McNuggets: Bengals Tuesday Practice

Post-practice coachspeek from Tuesday, September 8, 2009. Enjoy!

HEAD COACH JOSH McDANIELS

On RB Knowshon Moreno’s progress

“He is getting better every day, doing everything he can do to be ready to go on Sunday. He was in there today and worked in and out of the drills today and some of the team periods, too. He is not totally there yet, but he is getting better every day. Hopefully, we will have him ready to go on Sunday.”

On whether Moreno will play at Cincinnati on Sunday

“I am not going to predict that. I hope that everybody that was out there on the field today can play on Sunday.”

On QB Kyle Orton’s performance at practice

“Pretty good. Obviously, there is a little bit of restriction for a quarterback when you’ve got something on your hand, but for the most part, everything was clean. Hopefully, everybody that was out there today will be ready to go on Sunday.”

On how wearing a glove changes the game for a quarterback

“If your hand is big enough, which I’m sure all of our quarterbacks’ hands are big enough, I don’t really think… It’s just more about grip. If you can grip the ball well with a glove then I think you can throw it well with a glove. I think most guys that have been around have done it in cold weather some, and it doesn’t seem to bother them to put it on. Again, we’ll make a determination on whether that’s the smartest thing to do going forward based on how the week goes.”

On what will determine if Orton starts at Cincinnati on Sunday

“It is a combination of the healing process and then how effective he can be. If he’s able to be the most effective guy we have got, then certainly he’ll play.”

On if the uncertainty of the quarterbacks’ status affects their repetitions

“Not really. This (week) particularly since we’ve got a longer week, we can split them a little bit more across the board. We normally will give our No. 2 quarterback a number of reps during the course of the week anyway, so it’s not really unorthodox. Today, everybody kind of got reps today. I don’t think it’s affected it that much.”

On WR Brandon Marshall’s past two practices

“He did well. He is working back in and getting really familiar with what we’re asking him to do. We will see how it goes.”

On Marshall’s attitude at practice

“Great.”

On if Marshall can contribute to the Broncos despite missing several practices

“Absolutely.”

On how much he anticipates Marshall will play at Cincinnati

“I think he is a good football player. If he is ready to go and we go through this week of practice and we feel like that’s the direction we should play on Sunday, then certainly we all know what he can do as a football player. It is a matter of getting acclimated to enough of the game plan and him understanding what’s going on, but we’ll see as we go through the week.”

On the effect of Marshall’s presence on the field

“I don’t know. We haven’t really played a game with him out there yet, so I’m not exactly sure how somebody else is going to defend us if he is out there. We’ will see as we go here. We will see if it makes a difference in somebody else’s determination whether they should do something different to our offense or not.”

On TE Richard Quinn’s status

“I have talked to Richard Quinn, but I am not going to comment on that. We are going to support him and also let the legal process play out. Again, I’m not going to comment on that whole situation.”

On if he has talked to Marshall privately since his return to practice

“I have talked to him more than once. We are looking forward to moving past this, and he’s out there practicing hard. That’s what we’re looking for.”

On his relationship with Marshall now as compared to two weeks ago

“We have a good relationship. He comes here. He goes to work. I coach him and try to teach him as much as I can teach him. He is working hard on the field. What level our relationship is at other than that, I don’t know. I don’t think there is anything wrong with our relationship. It is a player and a coach trying to get better and trying to help our team win. I think that is kind of where we’re at.”

On signing DL Vonnie Holliday

“Vonnie has got some familiarity with the system that we run. We had him in earlier in the year. He was coming off of a little bit of a cleanup in terms of a little procedure and wasn’t quite ready to do a workout and all that kind of stuff. We brought him back in, stayed in touch and I think it worked out for the best for everybody. He is excited to be here. We are excited to have him. I think he can help improve our depth on the defensive line. He has obviously played that position. He has got some knowledge about how to play it, and I think that is helpful for some of our younger players, too.”

On Holliday’s immediate contributions

“We are finding out every day. I certainly don’t think we can expect 70 plays out of him on Sunday, but hopefully that will get better every day that he is here and every day that he is out there. We’re working him hard. He is taking reps on the show teams, (and) our defense, trying to make sure that he is in as good a shape that he can possibly get himself in before the weekend. We will see. We will evaluate it, and certainly, we don’t want to put ourselves in a bad situation expecting a player that hasn’t played or practiced a lot during training camp to play too many plays.”

On if Orton’s glove adds more stability

“I have no idea. I don’t have any answer to that. If the injury is dealt with better with a glove on then with having no glove or he feels better without it and he’s comfortable without it, then we’ll go without it.”

On if Orton will start at Cincinnati on Sunday

“I am not going to say yet because again, we are going to evaluate how this process goes. It would be silly for me to say that now and then go back on it or vice-versa. We are going to evaluate how that works this week with our game plan with what we are going to do, with what we’re asking the quarterbacks to do. If he can do it and do it effectively, then he’ll play.”

On QB Chris Simms’ status

“He is doing fine. He moved around well today. I am sure he is probably just a little sore here and there, but he seems to be doing fine.”

On if the differences between the quarterbacks affect the game plan for Cincinnati

“No, their strengths and weaknesses are much more similar than maybe you are giving them credit for. They both run the offense effectively, and both of them would be ready to go and operate the system and game plan that we are going to run this weekend.”