Comments from Carolina Panthers head coach John Fox following the team's summer school practice.
On Panthers Owner/Founder Jerry Richardson being at practice: It was great. He looks great; he's getting stronger by the day; and everything has gone well with the procedure he had. It was great seeing him out here.
On when Mr. Richardson last attended practice: It's been awhile. I can't tell you (when). It's been a year. It was well documented that when he came to the games (last season), he sat in his box. It's good to see him out here. He looks great; he's lost weight; he looks like he's getting stronger, so we're happy to see that.
On if practice was livelier because of Mr. Richardson's attendance: Sure. We tease each other, but coaches were coaching harder, players were playing harder. There's no doubt that affects it.
On the challenge of defending three marquee tight ends - Tony Gonzalez (Atlanta), Jeremy Shockey (New Orleans) and Kellen Winslow (Tampa Bay) - in the NFC South: Every year you are playing against the best in the world. We so Tony last year when we played Kansas City and a couple of years ago we saw Winslow (with Cleveland), so we know the players. That's why it's the NFL. Everybody is good at every position, so it's not just the tight end position. All of those teams in our division, we think, upgraded their tight end position.
On if playing teams with such talented tight ends changes anything defensively for the Panthers: No. I think as we go through this offseason, whether it's right now in OTA's or whether it's in training camp, you're getting ready for a whole season. There are people that have different match-ups, and you have a package that can, hopefully, take care of those matchups.
On the importance of this season and if more is expected from third-year wide receiver Dwayne Jarrett in 2009: I think every year is that for everybody and not just Dwayne Jarrett. That's the challenge every year.
