Transcript: Petrino pre-Miami press conference

Louisville coach Bobby Petrino held his weekly pre-game press conference on Monday to preview the Sept. 1 showdown with Miami. He provided updates on new quarterback Will Gardner and injured stars Michael Dyer and DeVante Parker.

Here's what he had to say:

Petrino: Game week. We're looking forward to it. We ended camp basically last Friday night, which was good. It's time for us to play a game. It is gonna be a long week. That's the thing that'll be unique about this game, that it's all the way until Monday. I've not experienced that before. One of the things you worry about as a coach is getting into the game fresh, don't leave it on the practice field. We'll have a little bit of a different schedule.

When we get to Thursday, we'll start our normal week, so that'll be our normal Tuesday and the normal Wednesday, Thursday, and we'll try to get into how we work the entire season as far as Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday go. We'll go out tonight and practice a little bit, basically get out there and stretch and do some individual work, do some blitz period, a little 7 on 7 and then hit some special teams situations. Tomorrow we'll come out and have a good, hard practice, like a normal Tuesday practice. That'll be our extra practice for the week, and then Wednesday we'll cut it back and still go out on the field, but not do as much. Then we start our normal week on Thursday.

We named Will Gardner the starter, which I'm sure everyone here understands that. I thought Will had a very good camp. He really showed command of the offense. I thought he did a good job setting the standards of leadership. He's got the players around him to practice hard and perform well. When he speaks up, guys listen to him. He understands the offense and what we're trying to do. I thought he distributed the ball well. One of the big things about this game coming up is the ability to make good decisions and take care of the football, and certainly that's gonna be something Will has to do, and I have the confidence that he'll do that.

Unfortunately we're gonna be without DeVante Parker. He has a broken bone from his fall. The fifth metatarsal, his toe. We'll get it operated on later today. The situation came up Friday night, very late, in the first half of what we were doing. He caught a slant, got tackled and felt something in there. The medical staff made a decision to go to North Carolina along with DeVante and his family. My understanding is the reason they did that was because that will be the doctor who will be at the Combine in the room when they go through his medical history. He's done a number of these same surgeries with a lot of NFL players, so the timeline they gave me is 6-8 weeks. We'll certainly miss him. He's a great player and he's a fun guy to be around because he has such a good attitude and works hard. We'll miss him but we'll have to find a way to move the ball.

What does not having DeVante in the offense do for you guys?

Petrino: He's a tremendous player but guys have to step up and perform. We're fortunate with the situation we're in that we have a lot of experienced players. We have Eli Rogers, Michaelee, Kai De La Cruz, Matt Milton, James Quick -- guys that have played in games and made plays. Certainly they're going to have to contribute. We'll have to rely on our tight ends and running backs. You're never going to replace a guy like DeVante with just one guy.

Was there a fear that he might be out for the season? Six weeks be a decent enough time to return.

Petrino: I knew the way he got off the ground that something might've happened. You always hope for the best, so it's unfortunate.

Was it something he twisted?

Petrino: No, he just kind of landed on the ground with his foot and got tackled.

Does the university pay for that surgery?

Petrino: Most of our players have their own insurance and then we have "rider coverage," so some of the insurance goes through the players if they have it and, if they don't, the university picks it all up. It's not uncommon to have -- we have all the confidence in the world in our medical staff -- but it came down to the situation to the doctor who will be in the room. DeVante has a future in NFL football. To have the doctor who performed the surgery speaking to all the GMs, coaches and medical staff throughout the NFL at the Combine, what better scenario could you have?

How has he taken the news?

Petrino: He's such a calm guy. You wouldn't know that it bothered him that much. Obviously it does. He's a great competitor. He took it better than I did.

Given the injuries that we've seen in the NFL preseason, what is your opinion on preseason tackling?

Petrino: We've probably had less tackling this year than we've ever had. Some of that is designed by the new rules, or the best practices, that are in place. But you do have to go out there and have live periods. You have to go out there and develop your skills. If you don't do that as a coach and prepare them for that, you put them at more risk.

How would your practices in that regard compare to previous years?

Petrino: We used to have some periods, when it wasn't a scrimmage, when you did live tackles. We really haven't done that this year. We're probably three or four from what we've done in past years. Last Friday night was our third live scrimmage-type activity. The first one was a scripted scrimmage, where you do your teamwork, your blitz pickup, your run play-actions. Then we have a normal scrimmage and then last Friday night is a mock game. You try to hit all the situations that could come up in the game.

