Daily Drill: Status report from Petrino
By Chris Pika, AF.com
February 24, 2007

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Falcons Head Coach Bobby Petrino - Saturday, February 24, 2007

INDIANAPOLIS, Ind.--Falcons Head Coach Bobby Petrino met with members of the national media during the NFL Scouting Combine in the RCA Dome. Here is the transcript of his press conference.

(Opening statement) "Good afternoon. It's good to be here. We've been busy in our first 40 days on the job. We started out putting a staff together, something that was real important to me to get done before we left for the Senior Bowl. Our coaches have been building playbooks, we've been evaluating players for the draft and free agency and also evaluating the players on our roster and seeing how we are going to put this all together. We are going to be excited to get the offseason program started on March 19."

(on players from Central Michigan) "What do I think about them? I think they are good football players. I have certainly watched them and liked the way they play. There are a lot of guys out there. I didn't get a chance to watch Joe (Staley) work today because of a hamstring problem. I liked what I saw at the Senior Bowl."

(on the wide receiver class this year) "It is a strong group and they all have certain talents and certain things they like. I think what really separates them is what the teams are looking for - what your needs are and what type of guy fits into your scheme. But, certainly there will be a run of them going and once it starts, it will probably take off."

(on Louisville RB Michael Bush) "He is a great young man. We brought him in at Louisville. Even when we were recruiting him, he was 15 (years old) and when he got on campus, I always told everybody that he was not going to play for us until he starts shaving. After two days of practice, he was second on the depth chart and was ready to play college football, which was quite amazing to me. We had a lot of discussions about whether we should play him as a true freshman or redshirt him. Physically, was he ready to go? Mentally, was he ready to go? And the answers kept coming from all the staff - yes, he's ready to play. He played in his first college football game - I think he was 16 at the time - against the University of Kentucky and played very well. He had a great freshman year and he just continued to get better and better. This year was an amazing season for him because he completely took over the leadership of the team, really matured and grew up. He always amazed me because I have a daughter who is actually a year older than him when he came into school. I certainly would not have wanted her to go off to college by herself because he was a lot more mature than she was at the time."

(on Louisville DT Amobi Okoye) "The first thing that really will help Amobi is that he is very intelligent. He is a real student of the game, so he understands blocking schemes, he knows how to attack pass protection. He is a real physical, explosive young man who combines his strength and quickness together. The thing you don't know is how much bigger he is going to continue to get. He played his junior year for us at about 317 pounds and we asked him to drop weight so he would be quicker and play more snaps. We went back and evaluated his junior year and he wasn't on the field as much as we wanted him to. So, he dropped his weight and was more effective at 305 pounds as opposed to 317."

(on Bush's NFL prospects) "He is going to be a very good football player. I think the thing that intrigues everybody is - you really are going to bring a guy to camp for you who would normally be a redshirt freshman or sophomore in college. The ceiling for him is way out there."

(on the Falcons running back situation) "We really like our running backs with Warrick (Dunn) having another year coming back and (Jerious) Norwood had a really nice year last year. He showed that he has the ability to go the distance. I think that's what excites me the most when I watch him on video is the big plays that he's made and the speed he makes. We are going to look for a big running back and someone who can help us in short yardage and maybe step in and play a lot a year from now. We feel real good about the two guys we have right there."

(on QB Michael Vick) "We've spent a lot of time evaluating all his throws and made a lot of videotapes - we like to study video, so we've looked at all of his three-step throws, his five-step (throws), his deep play-action and his movement is fun to watch. We really feel like he can make all the throws we need to make. I have always been adamant about the fact that your passing game is as good as all 11 guys on the field. We have to do a great job of teaching and working on our timing between our protection, our quarterback being at the right spot and our receivers being open at the right time. So, we have a lot of work ahead of us but I certainly know that Michael can do it. He is real energized and motivated to coming in and running our offense and has started learning it and working on it, so when we get going on the 19th, it will be something. We have a lot of work to do, but we are looking forward to it."

