Comments from Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox following the team's practice.
On injuries: Did not participate -Tony Fiammetta (ankle), Ed Johnson (knee) and Jonathan Stewart (foot). Limited participation - Chris Gamble (ankle) and Nick Hayden (head).
On left tackle Jordan Gross' selection to the Pro Bowl being a bright spot in a disappointing season: Yeah. He made it a year ago. He's had a good year. Along with Ryan Kalil, who was a first alternate, I think they've both had outstanding seasons and a big reason why we've been able to generate at least some rush offense throughout the season.
On what makes Gross tick: He's stayed competitive; he's been a leader in the locker room, even through this tough season. I think that transfers to the field and his performance.
On players who were Pro Bowl alternates: Jon Beason - second alternate, Charles Godfrey - sixth alternate and Ryan Kalil - first alternate.
On if it is harder or easier preparing for the Atlanta Falcons after playing them just three weeks ago: As far as reps, knowing what they do offensively and defensively. People tweak the game plan any time you play them twice. They blitzed New Orleans quite a bit more than normal in this last game. There is familiarity there because they are a division foe. They beat us 31-10 last time, and we'll have our work cut out for us to do better than that this time.
On prognosticators giving the Panthers little chance to win given what the Falcons have on the line: I listened to what a lot of people said about last night's game (Minnesota at Philadelphia). But like the NFL, it's hard to figure.
On his emotions going into the last game of the season: They're a division team. There are a lot of things on the table as far as we haven't won on the road this year, we haven't beaten a division team this year. We'd like to finish off the right way and definitely be competitive in the game.
On him personally: It will be another road trip to the Georgia Dome, and we'll see what happens after that.
On what he is most proud of when he looks back on his nine years as the Carolina Panthers head coach: As I said a long time ago, I'm not really in a reflective mood at this stage. But I'll be able to walk out with my head high and be able to look in the mirror.
On if he has any regrets about this season: I wish we could have won more games. Obviously, this is new territory for me, being through this - whether it be as an assistant or the head coach. This is not new news. I think it's a finishing and I think it's kind of been knowledgeable for a couple of years. We'll just leave it at that.
On what went wrong this season: I'm not going to get into all that - the blame game. That will be somebody else's issue.
On if he is confident this season will not affect his ability to get another coaching job in the NFL: Right now it's been the end of a long, hard season. I'll evaluate that when the season is over after Sunday.
On if he will do anything differently this week: Not really. I have a lot of Wednesdays in 21 years, so they all look kind of the same to me.
