Head Coach Gary Kubiak
Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips
OLB Connor Barwin
NT Shaun Cody
ILB Brian Cushing
RB Arian Foster
FS Danieal Manning
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Head Coach Gary Kubiak
(on RB Arian Foster's status) "Much better. This was our work day, but he looked good. As long as everything's smooth tomorrow, it should be ready to go."
(on any other injuries) "Kevin (Walter) didn't practice and (Derrick) Ward didn't practice, but other than that, we're okay."
(on how big of a deal it is to have RB Arian Foster back playing) "It's huge. He puts us at our best. He's a heck of a player. When he's back there, everybody's pretty darn comfortable from a standpoint of what he can do for our football team. Hopefully everything goes smooth and he's feeling good tomorrow and we're ready to go and back at full strength."
(on if WR Kevin Walter and RB Derrick Ward could play in Sunday's game) "I don't know right now. I'd be surprised if either practiced tomorrow. That's been the plan all week. They could both be available in a game without practice. That would not be a problem, but I think it's going to be probably Saturday when that decision will probably be made, Saturday morning when we get them in here and look at them. They're both doing pretty good. Kevin (Walter) was on the bike today moving his shoulders, so we'll see."
(on his best memory of playing or coaching in Miami) "I won a Super Bowl there. That was kind of fun. Actually two of them if I'm right with the 49ers and with Denver. Obviously, it's a tough place to play from a heat standpoint, humidity standpoint. It is something that we work in all the time, but I definitely think it will be a factor in the game. We worked really hard on our conditioning. We are playing a late game, so that's a little bit different from our clock standpoint for us as a team. Other than that, it's road football, got to play against them and the crowd, so we got to go there and play with poise."
(on CB Jason Allen) "He's done a really good job. He's made Kareem (Jackson) better. He's made our defense better because he's pushed them. Jason's a real pro. He plays very good on special teams. He had a lot to do with Jacoby's (Jones) return last week. He seems to be getting better and better with us, so I'm excited about where he's heading as a player right now."
(on WR Jacoby Jones' development) "It's kind of fun to watch to be honest with you. Watching him come here as a rookie and where he's at right now, it's night and day. Here's an opportunity in his career to start. He practiced really good today. I know he's excited for it. It's like I tell ya'll all the time, all you can ask for is a pro with a chance and he's fixing to get a big opportunity if Kevin's (Walter) not ready to go. He's working towards being successful. He's had two good days."
(on what has helped WR Jacoby Jones the most) "I think just being around Andre (Johnson) really is one of the biggest things that's helped him. You line up every day at practice and watch that guy work and you don't learn how to do it the right way, then you're not very attentive. He's watched Andre. Andre's done a good job with him not only on this field, but off this field and trying to help him grow up from that standpoint. It's been a process, but he's worked hard at the process."
(on WR David Anderson) "He's fine. David (Anderson), he can go play. He'll definitely be up if Kevin's (Walter) down. It's not a problem with David knowing what to do. He's been with us long enough."
(on Miami's defense) "No doubt. Like I said, I know they were a top 10 defense last year. They might have been a top five. I don't remember exactly, but they were up there. They're excellent on the edges. Mike Nolan's one of the best minds in football, defensively. He's been doing it a long, long time. You know they're going to bounce back and play their tail off. That's the NFL and every game's different, so we'll see how ours goes."
(on ILB Brian Cushing) "Yeah, he looks really good. He's playing very, very hard. The biggest thing with Cushing as I've told ya'll for the last six weeks probably, he's had a good four, five weeks of practice and that's what Brian's been missing. He's been able to stay on the field and work every day, no setbacks and the effort he played with last week; if he plays that way all year, he's going to lead a lot of things, so he's doing a good job."
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Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips
(on what sticks out to him about the Miami offense) "Well they obviously had an outstanding game last game. I think they really opened it up with their offense. We saw that. The quarterback threw for 400 yards. They got a lot of weapons. We saw that in that game against New England and they played really well on offense and that's our challenge on defense."
(on the challenge of Miami's wide receivers) "You face good ones every week. Last week the Colts had really good receivers and these guys do, too. They've got a top guy certainly, but their complementary guys are really good and then you've got the guy coming out of the backfield all the time."
(on how far the defense has come) "I don't know. I mean, we played well in the first game. That's where we are. We'll see how we do in this game. I think we've got a big challenge again. We feel like last week was a big challenge and our guys did a good job against them. It's on the road now against a team that's really confident in what they're doing. Their quarterback really played well, so it'll be a big challenge for us."
(on the challenge of QB Chad Henne and his mobility) "Any time a quarterback can scramble around and make a first down when they normally wouldn't get one, that gives them a little benefit offensively. You have to be aware of him running and of course you got to be aware of him – he threw for 400 – so you got to worry about him throwing it first, but he'll take you down and make a first down or run for a touchdown. You got to be aware of that."
