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Pees, Part II
How much does Brandon Meriweather’s versatility –- he’s been playing mostly corner after playing mostly safety in college –- help you?
“Well, so far, it hasn’t helped us that much because we’ve only had this one preseason game and he did some good things, and some not-so-good things. What we’re trying to do is find out if he does have that versatility. I can’t really sit here and tell you he has all this versatility, that’s what we’re trying to find out. Now is the time to find out, before the season starts.”
Without having a lot of corner experience in college, does he look like a natural?
“He actually was a corner early on his career in college. He hasn’t always been a safety. He was a corner, so that’s what one of the reasons why when you play a guy at STAR, our nickel back position, that’s really a corner-type guy. That’s always been Hank Poteat, Ray Mickens, Randall Gay, it’s been all those guys who are corner types. At the same time, they can play some safety. That’s where we’re looking at him first. We’re hoping he can be a corner. We’re trying it a little bit everywhere to see where his best fit will be. Now is the time to do that, not when the season starts.”
How did Randy Moss look before he got hurt; did he have the speed to get behind your defense?
“He looked pretty fast to me when he’s been out there. He looks the same to me as he’s always looked. I think he has excellent speed. He hasn’t been out there a whole lot. For me to really evaluate him, and to say he’s been this and been that, it’s been in such a different light than in a game. When we played him in Oakland, and it’s in a game situation and full throttle, it’s different than evaluating in practice, especially when they’re running plays we want them to run, it may or may not be at full throttle. We’ve seen him some and I thought he looked pretty good. To sit here and tell you he has the same speed that he had, I don’t know.”
When you prepared for him prior to the Oakland game, did he have that top speed, and what problems did he present?
“Yeah, when we played him the start of ’05, just watching him on film all the time, the problem with him is he doesn’t look like he’s moving and he’s moving, because he’s so tall and can build speed down the field on you so fast. He’s very deceptive. You all of a sudden think he’s kind of jogging, but he’s not jogging. There was a play out here in camp one time, he ran a post, and all the DBs kind of ooh-ed when we watched the film the next day. He was moving faster than what everybody thought he was moving.”
How do you like your depth at corner, with or without Asante Samuel?
“The way you’re asking the question, I probably as a coach would say ‘I never like the depth.’ You never have enough guys. I think we’ve got four or five guys that are working real hard at that position. I think there are clearly some frontrunners, there are a couple guys who are starting to push and come around. I wish we had a few more, I wish we were a little deeper, but I wouldn’t say I’m in a mode that I’m panicked because we only have a couple. I think we have three or four guys there who are playing good, we just need to be more consistent out there. Obviously, having ‘Zant would be a great addition to that. With or without him, I feel good about the four guys or so we have out there.”
Knowing Samuel may or may not show up, do you have to ignore that in your preparations?
“Sure, he’s not here. I mean, you go out to practice every day and you prepare. Just like we prepared for Tampa Bay and you prepare this week for Tennessee. He’s not here. I can only prepare for what I have. That’s what we prepare for.”
