DE Juqua Thomas

8-17-07

On the strong defensive showing in the first quarter:

?We just had to come out and establish what we were about?a physical defense. We just had to come out and play ball tonight.?

On the forced fumble he caused:

?I just bull-rushed them all night. I finally came off and gave him a speed and chop, went around the corner and dipped my shoulder.?

On how exciting it was to be out in front of the home crowd and play well:

?It was very exciting, and I started tonight too, so it was exciting for me to come out and start fresh and play well tonight.?

DE Darren Howard

8-17-07

On whether the defense made any adjustments tonight:

?No, I don?t think so. I think everybody knew where they were supposed to be. We got our assignments down, and we didn?t have any mental mistakes out there. I think that?s the big difference between this game and the [game against Baltimore]. When you know what you?re doing, and everybody is in the right place at the right time, you will have good outcomes.?

On whether they felt like they had to come out and make a statement:

?You always want to come out and play well. You?re fighting too hard in the offseason and training camp and all that to come out and have a bad showing. You know you want to rectify the situation we had last week. I think we played well. We?ll go back and look at the film and try to further improve.?

On the defensive line?s progress:

?It?s a step in the right direction. Last game we played was Monday, and today is Friday. I don?t know how much progress you can make in four days. If you come out here and have a better game, you can say you?ve had some progress, but it?s a process that goes all the way to the first game and even through the whole season to the postseason. So, we?ve got to keep getting better every week.?

On the fumble he recovered:

?Juqua set his guy up and he made a good move to the outside and I just saw the ball and it bounced right up in the air right when I got to it. It just kind of came to me. I tried to make a Walter Payton move on the tackle who was trying to come get me, and I lost the ball. Luckily, we held on to it. It was a big play on defense. That?s one thing we really want to improve on, is getting more turnovers, interceptions and fumble recoveries. If we get a lot of those, it will really help our team.?

CB Lito Sheppard

8-17-07

On what it felt like getting back to playing:

?It feels good to get back out there with the guys. I told the guys at the beginning, ?Last week is last week, just go out and do our thing; relax, have fun. We?re in front of our home crowd, so let?s put on a show.??

On why he is so good at returning interceptions:

?I was an offensive player at one point. So, I guess every time I get the ball, I play offense. That?s my time to show my running skills. So, every time I get it, I just try to score with it.?

On what adjustments were made on defense from last week to this week:

?It was basically [a lack of] effort from the Baltimore game. We addressed that situation after we watched the film, and guys just wanted to come out here and show what we were really about. That was the first preseason game, and it is what it is, but that?s not characteristic of us to put on that type of showing. So, this week we definitely wanted to come out and show what type of football we?re capable of playing.?

On what it feels like to make a big play in front of the home crowd in his first game back:

?It feels great. I don?t know what to expect out here. I told the guys, ?I do what I do, so, you take the lead and we?ll just follow the plays.? Fortunate enough, I was able to make a play and take it in.?