News

Head Coach Gary Kubiak

(on the team’s health at today’s practice) “(NT) Shaun Cody did not practice. (RB) Ben Tate did not practice. (WR) Kevin Walter, obviously, he was back yesterday so he was full-go today. (TE) Owen (Daniels) was very limited in practice. We will rule Cody and Tate out this weekend, so that’s where we’re at right now after practice.”

(on TE Owen Daniels’ situation) “He was very limited today. He did some of the individual stuff early in practice, took a couple of reps, still very sore. We’ve got a little extra time because we play Sunday night, so we’ll continue to give him every opportunity to get there. I know that’s very important to him, but we got a ways to go.”

(on if TE Owen Daniels is a game-time decision) “Yeah, he’s a game-time decision. He does have some progress to make if he’s going to be there Sunday.”

(on how the injuries affect the team’s game plan) “It affects us a great deal because we’re very oriented with the versatility of those players. Can we still go do everything we do? Yeah, we can. You get limited as far as freshness of guys or a nick and the game can throw you out of a lot of different things. It’s something that’s been a concern of mine, as I said yesterday, throughout the early part of this season and how we set our roster this year. But we’ve got to work through it. We have ways of working through it. We’ve had to adjust as coaches big-time this week and, bottom line, you’ve got to find a way to move the ball. If we’ve got a problem, we’ve got to do it some other ways.”

(on TE Garrett Graham and FB James Casey stepping up) “I think (TE) Garrett’s (Graham) played very well for our football team. (FB) James (Casey), the bottom line here is James goes from a 30-35 to possibly a 60-play player in this game. James is ready to do that. He’s taken advantage of his opportunities. He’s very smart, does a lot of things for me so I’m encouraged. I’m excited I should say about his opportunity to do more for the team. He’s had a good week of practice.”

(on FB Tyler Clutts playing more on Sunday) “He’s worked. You’re going to see him, obviously he’s going to play special teams. Something’s got to give there. (FB) James (Casey) has got to have a break. (TE) Garrett’s (Graham) got to have a break. So between, you’re talking about three players basically have to handle about five spots in what we do offensively, so you’re going to see (FB Tyler) Clutts be a part of this game.”

(on if the team’s routine changes for the Sunday night game) “No. We do everything the same. I’ve changed our routine a little bit this week, but I do that at the halfway mark every year. I just change some of our times and how we operate and try to knock off a little bit of their day. It helps coaches, helps players. I think the further you go, the more fresh you want to be. You don’t need as much time on some of the things you do every week, so have changed some of our routine times but as far as our preparation stuff, (it) stays the same.”

(on if Sunday’s routine changes) “Yeah, it gives us added time to meet as a team. We have walkthroughs in the morning on Sundays, so it just gives us more time to go through our game plan and stuff. Makes for a long day, watch a little football, walkthrough and go play.”

(on if NT Terrell McClain is ready to play) “He better be. He’s going to play. The versatility comes from (NT) Earl (Mitchell) and it comes from (DE Jared) Crick. Crick’s really fun to watch right now, practice, to watch a guy just kind of come out, I’m going to say shell. I don’t know if he was in one, but to watch his personality come out a little bit. He’s got a lot of confidence in what he’s doing. He does not act like a rookie anymore on the practice field. He’s going to be important to what we do in the second half of the season.”

(on if he relishes a big game like Sunday’s game) “They’re all the same. They’re all big in this league. That’s just the way they are. You never know how things are going to work out. The fact that we’re both sitting here 7-1, there’s a lot of emphasis on that. They all count the same. The key is here we’ve got to go play a very physical football team that’s been exceptional through the halfway mark of the season and we’ve got to go do it at their place. It looks like we could be doing it in some weather, too so we’ve got a lot of things we got to do. A lot of thing we’ve got to handle if we’re going to have the chance to win.”

(on how important winning Sunday’s road game is) “Well we’ve won our three they’ve given us a chance to play on the road this year. I don’t care if we play Sunday night, Sunday morning, Monday. I don’t care. I just worry about how we play. It’s another game. It’s a big game, but they’re all big. Hopefully we’re going to play a lot better than we did the other Sunday night. We’ve just got to stay focused on ourselves.”

(on the Bears’ defense) “Well I think the thing you see from them is first off, you see a group of guys that there’s no telling how many plays those guys have played together. You talk about (OLB Lance) Briggs, (ILB Brian) Urlacher, the group of guys, that defense, those two guys running that defense for I have no idea how many years both of them have played. There is nothing that’s going to surprise them. They know what’s going on from a standpoint of scheme. It’s going to be about us executing against them and doing the right things. So, very impressed with them as a group and obviously those two players being great for a long time.”

(on TE Owen Daniels’ season and what it would mean if he can’t play on Sunday) “Well I’m going to hold out hope here. He’s come a long way in the last two days, but he’s onto a great year. He’s having a great year, unfortunately, just got a little nicked up. We know we’re going to get him back, hopefully that’s Sunday night. The encouraging thing is we know we’re going to get him back and if we have to make up for lost time we’ll do that.”