8/16/2002 - Football
Navy Football Practice Report Day 10, Practice 17
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Navy head football coach Paul Johnson
Q. Were you pleased with today?s practice?
A. It was better. It?s never going to be as good as you want it to be. I thought today we competed pretty well, we had some good periods. What we have to do is have a whole practice that is good, not just certain periods and certain groups.
Q. Anything in particular that is going to be the focus of tomorrow?s scrimmage?
A. No, we?re just going to play. We have so many people banged and bruised. We?re just going to try and get one last look at everybody so we can make sure we have the depth the way we want it for SMU.
Q. Will there be another scrimmage again next Saturday?
A. No, this will be the final scrimmage. We will probably have a game type deal next Friday, but it will be against scouts and it will be a situational thing trying to go over all the crazy things that could happen in a game.
Q. With all the guys that are injured, if someone doesn?t participate tomorrow, what does that do for their chance to play against SMU.
A. It depends on who they are.
Q. What about Aaron Polanco?
A. Aaron?s going to have a tough time challenging for the starting quarterback job; he hasn?t practiced in two weeks. Could he come back and play, conceivably, but I don?t think Aaron Polanco is going to be the starting quarterback. He?s missed too much practice. It?s not his fault that?s just the way the breaks are.
Q. How about a guy like Lenter Thomas?
A. Lenter?s got a chance; we?ll see when he can come back. There?s a difference, Lenter?s been a starter and was the leading tackler on the team. Aaron hasn?t played a down in a varsity game. Whether Lenter would even start we?ll have to talk about, it depends on when he gets back.
Q. How many practices does a guy need to get under his belt before he is ready to play?
A. It depends, it varies by individuals. Kids who have played more would probably need less time. Kids who haven?t played as much would need more. Some kids catch on quicker. You might have a guy who is pretty experienced miss all week and then come out on Wednesday and Thursday and be fine.
Q. What is Walsh?s situation? Has he practiced enough?
A. He?s practiced a little bit. He will be back Monday and he?s supposed to be full go and we will evaluate him. If he can?t practice next week he probably won?t start either. We?ll just have to wait and see.
Q. Who would take his place?
A. Right now, Josh Goodin.
Q. Are you starting to see these guys picking up where they need to go as far as practice?
A. I think we are starting to compete a little bit. It?s not going to happen overnight. There are going to be days where they do it and days where they fall right back into that mode. They didn?t figure out how to get in this mode in one day and their not going to figure out how to get out of it in one day.
Q. Former Secretary of the Navy John Dalton spoke to your team today. Was it neat to have him here?
A. Yeah, he?s a big time Navy football fan. He?s a great supporter and is really behind the program.
