"It's taking more time than I thought to put this group together. We've been running three-a-day practices for a week. Only today did Newt [fullback Newnan] finally start to get upfield on his runs. Jed [tight end Sinks] has been fantastic since the first practice, though. He's one of the few bright spots so far. "

"Of course Jay [wide receiver Shines] is always a monster. He's a great practice player, too. The offensive line is finally starting to work as a unit. Considering their talent level, it's been way too long in coming. This line should be awesome. Right now it's average, but it's improving every day. Hair [quarterback Harold Carter] was awesome in the first few days of camp. Now he's really slowed down. He had a [bad] practice today. I think he's already looking forward to the off-season. He's going to have to be at the top of his game on Week One, and he knows it."

Any other bright spots on offense?

"Kerry [halfback Terrell] has been erratic. Running plays for him is very difficult. He breaks the long one just often enough to keep us working with him. Jamal ran very well in his second day of practice. We expect him to cause problems for defenses outside the tackles. Vogue [wide receiver Robert Vogel] has been outstanding. He's doing everything we ask him to do, and doing it well. He'll be a big part of the offense this year. "

How about the defense?"

"Our defensive line is finally making some stops. Only Renaldo [end Johnson] and Pete Fraiser have played together before. We brought in Nevin Carlson and John Higgs. Both have been playing well. This is a group that improves with every practice."

"We have a big group at linebacker. Rupert [Tingle] has been outstanding. He'll have another All-Pro season. Wig [Thomas Wiggins] is also doing whatever we ask him to do. The biggest surprise of the team so far has been Richard Johnson. He's a terror on passing downs. We'll be disappointed if he doesn't get 15 sacks this year. He's had some problems off the field, but we love the way he gets after the quarterback."

"Our secondary is our biggest concern. Our two best cover guys are Zip [Robertson] and Elliot Ross, and they're safeties. We're thinking about moving Zip over to free safety to help shore up our coverage. Keith Sims has been a great pick, but he has George Little's huge shoes to fill. And of course Sammy [McDaniel], our other corner, is always strong against runs or passes. Ralph Marshall, our nickel corner, has been in a rut. He needs to work harder. Wyatt Cushman, a late pick for us at safety, has worked his way into some playing time. He's doing a great job on run support and also has a nose for the ball on passes. We're very happy with the work he's doing."

The kicking game?

"The kicking game is fantastic, it's hard to find fault with Trent [kicker Henley]. We're working a lot of bench players in on our kick returns and kickoffs, and they've been a big help. Eli Williams [free agent fullback] has been a standout. We had Jay Shines returning kicks for the first few days of practice, but he was taking a beating. We decided to let Zip handle the returns, and he's doing a great job."

"This team has a long way to go. We're struggling to defend the center of the field, and we're still not happy with the running game, although it looked a lot better today. We have the toughest schedule in the league. Seoul looks really tough in their first year. We'll be happy to make the playoffs, but if we had to start the season tomorrow, we'd be lucky to get a first down."