(on bringing a new confidence to the defense) "Well I think it's important in anything you do to be confident in what you're doing. Part of that's knowing what you're doing. Our guys have done a good job learning their responsibilities of what they're supposed to do and that's part of it. All of us playing together and playing well, we did that in preseason. Our first group really played well in preseason and I think that helped our confidence going into the season."
(on playing well defensively in the first game against the Colts) "We had confidence going in that we were going to do well and we did well. Confidence breeds confidence."
(on if he's impressed with OLB Mario Williams' transition from defensive end to outside linebacker) "I think everybody in the country is, everybody that saw the game and all our fans and certainly the coaches are. The guy was a dominant player in the game and that's what we're looking for from him."
OLB Connor Barwin
(on going on the road against Miami) "It'll be a challenge to go on the road. It'll be a challenge because this is the first time you put your defense on film for a substantial amount of time and ran a substantial amount of different plays, so we'll be scouted up a little bit more than we were after a preseason. That'll be part of the challenge. Like I said before, they were successful last week, so it's obviously a different kind of offense than what we're used to seeing from Miami."
(on being used to playing in hot weather) "Luckily for us, the heat turned back up this week in Houston, so I think we'll be well prepared for that or as prepared as they are down there."
(on what he has to pay the most attention to about RB Reggie Bush) "Well for me, an edge guy, I have to drop into coverage a little bit, so those are sometimes guys we have to cover, so you just have to try to make sure he doesn't get the ball. At least that's going to be my plan is to be on him so they don't throw it to him because if they throw it to him, he's not a guy you want to get one-on-one with out in the open field."
NT Shaun Cody
(on what kind of challenge Miami presents) "Offensively, they put up a ton of yards, so as a defense, you have to be concerned about that because they can move the ball, especially against a good defense like New England. We've been watching that and studying what they're trying to do."
(on the change in attitude within the defense) "I think you can attest that probably to (Defensive Coordinator) Wade Phillips, what he does, the confidence he has in what he does and the confidence he instills in us. I think when you have that confidence, you play faster as players because you know what you're doing. You know your coach knows what he's doing. We've been playing faster I think."
(on if the team is focused on getting off to fast starts in games) "For sure, Coach Kubiak preached that all of training camp. Let's get off to faster starts. Last year, we were a slow starting team. Getting those turnovers early and the offense putting the points on the board definitely helped."
ILB Brian Cushing
(on being healthy and playing well in the first game of the season) "Yeah, I think that's the biggest thing is just being healthy, being full-go. We're playing in a defense where we're real confident, we're playing fast and we're just executing. When all 11 guys execute, you play that fast and make plays."
(on if he was surprised by his performance after watching it on film) "No, that's expected out of myself. That's something I want to do every week, week in and week out and continue to do that and lead the team and just do what I can. The biggest thing is playing defense. You're one of 11 guys, but 11 guys are coming together as one, one group. We just got to execute. We got to be smart and just play the defense that (Defensive Coordinator) Wade (Phillips) calls."
(on if the best is yet to come from the defense) "No question. Football is a game of momentum, whether it's a single game or a season. Guys are saying around here, 'Just be 1-0.' Put last week in the past and we're looking forward to this week and just try to do whatever we can to win this one."
RB Arian Foster
(on how he felt today) "I felt wonderful. When I was running with the football, it felt really good, my hamstring did."
(on if he has confidence in the hamstring healing) "Yeah, I do. It's more mental than anything getting back from an injury like that and today I took a huge step forward. It felt good. I burst when I needed to burst without hesitation."
(on his biggest concern about Miami) "As you kind of play in this offense for a while and on this team for a while under Coach Kubiak, he kind of preaches, 'Don't worry about the other team. Worry about yourself.' Although we have to adjust to their system and their scheme, we're more focused on us than them. Our biggest concern is making sure we're 100 percent on our assignments and our effort and control what we can."
(on the mindset in the locker room being about the big picture) "I think last year, we kind of rode the wave of opening and getting over the Colts hump. I'm not sure if it affected us any way, but this year, there's a different morale to our first win. It's more of a business attitude and we took care of our business, but we still have another trip and we have 15 left, so that's the way we're looking at it."
FS Danieal Manning
(on going against the Miami offense) "Right now, we just got to be able to cover. If we can cover, we'll keep them in the pocket a little bit and give our defensive linemen a chance to get sacks on the quarterback. That's pretty much what we've been practicing all week, just making sure we're covering up."
(on the challenge of playing on the road) "It's not any challenge. It's just something you have to do. That's what it is. We have to go in their backyard and come away with a victory. It's going to be tough because like I said, they're on an emotional high right now and them guys have been playing well."
(on if he's still excited about the defense) "I'm still excited because we've still got a way to go. We played like that. I'm amazed at how well we played so fast. The coaches tell us and we believe we still can do some more and that's the big thing about it."
(on playing for Defensive Coordinator Wade Phillips) "Just how he is playing the defense. He tells us. He hasn't changed much up. That's one good thing. With no OTAs or anything like that, he just implemented the defense and just guys going out there and playing it. That's pretty much it. It's real simple."
