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Injury-wise, Marvin White ruptured his ACL early in the game yesterday and continued to play with it all the way through. It was quite a surprise to everyone afterwards when they did a scan, that he had a ruptured ACL and MCL. At some point this week we'll replace him on the roster.
On Carson (Palmer), we'll continue to step up the rehab this week, but he will not be ready to play against the Colts. We'll just have to see how the other guys come around and mend this week -- Eric Henderson, Levi Jones, Ben Utecht and Antwan Odom. Utecht had the foot injury yesterday. The other guy that came out of the game a little banged up was Chris Perry, with a groin strain. Jonathan Fanene got poked in the eye, but everything seemed to clear. T.J. (Houshmandzadeh) had a mild concussion, but it seemed to clear. Everything else (regarding injuries) is just how we went into the game. We probably lose another guy, and we'll have to adjust this week. We have the possibility of adding another guy, so we'll see about that.
As I said after the game yesterday, we fell behind in the field position early. We had a poor punt for the first one of the game, but after that Kyle (Larson) seemed to punt very well. We gave them the football at midfield three or four or five times throughout the game, and that makes it a little difficult. Our inability to make things happen and score points offensively makes it hard to win. You're going to have a difficult time beating a team without scoring any touchdowns in the NFL. We're going to continue to work to find a way to rectify that. We need to get some first downs, which lead to getting points, and we need to get some touchdowns scored when we have the opportunity. Defensively it comes down to the four explosive plays we allowed in the football game and the inability to get off the field on third downs. That has been my message to the football team and we have to go back to make sure we stay on the same page and get the things done correctly. If we do that we can put good plays together and progress the ball down the field. And we need to do whatever we can to not give up the big plays.
Q: Do you know at what point in the game Marvin (White) hurt his knee?ML:
It was early in the game. He played about three quarters of the game with it.
Q: That says something about his character and toughness. Have you ever seen that before?ML:
My question was, 'Did he have one (an ACL ligament) going in?' And he had a comparable injury a summer ago here, so we had a comparable scan to make sure he had an existing one, and he did. So, he did rupture it. The body is amazing, the things it can do. There was a question here yesterday, 'Do I have guys giving up on me?', and obviously as I answered the question, no.
Q: Is this something that will impact Marvin White into next year?ML:
Not really. Not with the way things are these days. You come back from these kind of things faster than they used to. He'll be ready when training camp comes along. He may be a little bit limited in April and May, but by June he should be up to full speed.
Q: How much value is left this season for this team?ML:
There's a lot of value. A lot of guys are doing a lot of good things, getting to play NFL football and competing, and that's important to us. We lost the last two football games, but before that we we're on the upswing. We have to put the formula back together and go out and win the last few games. That's all we need to do. If guys are getting an opportunity to play through injuries or other ways, that's a good chance for them to go out and become productive NFL players.
Q: For the culture of this team, how important is it to avoid another season with just one or two wins?ML:
Well I don't know because I haven't been a part of something like that, nor has anybody in that locker room besides a couple of players. And the players that have, their memories are about that big (holds fingers close together). You don't have to worry about that. I don't know about what your culture feeds into, but I don't think anybody in that locker room is affected. They either have a very, very short memory or have never been a part of a team that has only won one or two games.
Q: Why do we worry about Carson Palmer trying to play again this year? Why not let him get well and worry about next season?ML:
We have carried him (on the roster) because he would like the opportunity to play. As the medical team continues to give the information to him, to me and to Mike (Brown), there still seems to be an opportunity for that. If there's an opportunity for him to play football, he wants to play. That's what football players do. They don't worry about next year. If there is a right decision about his future, then that decision will be made. But contrary to what people may believe, you don't think about next year when you're in the middle of this year.
Q: When you mentioned the injured guys, you didn't mention Chinedum (Ndukwe):ML:
We'll see how he is this week.
Q: Will you have to add a guy (to the roster)?ML:
We'll probably use the roster spot at some point this week, yes.
