HEAD COACH JON GRUDEN

(On practice and roster moves)
“We signed Carl Stewart, a fullback that was with us for the majority of the offseason program. He’ll give us some depth at the fullback position. He’ll replace Torrie Cox on the roster. I was very pleased with practice today. Still plenty of things to clean up. We had a live goal-line scrimmage. Lee Roy Selmon showed up today, from the University of Oklahoma, so we had an ‘Oklahoma Drill’ on his behalf. He asked for it.”

(On which side won the Oklahoma Drill)
“Well, it’s an offensive drill. I thought Kevin Carter made the play of the day. There were some good things on both sides, some good physical plays. I was pleased with the offense. We ran the ball six times in the goal-line situation, scored four touchdowns and came off the ball; I was pleased with that.”

(On trick plays in practice)
“We do have some gadgets. You can’t practice them every day because the defense sees it once or twice and they’re pretty astute guys over there. We try to sneak one in every once in awhile. We think we had a nice one today, although they say it was called back; we had a motion error. So there was some good and some bad about that play.”

(On if players know the Oklahoma Drill is coming)
“No. I think when they see Lee Roy Selmon they should have an idea. That’s kind of been our history around here, to jazz it up when our Hall of Famer shows up, and that’s the way it should be.”

(On Jeremy Zuttah)
“I can’t say how pleased I am with him. Again, we don’t want to credit these offensive linemen too much publicly, but [I do] for what he’s doing, coming in here out of Rutgers where he played the tackle position. One day you’ll watch him [and] he’s playing left and right guard, the next day he comes out here he’s playing mostly at center. All these positions are foreign to him, he’s learning a new offense and I really like him a lot.”

(On depth in the secondary)
“Depth was a big part of last season’s team if you look at it. [Luke] Petitgout got hurt; we lost two halfbacks; Earnest Graham stepped up; Luke McCown stepped up in New Orleans. We had a lot of guys get pushed to the forefront last year. Micheal Spurlock, the first guy ever to return a kickoff [for a touchdown]. I think winning football teams, teams that compete for championships, are teams that have 47 men that can play. That’s what we’re after. We’re trying to keep the right 53 and on game day keep the right 47. Injuries are part of this game. So we do feel pretty good about our depth but we’re still looking for guys to step up.”

(On struggling with the 80-man roster limit)
“Yeah, it’s a struggle. I’ll tell you, what’s disappointing about it is that there are a lot of guys you don’t get a chance to look at. There have been a lot of guys come out of obscurity become great players, and we’re not affording opportunities to a lot of really good players. We can adjust our schedule if we have 14 players, but not affording guys opportunities like we have in years past – I don’t know how everybody else feels but I find that disappointing.”

(On the battle at tight end)
“It’s a very good position. Obviously Ben Troupe didn’t go today; he had a mild concussion and he’ll be back tomorrow. Ben Troupe has been really impressive here. We like Alex Smith; he’s started for three years for us. Jerramy Stevens is really playing well. He’s got a suspension for the first couple games; we realize that. John Gilmore’s a good player. He’s complete. He can play on the line of scrimmage, he’s a very good blocker, he has functional speed and we like what he’s doing. So that’s a position we’ve leaned on in years past and I think if we want to lean on it this year we can do that.”

(On if they’re seeing anything new from Michael Clayton)
“Well, we know he’s a very good player. What I’ve seen is five or six consecutive days where he’s put his fist down and said, ‘I’m a go-to receiver.’ If he continues to do that, he’s going to be a big part of this offense again. Hopefully he stays healthy and continues doing exactly what he’s doing. He’s focused, he’s all business and he’s running all kinds of routes. He’s running inside routes, outside routes, and he’s showing very good stamina. And we know he can run with the ball after the catch. So we like what he’s doing but we’ve got a long way to go.”

(On Maurice Stovall making one-handed catches)
“I think today he tried to make every one of them a splash catch. Just go up and catch it with two hands. He’s got two of them, I keep him reminding him. But he is a big, physical presence and he’s acrobatic for a big guy. He’s a guy we sorely missed in the playoffs last year and down the stretch, not only of his receiver ability but his special teams ability. He’s right in the mix. He’s going to be hard to keep off the field if he keeps playing the way he is.”

(On how he is feeling, and jumping in on some drills)
“I feel pretty good. I’ve worked hard on my conditioning. I’m getting old, but I still love it. I love the practice. I feel a good vibe on this football team right now and I want to assist any way I can.”

(On Jeff Faine)
“He’s the same every day. He’s a consistent pro and he’s a very good player. Our inside pocket has been very good, our second-level blocking is going to be improved. We’ll isolate our perimeter offense this afternoon, try to get some timing where we can utilize his athletic ability. But he’s the real deal. He’s a leader. He doesn’t say a lot but he’s a model of consistency and at that position that’s critical.”