A: It’s part of it. I just look it at as an opportunity to get in there and play and learn the system, learn the offense and play ball, which they signed me to do.
Q: Do you just show up every day and wonder if Will going to be able to go today?
A: Yeah and no. I wonder if he’s going to go but I take it as an opportunity to get in there and play. That’s why they signed me, to produce. I take advantage of the opportunity.
Q: Being a veteran, how do you feel you’ve meshed into this whole system?
A: It’s a learning process. Just getting out there with the ones and learning the entire system, which I’m still probably about 90 percent, 95 percent there, so it’s still a learning process. I felt I’ve done well over the two games that I did get to play.
Q: You have played mostly right tackle, right?
A: I played one year in Seattle at left. Then in D.C., I was the swing tackle.
Q: So is there any adjustment for you?
A: It is. But when I was in Seattle, during the preseason, I was filling in for Walter Jones, when he was a holdout. Every year, I come in and play left all preseason and I’d take week one and move to right. So there is some experience over there.
Q: That could happen over here. You basically have a left tackle playing right tackle and a right tackle playing left tackle.
A: Right. It’s a possibility. But I’m at left right now…
Q: So if they made that switch in the regular season, you know you have been working almost exclusively at left tackle, would you feel comfortable moving to right tackle on the fly?
A: My main purpose is to learn the system. I spent most of my career playing on the right. I’ve done it every camp almost. Play out left and then got switched to right so I would feel comfortable at whatever they put me at.
Q: Big test against the Bear’s pass rush?
A: Yeah, of course. I mean we get tested everyday here in practice. It doesn’t get any better than that than the guys I see here. Julius Peppers is top of the line. He’s one of the elite pass rushers as well as Idonije. He’s had a big game this last preseason game so they’re revved up and ready to go.
Q: Do you feel any more pressure when you’re playing left tackle versus right as far as the blind side?
A: No. Yea and no because most of the time, the lead pass rush is on the left and that’s the quarterback’s back side so you got to be on your A game. You bring your A game if you’re on the right side too. It’s a little different playing left.
Q: That’s the spot…
A: I guess there is still kind of pressure just because the quarterback… That’s his blind side. Obviously guys get paid the big money to protect his blind side because he can’t see from there. It’s the same on the right side.
Q: Is it more just muscle memory going back and forth?
A: It’s different just because everything is kind of backwards playing in a left-handed stance. If you’re so used to playing on the right, it’s a little bit different feeling to the left. The more practice you get, the better you become, the more comfortable you get.
Q: Are you right handed or left-handed?
A: Right handed.
Q: Does that matter at all?
A: I don’t think so. A lot of guys play left are right-handed.
Q: When you were free this offseason, what attracted you about coming here?
A: Just the opportunity. I didn’t know when I came in and signed, I had a feeling they might not sign Kareem back. So that was the opportunity there. The first day when I came in, I talked to Coach Coughlin, that’s exactly what he told me. Nothing’s set in stone. Just come in and compete and everything will fall into place so that’s all I can do. I’m just lucky that I’m getting the chance to play left and learn the system and get in there and play with ones.
Q: When Will was healthy earlier, you were mainly working on the right side?
A: No. When I first… I was working left and I flipped a little bit – left and right.
Q: Flaherty flips guys all the time right?
A: Yea. When Will went down, I was at strictly at left.
Q: Do you know if you’re going to stay left?
A: I don’t. I wish. I wish I knew. I don’t know. I come in every day and I don’t know how Will’s feeling but I’ll take advantage of the opportunity to learn and play.
Q: Does this make you scratch your head and…
A: No I don’t. I wish I could know what they were thinking, but I don’t. I just come in and I know what I signed up for. I come in and compete, play both left and right and now I’m at the left and just take advantage of it.