Martz On The Mike: Aug. 1, 2002
RamsNation News
On The Practice Schedule:
"The way our schedule goes is that we go two on, and then one practice. We really believe in the rotation of the third day. Olympic athletes and coaches have always said that third day you need to be allowed to recover, and that’s what we try to do. On the third day we’ll be out here in shells only. We’ll do a walk through with special teams in the morning with a lot of meetings to review all the tape that we haven’t been able to get to. Then we’ll go right back to the two-a-day schedule the next two days. Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday of next week we’ll be up in the upper field under the lights. That will be our schedule."
On The Heat:
"I think the thing with Korey Stringer, obviously, has got everybody’s attention. I think that you can’t help but react to that. By the same token, we’ve always tried to manage the heat as well as we can. I just don’t believe that dealing with the heat is easy. It doesn’t have anything to do with toughness. We have to get acclimated to it and you have to be careful while you’re exposing them to being acclimated. Then you can put a little more on them in terms of load."
On S Steve Bellisari:
"I would expect him to play for us this year. There’s an injury situation he might play just like Rich Coady (S) did his rookie year. Right now he is the back-up strong safety and he’s going to have to contribute a for us a great deal on special teams."
Comparing LB Jaimie Duncan and London Fletcher:
"They’re completely different people with how they conduct themselves. London was a very gregarious guy. Jamie’s very quiet, very introspective. Jamie has a much better grasp of the defense because he’s been in it for a number of years now. The pass coverage is something that he’s a little more advanced in than London. He’s just a little bit further along than London."
On Coaching Consultant Ernie Zampese:
"You get bogged down from an x and o standpoint. He’s there to go over personnel issue. He’s another set of eyes, for me in terms of all the decisions that you make in my position. It really helps. He gives you someone who’s been around for a number of years. He has excellent judgment. When you have somebody like that to help you and talk about things. If you’re about to make a mistake about something he can steer you from it. He’s a big help to me in every aspect."
On DT Ryan Pickett:
"He’s doing really well. Of all the players on our football team, he’s been the most remarkable in both mini-camp and camp so far."