Antonio Pierce, 08.24.09

Q: How is your foot?

A: Feels great.

Q: Is there concern after the last game?

A: It’s no different than the first preseason game, you take the negatives and the positives. Of course, the coaches are going to look at the negatives and try to fix those and correct them. It’s no different this game, obviously there’s some plays that were exploited on defense, big plays, some things on offense we need to fix and all three teams. That’s what’s going to happen in preseason, you’re going to have it. At the same time you have to come to work this week and the rest of training camp and work on it.

Q: Are you going to practice at all this week?

A: Yeah. Probably today. I don’t know.

Q: Do you expect/want to play on Saturday?

A: I expect to play everyday and practice everyday.

Q: Did you watch the game live on Saturday?

A: Yes I did.

Q: Did that upset you?

A: It’s not the way that we want to play football over here. We’ve been playing a style of football for the last couple of years in the preseason. We really don’t have games where we have mistakes and missed tackles and a lot of mishaps. You here what the coaches say, you make the corrections, you move forward. That’s all you can do, we’re not going to dwell on it.

Q: Concern with seeing mistakes made and the execution issues?

A: We have two weeks left in the preseason. Two more games left. Guys will be very excited to go out there today and start practicing. We have the Jets this week with a lot of the starters playing, I believe, until half time. This is kind of your last game before the regular season to get you warmed up and ready to go.

Q: People talk about the depth…?

A: The only people who talk about our depth are the newspapers and media. We don’t talk about the depth, we just go out there and play. Whoever is out there has to play. It’s like that every year because our starters half the time in December are not the guys that started in September. So depth is not really a concern of ours, that’s not our problem. That’s up to the front office and coaches to make that up. Our job, as players, is to go out there and play, regardless who’s lined up next to you.

Q: It should be your asset, don’t you think?

A: As a player, I don’t worry about our depth. My job is to make sure Antonio Pierce lines up and the guy next to me is lined up and we move forward, it doesn’t matter who that is. It’s no different when I’m not there either, that next guy has to step up.

Q: Coach said you guys maybe got used to hearing the hype and got a little too much of hearing how good and deep you guys are, do you believe that?

A: I don’t know where coach got that from. Maybe he was watching the wrong channel that day.

Q: Talk about being the heart and soul of this defense.

A: I’m just trying to be a part of the defense. If that’s what people want to label me as, that’s fine and dandy, but I’m just trying to be a piece of the puzzle and move forward with that and have a great season.

Q: Do you think there’s still enough time to get all these injured guys back and really see what this defense…?

A: There’s teams throughout the league that have the same problems we’re dealing with. Guys get nicked up this time of year, just getting back into the grove of it. Your body is adjusting to the hitting and the movements. I’m pretty sure by September 13^th guys will be ready and eager to go.

Q: During the Super Bowl season everything came together, talk about working hard and getting back together this year.

A: The Super Bowl season was two years ago and we don’t really talk about that much around here. We’re looking forward to a new season, a new week, a new practice today and that’s where its starts. Everything that happened in the past, ’07, ’06, ’08 and 1958 is all we all irrelevant.

Q: Did you have thoughts about what this defense could be now different than what it was for training camp?

A: This defense is only going to be what’s going to show on paper, I mean on the film. I think with that being said, guys have to go out there and perform. It doesn’t matter who’s lined up, how much money that guy made, where he came from, none of that matters. At the end of the day, you have to have eleven guys lined up and they have to whoop somebody’s ass.

Q: Do you think the potential is there to be really good?

A: Potential ain’t nothing but a but and a what if. You have to go out there and play.