Interview with Big Ben
Q: Are you looking for more playing time this week at Washington?
Ben: I don’t know about the time until game time. I tried to get coach to give me one more series in there, but he probably did the right thing there. We treated that like our first preseason game.
Q: Did it make you anxious seeing Charlie Batch do well?
Ben: I’m happy. I know what play’s coming and by the coverage I usually know where he’s going with the ball, so I get all excited. I tell everyone on the sideline, ‘here we go’ or ‘heads up.’ It’s kind of fun watching him go out and do what he does best. It’s pretty amazing.
Q: Coach wants to finish with an exclamation point this week. Are you getting that done this week?
Ben: Yeah, I think today was a great start. Offense, last week, we didn’t do so well in practice all the time. I think today was a pretty good start. We didn’t end well but we started well and we did pretty good so far.
Q: Is it tough to focus when you can see the light at the end of the tunnel?
Ben: We’ve just got to make sure we maintain that focus every day because it does get tough knowing there are only a couple days left. But if you ask any of these guys, everyone’s kind of coming out with the mentality that we have to have a better week of practice than we had last week.
Q: How are you holding up physically?
Ben: Doing well. I feel good, other than putting a little ice on the arm here and there from using it a lot. But overall the body feels great.
Q: Do you feel good about the group on offense?
Ben: Yeah, I feel great with the way everything’s going. Obviously we’re rotating linemen in, trying to get the right chemistry, the right five. The receiving corps is trying some things. But I feel comfortable with all the guys and I think everyone’s doing a great job.
Q: How about you and COACH Arians? How’s that coming?
Ben: It’s going great. Good relationship, good rapport on the sideline, in practice. So far, so good.
Q: Would you like a decision on the starting five up front?
Ben: The five right now is like seven. It’s not like they’re rotating a whole new five in, so like I said, all the guys he’s got going in I feel real comfortable with. You might have to ask the linemen if they want their five so they know who to block with, but I feel comfortable with all of them.
Q: Do you like having your coordinator on the field?
Ben: Yeah, it’s great. We’ve kind of played the phone game in the past: Wiz tells Coach Whipple and Coach Whipple tells me and by the time I get the play there’s 15 seconds left on the play clock, so having Bruce on the sideline calling the play straight to me has really been great because we’ve had more time on the play clock to make adjustments, to make changes and audibles. So far it’s gone well.
Q: With the big plays out there, does it make you anxious to get out there and unleash?
Ben: Well, it makes me anxious to know that we finally are utilizing the weapons we have outside. We’ve got a lot of guys that can make plays. It’s exciting to see those guys in action.
Q: Was there a reluctance to do that in the past?
Ben: I just think we’ve used them to block so much in the past. … We’re using the guys wisely.
Q: Are you anxious to show the no-huddle can be used better than it was the other night?
Ben: I think there will be a lot of no-huddle. Last year we had four no-huddle packages; this year we have six. So we only used two of them the other night. The first time doing it, only two series, but if we go into a full quarter of full half, you never know what happens.
Q: Will you get more of a chance to work it next week?
Ben: It’s going to be tougher on the road, obviously. That’s why we did it this week at home, but I’m sure we’ll do it again this week on the road and it’ll be a good test for us.
Q: Will you play more Saturday?
Ben: I would assume so because it’s our “second” preseason game, so I would assume a little bit more, maybe a quarter.