Comments from Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox following the team's practice.
On injuries: Did not participate: Jake Delhomme - right finger, Richard Marshall - ankle, and Tyrell Sutton - thigh. Full participation: Tyler Brayton - concussion, Na'il Diggs - ribs, Muhsin Muhammad - knee, and Jonathan Stewart - toe.
On how remarkable it is that Vikings quarterback Brett Favre is playing as well as he is at 40 years old: He's been a great player from the time he got his first opportunity to start. With experience and time you understand the game so much better; you play the game even faster. Maybe you are a little bit more sore on Monday than you were 15 years earlier. You'd have to ask him that. But at the end of the day he's operating as well as I've ever seen him operate as far as where to go with the ball, when he does go, being on target. I think he's having a remarkable year.
On if Favre is being smarter with the ball this year: That's hard to say. You've got to have a little bit of confidence to play that position. He definitely has confidence in his ability, which everybody out there does and should. But he's played very good at the quarterback position as far as making the right decisions, making big plays. He's not just out there managing the game. He's making throws. He's doing a good job on third down, doing a good job on play action. He's made a lot of plays. He's probably not running with the football as much as he has in the past, but there's nothing that says you have to at the quarterback position.
On the most memorable thing Favre has done against him: The guy always does remarkable stuff. He makes great plays. Different teams - we've won some, he's won some. But at the end of the day you know you better come to play.
On comparing Panthers defensive end Julius Peppers and Vikings defensive end Jared Allen: First of all, they are both great players and have had great production consistently in this league, Julius being with one team and Jared being with a couple of different teams. They probably came into the league different, meaning what round and all those kind of things. But at the end of the day it's not where you start the race; it's where you finish and how you produce. It's like comparing quarterbacks over history or great wide receivers or great running backs. The key is their production, and that's where you gain respect of your peers and the people in the league, and both those guys have done that.
What you look at as a coach is the production. Although they're different, they're productive. Some guys do it different ways, and the key is they've both been very productive.
On the death of Bengals wide receiver Chris Henry: It's very unfortunate. You never want to see that (happen) to a young person or any person for that matter.
On if he knew Henry: Yeah. (We scouted him) when he was coming out (of college - West Virginia). I knew a little bit more about him being where he was from as far as where he played his college ball. I knew a lot of people on that staff and I'm close to a lot of people in the Bengals organization. I know it's shocking to everybody in the league and for his family, and our prayers and well wishes go out.