(on whether Vick could rush for 1,000 yards again in 2007) "It's really hard to think that a quarterback rushed for a thousand yards. It's amazing. The thing I really like when I watched Michael's runs and the things that he did, is that he protected himself. He knew when to get out of bounds, he did get down at times, so he didn't take the hits running. Actually, what concerned me was the hits he took when he was throwing the ball and in the pocket. That's a lot of yards and I'm not sure that can be done again. We certainly would like to see him throw for more yards. We were a little bit off-tilt and you don't like to talk a lot about last year, but the difference between the run game and the pass game - we need to balance that out and certainly be more effective in throwing the football. That would probably reduce his amount of runs."

(on DE Patrick Kerney) "Health-wise, he's doing good. His rehabilitation has gone very well. We've got a good bill of health on him. We certainly would love to have Patrick back. He has chosen to explore free agency and hopefully, we'll be in it at some point in time."

(on Kerney's health) "I'm not sure if he'll be ready to go in the first mini-camp, but I think he would be ready to work in late May or early June."

(on his interview with Oakland a year ago and why he took the Falcons job this year) "I had talks with the Raiders and spoke to them extensively. I went out and visited and looked around. But, I think that the thing that made this the right place is Rich McKay being there - a guy that I know. I've seen his work and what he's done in the personnel department. I like the location. Atlanta fits perfectly for me and a couple of my children will be in Louisville and northern Kentucky and so, it's a great location for me. And then when I got to meet the owner, Arthur Blank, and saw his commitment and what he means to the possibility of winning the Super Bowl, it really was the right job at the right time."

(on criticism of Vick) "I don't know all of the criticisms, so I can't answer to that, but I do know this - it is 11 guys on offense doing their job at the same time. We need to protect and make sure that he has space and room. Anytime he's had the room and the space, he can make the throws he needs to make. He has an extremely strong arm. We need to get more consistent with his footwork and get his set point. I think certainly you'll see him have a better year throwing the ball this year."

(on Petrino's play-calling duties and Vick's role) "I'm going to call the plays, but the quarterback has responsibilities that he is going to have to do at the line of scrimmage. The center sets a lot of the things we'll do, but the quarterback might have to override that and trump some of his calls. We certainly believe that there are times that you have to take advantage of looks and really, get out of a bad play. That's the thing we try to do is to get out of a bad play. When I call a bad play, it's going to be his job to get us out of a bad call and change it to a good call. That's one thing he's real excited about doing. It's not something that he's done a lot of in the past, but he's certainly looking forward to the challenge of doing it."

(on Falcons offensive coordinator Hue Jackson) "I've known Hue for a long, long time, and one thing when I was coaching at Louisville, I used to go up and watch the Cincinnati Bengals in their camp and I really like a lot of the things that they've done. Hue knows offense, he knows the NFL and he's dealt with some personalities and done a great job with that. I really like the way he relates to the players and gets them to do what we want them to do and also have a special relationship with them. He's started that process already with a lot of our players and certainly with Michael (Vick) - that will help us a lot."

(on Bush's leg injury which ended his 2006 season) "That was a tough break. Michael was in the best shape that he has ever been in. He came out in that Kentucky game in the first half and had 128 yards rushing and three touchdowns. If he had continued to play that way, he would have put himself in a position in the run for the Heisman, but unfortunately, he injured the leg. It's a tough injury and he's worked real hard and it was good to see him weigh in the other day. He weighed in at 243 pounds and looked great. It's just going to be when he will be able to run and when he will be able to test. Certainly if he gets back to the health and be able to do the things that he can do with the football in his arm, then he will have a good career ahead of him."

(on what kind of running back Bush is) "He's really unique because he is a guy who is 250 pounds, he can get his pads down and run with power, but he also has very good feet. He can get in and out of the hole. He caught a lot of passes for us. He's a real good receiver. Actually in high school in his sophomore and junior year, he was one of the top-ranked receivers in the country and then, just kind of grew out of it. He played quarterback as a senior, so he can throw the football. He can just do a lot of things. If you are looking for a guy who is a great athlete, that's Michael Bush."