Comments from Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox following the team's summer school practice.
On cornerback Richard Marshall's participation: Richard's been a productive player for us. I don't look at that being any different. He came in here, he's in great shape. Obviously, he's worked very hard this offseason. He's made a lot of plays out there just in two days of practice.
On how linebacker Thomas Davis looks: Very good. He's worked really hard. I think he's probably ahead of schedule. We'll definitely take it slow with him, though, to make sure he's ready to go. But he's out there working with the guys. He's in great shape, worked very hard to rehab and actually ran a pretty good testing day 40 (yard dash) for us. We feel good about his progress.
On if the team has picked up where it left off in minicamp: Yeah. We've got some guys that we're bringing back off of offseason surgeries. Other than those guys I think the tempo was good. We were six minutes ahead of schedule today, so we're rolling it at them pretty fast and they're doing a good job of getting in their playbooks and knowing their information.
On emphasizing passing in the first few days of summer school: Yeah. We kind of adjusted that a little bit. As far as output last year we were way more efficient running the football than we were passing and we've got a young bunch of quarterbacks and receiving corps, so we want to emphasize that. I'm of the belief that you get what you emphasize. So that's a little bit different than in years past.
On having tackle Jordan Gross back: Jordan has been a fixture just like we thought he would be when we drafted him. He's been that guy - both as a performer on the field and as a leader in the locker room and of that unit. So any time you get a guy of his caliber back in there it's definitely helpful.
On if Gross will participate in team drills or only individual: We'll take our time. He's over there working with his line mates right now. We'll evaluate that with the medical staff and we'll have to wait and see.
On what he tells players when the business side of the game infringes on the football side: This is a business. There is two sides of NFL football. There is football and then there is business. I understand that. We've (Richard and I) talked. I want to make sure, and he knows this, that he didn't do anything to hurt his performance. And I don't think he has to this point. He obviously has worked very hard. He's not the first guy to ever miss our offseason conditioning (program) that came back in great shape. He's here now and he looks very good.
