Tracking Mack

On today's practice:
"We have had six great practices. We are much further ahead than we were this time last year. I think again it is from the wave of confidence and enthusiasm from the Rose Bowl, which they can continue to build on. I thought today leading into the scrimmage could have been a little flat but they were not at all. It is fun to coach and fun to watch them right now. Neale Tweedie made two or three great catches, so he is really doing a good job for us at tight end. That was one of the huge question marks. Marcus Myers is making some progress at fullback, so we are excited to see where he is going. Lyle Sendlein is doing well at center. Those three have probably made the most progress. Billy Pittman is catching the ball better at receiver than he has since he has been here. It is giving him a chance to compete. On defense, (Rashad) Bobino and Drew Kelson are making good progress."

On the running backs:
"I think Ramonce (Taylor) so far has been a positive and he has really done well. It has been a good move for Chris Ogbonnaya and I feel he can help us there. Marcus Myers has done some good things at fullback so that will give him a better chance to contribute. We are looking at these three so far. We haven't blitzed much so we will probably know more tomorrow."

On Cedric Griffin and Michael Griffin:
"Both are doing very well. Those two guys are the leaders back there because they are older and they have been playing for a long time. Both are going on four years. Tarell (Brown) is still not practicing with his sore knee. It helps Aaron Ross get more playing time. We know Tarell can play. Drew Kelson is so smart he can play all the spots in the back. Matt Melton, Drew, Marcus Griffin, and Bobby Tatum are the four guys trying to get the next spot behind Michael (Griffin) and Michael (Huff)."

On the linebackers:
"It's too early to tell, but both (Nic Redwine and Jeremy Campbell) have shown some splash. We need to get them more scrimmage plays. They have been in the younger bunch and haven't played as much, so we need to get them in more. (Eric) Foreman and (Robert) Killebrew have both been a plus so far at linebacker."

On right defensive end:
"We are looking at Brian (Robison) playing both sides because he is so big and strong. Also (Tim) Crowder on both sides. We are trying to get more flexibility within our defense. We like Eric Hall to rush the ball some because he did a little bit last year and we would like to grow into that third down package. (Eric) has so much quickness coming off the corner. We are trying to gain more experience and depth just by being able to have a guy play two places."