Camp Notes 8/13: Childress Q & A
Phil Mackey
KFAN dot com

Brad Childress missed Sunday's practice to attend the wake for security guard Frank Foster. After practice Monday morning, Childress spoke to reporters about many topics. Here are some highlights:

On the importance of accuracy in the West Coast offense:

In this offense, accuracy is huge. I once heard Bill Walsh give a half hour speech on moving the ball four inches from this breast to this breast, and the difference in a guy running a shallow cross, being able to catch it. You say to the receiver, 'Hey it was tough catch, but make it.' To a quarterback you're saying, 'Hey, move it over.' They start to look at you once, and they roll their eyes and say, 'Move it over?'. It's huge, being able to command the football like a yo-yo on a string. That's what a professional quarterback has to do… There's a premium on accuracy if you're going to throw for that 60 percent.

On E.J. Henderson's transition to middle linebacker:

He's was, when I got here, probably our best see-to-do linebacker. He had the best innate instincts that we saw. I'm not going to say he didn't have to learn some different things, but he's not having any struggles in there that I've seen at all.

On the return of Erasmus James:

He's going to go through a sore muscle period. I saw him do some good things today in the one on one pass rush, and I watched him yesterday afternoon. I watched some of that tape. There's always a bit of pause when you start to post on that leg and really put leverage on it. Even though it's fixed, physically and rehab, there's a breaking in. Taking the first shot, getting cut the first time, going to the ground, pushing off. So there's a re-ramping up period… I don't know if he can get on the field this week or not, but we'll see. Certainly that's the goal. We're going to keep pushing it.

On the subtleties of being a good NFL quarterback:

It's so important for a quarterback to be able to move people with his eyes -- know that he wants to throw over here, so he can drift somebody in, so he can come back that direction. It's probably the toughest things as a route runner and as a quarterback to look away from where you're going to throw. Or as a route runner, you've got to be able to lie with your eyes. You can't give any tells, just like a poker game. You've got to be able to look over here, and be able to run back over there. It's very difficult to get used that that, but those are the little subtleties that you have to be able to do. Antoine [Winfield] is good at measuring what you're doing with your eyes.

On who called more plays Friday night; Him, or Darrell Bevell

Bev called most of 'em. I made some suggestions.

On RG Anthony Herrera:

He did a great job stepping in there the other night. He did a good job at left guard. Obviously he's competing with Artis [at right guard]. He did a good job on pretty short notice to jump in there at left guard… He showed some athleticism in pulling and trapping and moving around. He usually plays at a high tempo, you just have to make sure he keeps those techniques to where they need to be.

Practice Notes:

- Players held out: Wendell Mathis, John Kerr, Jason Glenn (had a wrap around his left knee)

- Players who returned: Khreem Smith

- Rufus Alexander was officially waived, and he will undergo surgery Thursday to repair a torn ACL.

- Early in practice, Brooks Bollinger connected with Troy Williamson on a 50-yard deep ball down the left sideline. Williamson was covered by Ronyell Whitaker.

- OG Adam O'Connor appeared to suffer a serious knee injury on a run play during 7-on-7. He was carted off the field, wincing in pain. After practice, Brad Childress said the injury doesn't appear to be as serious as first thought. O'Connor will have an MRI Tuesday.

- During 11-on-11, Anthony Herrera and Artis Hicks switched off at RG with the first team offense.

- On the second play of 11-on-11, Ryan Cook jumped early, resulting in a run of shame.

- Kenechi Udeze came around and put major heat on Tarvaris Jackson, but Jackson released the ball quickly, completing a pass 30 yards downfield to Sidney Rice.

* From 10:00-10:30 I was with PA & Dubay. I'm told nothing extraordinary happened during this time period.

- Drew Henson threw a 50 yard bomb to Todd Lowber, who slowed up and leaped over Mike Hawkins to make a spectacular catch near the left sideline.

- During 7-on-7, Tarvaris Jackson fired darts over the middle to Troy Williamson and Bobby Wade on back to back plays. Unfortunately, Troy and Bobby both let the ball ricochet off their chests for incompletions.

- During 11-on-11, Tarvaris Jackson fumbled in the backfield. Ben Leber picked it up and ran for a touchdown, a-la week 5 against Detroit last season.

- The second team offensive line got the best of Pat Williams and company on a draw play that Adrian Peterson took up the middle for a huge gain.

- Sidney Rice made a couple nice catchers on out routes near the sideline. Sidney does a great job catching the ball first and running second. He's very careful with the football.

- The defensive line, as a whole, applied a ton of pressure to Brooks Bollinger and Tarvaris Jackson. But both quarterbacks, especially Jackson, did a nice job releasing the ball quickly.