Here is the transcript of coach Tom Coughlin's remarks to reporters Tuesday before the team hit the field for the beginning of the mandatory mini-camp, which will last through Thursday.
Opening Statement: It is the start of the mandatory mini camp. We are excited about getting going. Again, we will wrap up the veteran form of the offseason program with these workouts here in the next three days. We are going to throw a lot at them. It is a much different kind of schedule than it would be in the normal two-a-days. We will install and then we will jog thru. We will install again and then practice. So in other words, they are getting two days of installations. And we are trying to get as much information to them as we possibly can. And we will go through our corrections in the evening. We have our NFL Security meeting tonight so we take care of some of those obligations just as well. So it will be an interesting three days. Hopefully any number of guys can participate. We have had some guys, as you know, that have not been able to go in some of the OTA's. I hope to be able to get some more of them back out there. We have had four days off so we have to get in gear again with what we have been doing here. Practices won't be any different to the naked eye. We are very, very cautious in terms of no one is going to be out of control. And we will take good care of each other in terms of how we use our hands and our feet. No shoulders, no helmets, nothing in the nature of trying to have any kind of shoulder exposure whatsoever. So it will be a good couple of days. And we will wrap up the veteran camp.
Q: Are you hoping to get some questions answered? Or can you in this minicamp?
A: I don't know. We are going to get some people lined up. I can tell you that the OTAs have answered part of it. We have formulated some opinions. But it will take training camp and some preseason games before we start to be able to do some further thoughts with some of the young kids.
Q: Are there any concerns at the tight end position since it has been such a productive spot for you the last couple of years?
A: Well, we do have some athletes there and some guys we hope are going to be able to really come through for us. I think Travis Beckum will be back at some point in time. We have a lot of young guys that have a tremendous amount of learning to do. Some days it looks good and other days not so good. So this is something that is very important, very much needed. And so we continue with this process.
Q: Is Martellus Bennett going to participate the next couple of days?
A: He says he is going to try to go. I would say he is probably 50-50 on what he can participate in. We will try to keep him a little bit under control so that he doesn't get into that sore mode where he can't do anything.
Q: You said you expect Beckum back at some point in time. Are they telling you it is reasonable, whether it is the beginning of the season or....?
A: That is reasonable. He has done very well. But again, I'm not a doctor. He has not even run yet. So maybe I'm being a little too optimistic here.
Q: Is Adrien Robinson back?
A: He is back and he is ready to practice. He has a lot of meeting time to make up. So we are trying to do that as well.
Q: Did you have time to meet with David Diehl?
A: I did speak with David. Yes, I have. David is very remorseful. He is a very proud young man, as you know. He is very sorry for what happened. He has been an exemplary citizen for this organization. I think that he understands it completely and as I said, he recognizes and he is going to be a very, very good spokesperson for trying to help young people understand that his mistake could be avoided in whatever way possible. So David will take care of that part of it. He is a guy who we have always been able to count on and he will learn from his error.
Q: He is here and will participate?
A: Yes.
Q: Did Markus Kuhn ......?
A: No, that is still - I hate to see this in the hands of red tape. That is where we are.
Q: Couldn't get that solved at the White House?
A: Chase Blackburn said that to me this morning. I laughed about it. But I don't think the President would have corrected that on the spot.
Q: You might not have had to go that high.
A: You guys can't get that done with all of the pull you have.
Q: With all of the defensive tackles you have other than Kuhn, what was the reason to bring back Rocky Bernard?
A: Good football player that helps us in a lot of different ways; solid, solid guy - great in the classroom, great with his teammates. You know one of the first guys that I saw come off that sideline when we won the Super Bowl was Rocky Bernard. He is a good, solid football player. We know exactly what we can get out of him. He is in excellent shape. His weight is outstanding. So you can't have enough quality football players.
Q: Does bringing him back have anything to do with Shaun Rogers?
A: No, no that extension was out there long before.
Q: Will Shaun do anything at this camp?
A: It doesn't look like it, no.
Q: A message to your team this last time together before the summer.
A: We will talk about that as we go along here. The message right now is "Improvement." Improve on a daily basis, recognize the mission, and understand how important this little phase is right here. And then we will have a solid message for them because I do feel it is a much different five weeks between now and when we go to camp. And maybe perhaps we have had another time before of the shortness of the current offseason program. There is some work that has to be accomplished in the offseason. And we certainly don't want to go through these hamstrings that we have had here when we started this offseason program.
Q: Jake Ballard has said that he expects to be back here for '13. How much worse was his rehab and what was expected of him.
A: It wasn't any worse than what was expected - what he had was upfront from the time the surgery was done. So that is where that is.