Q: Do you still think the guy that was drafted number one overall is still inside David Carr?
Palmer: “I believe so. I watch him; he is very, very athletic. What people forget, I think my third year in Houston (where he was Carr’s offensive coordinator with the Texans) we were one of six teams offensively that had a 3,000-yard passer, a 1,000-yard receiver and a 1,000-yard runner. The next year after the staff was let go in Houston he came out and threw for 68 percent for Gary (Kubiak) and those guys down there. I think he is a talented guy. I think confidence is a factor with all quarterbacks and hopefully we can get him back in the groove where he can come out and help us in the event that Eli can’t play.”
Q: Will NFL coaches try to come up with new wrinkles to stop Eli Manning?
Palmer: “Eli is exceptional. We had our meeting and he talked about the things that he wanted to improve. He is a hardworking guy. He is well grounded and he knows that it is just the beginning for him. I think he can get better, I think he thinks he can get better, and if those things happen we will have a very, very bright future.”
Q: Do you see any signs of Amani slowing down?
Sullivan: “You look at how he performed in the postseason leading the team in receptions and making some plays, including the big catch versus Dallas where he ran down the sideline. He is still someone that because of his experience, because of his ability to understand defenses, and his ability to get open he is always going to be a force to be reckoned with. I don’t know if there is anybody that takes better care of himself in the offseason. He is a guy that takes a great deal of pride in doing the yoga and kung-fu and some of those other things. But I think he also rests himself well and really puts himself into top condition. If anyone is in a position to continue to sustain and build upon a great postseason I think it is Amani Toomer.”
Sullivan on Burress: “He is pleased with the progress of his rehab and I think he can’t wait to get back into the fray and see where he can go with two healthy ankles underneath him and two sturdy legs and take his game to that next level.”
Sullivan on Manningham: “…a pretty complete receiver”
Ingram on using Jacobs and Bradshaw 1-2 punch: “Definitely… we have great depth”
Q: Jeremy’s perceived strong personality versus Eli’s perceived not as strong personality?
Pope: “Here is what I think: I think that is demeaning to both players, to Eli and to Jeremy. To think that one player has to be out of the player before another player can surface, that is ludicrous. Eli Manning has been on a constant scale of improvement, that is very obvious, so to say that any player was here or was not here I would say that Steve Smith and those kinds of players who stepped in, Kevin Boss, I think the combination of those things were the reason that we continued to improve and go as far as we did. It wasn’t the absence of anybody; it was the ascension of some other players. You have to be pretty narrow-minded to look at things that way.
Q: Do you think anything changes with his role in the offense?
Pope: “I can say to you unequivocally that he said to me back before the draft that none of his problems were with our offense, with players on the team, or with how he was used, he said, ‘I dropped enough balls, I missed blocks,’ so he is not self-cleansing here with this whole approach, he really is not. I think those things are really unrelated to how he played. He knows he can play a lot better. He has continued to get better, he has improved as a blocker, so he hasn’t given up on self-improvement in any way, shape, or form.”
Q: Do you have any idea where he stands physically right now?
Pope: “As far as I know he is making very good progress. His surgery went well, the rehab has gone well. I heard he was running in those sand pits down there in Miami so he is very obviously making a lot of progress there.
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