out the way we planned it and we’ll continue to do that with him. It was good to see him. You saw some of his versatility out there as far as that was concerned, lining up in the slot, lining up as the X or the Z, and then motioning him across, putting him into the backfield, all those different things, things we can do with Curtis. That’s his versatility and that’s what we really expect from him.”

Pitch count?:

“Not a pitch count, but it’s about, you know, getting as much of the peak performance at him as we can. Okay and then bring it back down and then condition him up again. So again, it’s something that, you know, in talking with Al [Bellamy] and talking with the doctor about the best way to handle his ramp up. We’re just trying to do that. We’re trying to be very mindful of it. Again, we know he’s a valuable piece and once we can get him into that shape, you know, now it’s in, you can cut him loose and let him go.”

Jahan Dotson:

“Well, you know, probably the biggest thing is he has a lot of versatility as far as position flex for us playing all three of the wide receiver spots. The biggest thing that you do see is his situational football. He’s very aware, you know, especially when you watched some of the third down stuff, just that he understands. He understands the importance of depth of your route understanding of where to put yourself to present that target, finding those windows of opportunity. I mean he’s been a really good, and he’s been a really good target for our quarterbacks.”

Playing bigger than his size:

“It is rare. I mean, you have to have special ability, probably one of the really, really good guys at it. I was fortunate enough to watch Steve Smith. You know, I mean, that guy has got, you know, he played bigger than his size and he played above the rim. And when you watch Jahan, he does play bigger than his size, which is great. I mean, you want people underestimating his ability because he has potential to make place.”

Drew White:

Filling in depth at linebacker:

“We’re looking at a couple of options right now and, we’re actually very pleased with what we’ve seen from the young guys. We’ll continue to go through these things with the scouts right now. I’ve been talking to [Senior Director of Player Personnel] Eric [Stokes], about what our plan is and what we’re going to look at.”

Tensions rising during practice:

Defensive linemen:

“I was very happy with what we’ve got going out there right now. I do like the challenge of finding that fourth guy. Our first three are very sound. Even though Phil [DT Phidarian Mathis] is still a young guy he’s shown some flashes that show he belongs and that’s really a huge plus for us. But after that, [DE] Daniel Wise has done a really nice job. He’s a guy that’s played for us. He’s played some snaps for us. We have a couple of other guys that we’re looking at, and these are all guys that as we go through it, we’ve got to watch them and see how they play. When we get into the preseason games.”

Bill Russell/Vin Scully:

Washington Spirit:

Kendall Fuller

Jahan Dotson:

Cole Turner

Carson Wentz:

Avoiding mental errors:

Logan Thomas:

More reps in camp: