Comments from Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox following the team's morning training camp practice.
On injuries: Thomas Davis (PUP - knee), Aaron Francisco (hamstring), Chris Gamble (knee), Mike Goodson (ankle), Trent Guy (hamstring), Nick Hayden (oblique), Ed Johnson (sick), Charly Martin (finger), Eric Moore (hamstring), Jeff Otah (PUP - knee), Jordan Senn (shoulder), Steve Smith (PUP - arm), Jonathan Stewart (PUP - foot), Tyrell Sutton (calf), Hilee Taylor (knee) and Garry Williams (shoulder).
On if he is worried about cornerback Chris Gamble, who has been in and out of practice with a knee inury: Not really. It's not serious. It's something that flared up that we're monitoring. It's pretty normal for this time of year in training camp.
On if he plans to scale back practice at Fan Fest with so many players injured: It'll be typical - 36 plays. We'll have a little seven-on-seven for 15 plays prior and some special teams work. We'll go ones against twos, twos against ones and then all the rest for 12 plays, so it will be a 36-play scrimmage.
On what he hopes to get out of Fan Fest from a coaching standpoint: It's a little bit getting their feet wet as far as live contact before our first preseason game. We've been in camp longer this year because we start earlier, so it will be a short week next week. It (Fan Fest) will give them a little bit of a taste of live action as we start preparing for an opponent in Baltimore the following Thursday.
On how much guard Duke Robinson will play at Fan Fest: He'll get his fair share. He'll get a chance and he might get a chance at more than one position.
On how Robinson is holding up conditioning wise: Good. He had passed his original (conditioning) test but came in a little bit overweight, and we wanted to make sure he could pass it again. It took him maybe an extra day, but he's looked good out on the field and he's held up pretty good conditioning wise.
On what he thought about Robinson's pancake block on linebacker James Anderson during Thursday's practice: Pretty good. He's a powerful man.
On defensive tackle Louis Leonard: We're getting him back in football shape. He came off offseason surgery, so we're bringing him back a little bit slower, which is smart. We've got time yet. We've got four preseason games as well as our Fan Fest to bring that along. We've got a lot of guys in that boat right now, whether they're on PUP or off PUP, that are missing time. Again, we've got a plan, and, hopefully, it works.
On wide receiver Dexter Jackson: He's a guy that was well thought of coming out of college. It didn't work out at his original team (Tampa Bay). He's a guy that's got good speed and has got good ability after the catch. We took a look at him last year on the practice squad. He had a good morning this morning. Until we get rolling and get in some of these preseason games, we've got a lot of guys there, a lot of them unproven, and they'll make that decision based on how they perform.
On how running back Josh Vaughan has looked: Good. He's a guy we didn't know a lot about when he came to us. He caught the coaches' eyes in our offseason workouts. He's smart; he picks up the game fast; and he seems to have good vision. We'll get a chance to see what he looks like tomorrow with it being our first live look.
