Q: Did it surprise you that you couldn't practice the other day?
A: Yeah. I was definitely hoping to, I was training for, just trying to get ready to play. Maybe overtrained a little bit so I had some soreness I had to take care of.
Q: After they brought in Baas are you still thinking you're starting center?
A: My job right now is to get healthy and keep myself ready and when I get back, go out there and compete. We're all here to play football, at the end of the day, you should be good to go.
Q: Does overtraining affect the knee? So the knee has a lingering issue, is that it or is it something else?
A: Yeah. It's nothing serious. I'll be ready to go here in a couple days.
Q: Did anyone ever say we're bringing in a new center and this is what it means for you?
A: Everyone knows what this game is about. You're always going to have to compete. There's nothing given to you. It unfortunately happens. I'm just going to go out there and play my best.
Q: Does your meeting room feel a little different now without those two big personalities?
A: Yeah. Having those guys leave ... we've had the benefit of having everybody here so long. I've been here - this is my fifth year now and we hadn't made a lot of line changes. I'm one of the young guys at five years. It's a crazy deal. It's not like that all the time in the NFL. It's a sad thing to see those guys go.
Q: Did you get a sense of the new center yet?
A: Seems like a good guy. We're all in there. Everything feels a little different around here - training camp down here and all the stuff going on, not being able to go out. We're all just trying to get out there and ready to play. So it's good to be back in football.
Q: Who picks up the personality department so far without those two?
A: It's pretty hard to replace Rich, and Shaun's just a great guy. It's definitely different.
Q: To be determined?
A: Yeah. We'll all pick up the slack I guess.
Q: Go out and buy some blue ink to put in some rookies shoes?
A: The rookies haven't seen it yet. I guess they're getting a couple days off to get the groove here.
Q: Is it tough having two-fifths of the starting line gone?
A: Look at last year. It's just part of football. Whatever situation presents itself, you just have to be ready. The offensive line, we all just expect to go out there and do different things. Whatever's required, you just have to go out there and perform.
Q: How long does it take for a line to gel?
A: It's a process. You go out there and work every day. You get better. You get to know each other better. It's not one of those things that just happens in a day. We had the benefit of having so many guys around that we knew everybody and knew exactly what was going on. You're not going to get that back in a day. We have to continue to go out there and each perform individually and together we'll get better as a group.
Q: Do you think because of the lockout you might've pushed a little too hard to get the knee ready? Do you think not having the trainers to work with all spring and summer might've hurt you a little bit?
A: I can't really say. It is what it is. Would it have benefitted me to be here? Without question.