Opening Statement: “I’ll start with this, we waived/injured Dan Skipper and Tyrell Crosby. We released Breshad Perriman, Victor Bolden, Mike Ford, Evan Heim, Alijah Holder and Damion Ratley as of this morning. So, first wave of that has come and gone. Obviously, there’s more to come, but that’s kind of where we are at. We appreciate those guys putting in the work and wish them the best of luck. I told them, ‘If it couldn’t be here, just to give them the ability to put out some good tape so that it happens somewhere else for them.’ So, we wish them the best of luck. This is always a hard time. When these guys lay it on the line, you respect the hell out of it.” On the decision to waive/injured T Tyrell Crosby: “There again, we didn’t feel like he was one of the best guys.” On the depth at the offensive line position: “I would say all of those guys – certainly we’re looking to help our depth a little bit, and we may or may not have it here, if I’m being honest with you. I think what needs to be remembered here is that just between today and then tomorrow, some of these moves we make, does not mean that these are the guys that this is who we’re riding with all the way through the season. There are going to be some guys that are going to be on our team that aren’t even in the building yet. That’s probably going to happen. There’s a good chance that can happen. Look, (Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and his crew, man, they’re scouring the transactions and looking for everything that could or couldn’t be and any way that we can upgrade our roster that we think is going to help us, now and long-term, we’re looking for it. So, this thing is in flux. Just because some of these are compared to what’s on our roster, I would say compared to the other 31 teams and what’s out there, that’s how we’re looking at it.” On the decision to release WR Breshad Perriman: “I don’t want to beat a dead horse. I appreciate Breshad. Unfortunately, he had that hip, took him out a little over a week or around a week. We got him back and we just didn’t feel like there was enough there, relative to who was left, who you’re trying to keep, who can possibly be out there. It just felt like we needed to go another direction.” On if they will keep four or five wide receivers on the active roster: “I guess we’ll find out tomorrow exactly what’s going to happen with it. I would say that there is a chance we keep five. But there again, certainly the guys who are out here today, we’re still taking a peek at, take a look at, and there again, we’re looking at the 31 other teams, too, as this unfolds over the next couple of days.” On the confidence he has in the outside cornerback position group: “We have a lot of young talent in there. It’s a very young group. It’s as young as it gets. I would venture to say it’s probably the youngest crew if you kept all of those guys, but I know it’s a group that we like a lot and it’s a group we want to work with. We think there’s room for them to really grow and develop and those guys do a lot on special teams for us. As to this point, we want to take another look at all of those guys today and see where it goes.” On what they missed in the evaluation and signing of WR Breshad Perriman in free agency: “I think that – I don’t know if we missed anything. I think that from where we were at, at the time, we were looking to add a veteran guy, a guy who had played. We kind of knew what he was. So, for us, it was, ‘Hey, let’s bring in a guy and let him compete and see what he can do.’ I guess that’s a miss since we let him go, but at the same time, there was a reason we brought him in to get a look at him and to this point, we just felt like he wasn’t going to be a part of this journey. We didn’t feel like it was the right thing.” On if WR Breshad Perriman’s release was related to money: “Money had nothing to do with it.” On the guaranteed money in WR Breshad Perriman’s contract: “Sure, I mean, we were hopeful. We thought it would go that way, but there again, that’s why you compete and that’s why you go through camp and you give guys opportunities. For example, you brought up Tom Kennedy, we’ll find out. I think he’s got an inside track to be here, but yet, that’s not 100%. We still have another day of practice. There are still things on the waiver wire. I know this, he’s worth keeping around for another day.” On if making roster cut decisions regardless of a player’s contract or experience heightens the sense of competition for roster spots: “Sure. As much as possible, we’re trying to stay true to what we stay true to what we said on day one, ‘The best guys are going to be here.’ That doesn’t always work that way. You’re going to want to keep young talent around that has not proven themselves. Coach (Bill) Parcells used to always say, ‘If you’re a high draft pick and it hadn’t shown, you have to give them two years and a training camp.’ He always believed in that philosophy. Sometimes, there are guys that, they’re not quite there, but they have a lot of room to grow. Now as you move forward, it’s always kind of a way to look because you don’t know. Sometimes they mature and you’d hate for them to mature after they leave your building. You’d be kicking yourself. Sometimes those come into play, but ultimately, we said we were always going to find the right guys for us. They were going to compete, and if they were the best man for the job as much as possible, money does play into some of that, but for us, we’re trying to stay true to who we said we’re going to be, (Executive Vice President and General Manager) Brad (Holmes) and myself, as we built this.” On the injury status of G Logan Stenberg: “It was kind of the same thing he had last week. He had a mild MCL, just a lower grade sprain. So, he could have finished. If we wanted to just keep him out there, we could have done that, but we chose to pull him back out. He’s kind of day-to-day right now, but he should be fine. I think he’ll be practicing by the end of this week. It shouldn’t be an issue. It’s more of us just being conservative and just taking care of him, being smart. I would say this about Logan, he has improved every day. He’s gotten a lot – particularly over the last two-and-a-half weeks, he’s really, I think, beginning to really come on. He’s a young player that’s growing and developing. We like where he’s going.” On the meeting between him and Executive Vice President and General Manager Brad Holmes discussing roster cut decisions this past weekend: “I thought it was outstanding, really because we really did the deep dive for the most part on Saturday. Then yesterday was about, ‘Let’s look at these guys on other teams, potential releases on other teams, guys that may be a fit, what do we think, rank them to who’s here.’ All of those things, but that day, Saturday, it was really good because I felt like it was an honest, open discussion about how we both felt about this roster. I would say we probably agreed on 98% it. But that little two percent that we didn’t was honest and open and to the point and it was easy. Like, ‘Hey, I got your point. Here’s my point.’ We came to an agreement and it was great. It’s what you want. Like, he wasn’t backing down, I wasn’t, but yet, we also were able to listen to each other’s side and come to an agreement on what we should do. That’s what you want.” On the injury status of QB Tim Boyle: “Tim is going to have surgery on his thumb. It’s a broken thumb. We won’t know exactly how long that is until he comes out of this surgery, which is really happening today. Once that happens, then we’ll know exactly the depth of it. It sounds like – there again, he may be out for a while, but we don’t know how long that’s going to be. They couldn’t give us an exact – it was one of those broad windows that cover every aspect. It was one of those, ‘Hey, it’s two weeks to a freakin’ year.’ Like, what the hell? But look, he’s tough as nails. He’s everything that we’re about. I respect the hell out of him. He’ll get this fixed. He’ll come back ready to go whenever that is.” On if QB Tim Boyle’s injury is season-ending: “No. I don’t even want to say that. I think we’re a lot more hopeful than that, but I can’t rule that out right now.” On if COVID-19 vaccination status was considered in the roster cuts: “I don’t think that came in to play as far as the 53 is concerned at all.” |
