I'm sure that many folks had either listened to Kubiak or read the transcription.
I just want to mention the part about the O-line:
(on the stellar play of the offensive line this season) “Well, you know what, I’m going to start with their coach first, because I’m going to tell you what, John Benton, the job he did this year, I mean he is a – you know, when John came to me a couple of years ago, I never had so many calls from older coaches telling me how good they thought this young coach was. And when I brought him here, of course (Mike) Sherman was here to work with him at that spot, too, because I really didn’t know that much about John; I just really was going on reputation and the guys that were really backing him. And, man, he’s done a tremendous job. He’s bringing along young players. He’s great with the older guys.
“The key to the group is they were all out there. They played, for the most part, once we got settled down once we lost Steve (McKinney), the whole group played all year until of course Fred (Weary) had his situation. But Ephraim (Salaam), the way he played all year long. Chester (Pitts) was out there every snap, has become a better player in the last two years. Every time I’ve been around him, he’s gotten better. Mike Flanagan was healthy, played extremely well, held the group together. (Mike) Brisiel is a guy who got one opportunity and, boy, did he take advantage of it. He’s going to be hard to get out of there. And then I think Eric (Winston) has become a pro. I mean, the biggest compliment to pay Eric right now is we’re in the last week of the season, he had a back problem, he went out there and played every play yesterday. So he’s got it figured out. So do we need to get better there? Yes. And we’ve got some young guys to give us a chance to help us there. We need that young tackle, that left tackle that we think’s the answer for this organization for a long, long time and that Ephraim can help bring along with us. We’ve got to go find that answer. Of course (Rashad) Butler’s a great pickup by Rick (Smith). We’ll see where he’s at, but everybody in this league’s looking for somebody who can protect the quarterback’s blindside for many, many years, and we’re no different at this point.”
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(on if there is any chance that T Charles Spencer returns) “You know, I saw him up in the office this morning, and I was teasing him. I said, ‘Charlie, are you checking out?’ and I said, ‘I want to make sure you check in next year.’ He’s a great kid. He’s been through a hard deal. That’s a serious injury. I think I’ve said this to y’all, over the course of the past month, for the first time in the last year or so, I’ve had doctors and I have trainers telling me that they feel pretty good that he’s going to make it back and play again. That wasn’t the case for a long time, so I’m encouraged by that, and he is running on the treadmill with a certain percentage of his body weight, so that’s a positive. Now, when Charles makes the move to come back, do we put him at guard, do we get him off the edge, those are questions that we have to answer. But Charles should be in a football mode when we get to the offseason program, so that’s a positive thing.”