Some coaches think the quality of tackling has decreased.

Petrino: I think of that sometimes, too. I really do. I think sometimes when you don't tackle as much, you miss more tackles and your technique's not as good. You have to balance it between concussion issues and making sure that we're tackling properly. There's a lot of teaching that goes on.

Miami named a quarterback (freshman Brad Kaaya). Do you have any film on him?

Petrino: We have his high school film. We've studied his high school film. He's a guy who makes a lot of good throws. He looks like a guy who gets the ball out of his hand quick, he has a quick release. He's not a run-around guy. He's more of a pocket passer.

Do you have any more information on Michael Dyer and where his thigh injury stands?

Petrino: Michael has not progressed as well as we thought he would. He still has some swelling in there. He's not been able to get back out on the field yet. I think here today and tomorrow are big days to see if he'll be available for the game. We have made progress. He has gotten better, particularly the last part of the week last week, but we're yet to see if he'll be available for the game.

Would (Kai De La Cruz) step in for DeVante?

Petrino: Kind of a rotation of Kai De La Cruz, Matt Milton -- Eli can play both inside and out, as well as Michaelee. We just have to do a good job of making sure they're fresh out there and full speed coming off the ball.

Has James Quick done everything he needs to do to play?

Petrino: He has, yeah. He's done a good job on all those requirements.

You have Jake Smith and Ryan Mack on that right side of the line. Is that set?

Petrino: It's how we'll start. They did a good job throughout the week last week. We've still been rotating guys in there. Some of that isn't who's going to start the game as much as developing depth. Skylar Lacy's done a nice job. He's really improved in camp. We've got him at the right position. We started him off as a tackle in spring and early this fall, but I think he'll end up being a really good guard for us at some point. Kelby Johnson's a guy we have confidence in and rotated with the ones, so we just have to continue to have the rotation.

How close was the competition between Mack and Kelby Johnson (at right tackle)?

Petrino: It was close throughout the camp. We made the decision to start Mack. Some of that's based on his experience and being at this level before.

Duke Johnson didn't play against Louisville last game. Some of your thoughts on him.

Petrino: He's a really good player. We have to contain. We have to do a good job of setting edges with our outside linebackers and defensive ends. Our safeties have to do a good job of coming down hill and tackling. We have to get 11 guys swarming to the ball. That's the thing we need. We have to run full speed to the ball because he's a guy who can take it the distance.

Do you anticipate any other freshman besides LJ Scott who will see the field?

Petrino: We'll have some early that will contribute on special teams. Obviously LJ Scott's a guy we have all the confidence in. He has the advantage of being here all spring and throughout the summer. We're going to need freshmen to develop and get better as the year goes on.

With Dyer out, what does that do for the running back position?

Petrino: I never said he's out (laughs). I'm hoping he's not. I'm hoping he'll be there and ready to go. We've got good running backs. Dominique Brown's had a great preseason. We've learned a lot more about him and his running style and how he hits well and can catch the ball out of the backfield. LJ's a very powerful guy that's really matured. Lamb has shown his speed the last few days and certainly in the scrimmage the other night. He's still learning the offense. Him not being there for spring ball hurt him a little bit. Radcliff's done a nice job for us. Our first scrimmage, it was scripted, but he took a play and went 80 yards for a touchdown. We have good players at that position.

Will you use all of them?

Petrino: I think we'll wait and see.

Would you rather be coaching the team that lost the bowl game?

Petrino: No, I'd rather be coaching the team I'm coaching right now. I wasn't part of that, either. That's the thing we've tried to make sure -- these are two completely different teams. Different offense, different defense, different quarterback, they have the same defensive coordinator and some of the same guys back on defense, but it's a totally different team. It's going to be a battle.

Do you script the first series?

Petrino: Yeah, we always script our first series. We have one. We'll see if it changes or not. It probably will. We go through a process with our staff. We did it for the mock game the other night. It worked out pretty good but it was against the twos.

Where are you guys at with free safety? You have Sample and Holliman there. Will they both play?

Petrino: Yeah, they'll definitely both play.

Do you go into the game with a set number of snaps to get (freshman QB Reggie Bonnafon)?

Petrino: No. We're really impressed with Reggie. He's had a great camp. He's made a lot of really good throws. He's very mature. We have all the confidence in the world in him. We haven't made a decision yet if we put him in the second quarter or if we put him in the game. We're gonna let the week play out before we decision that.

How has your patience been with grooming a young quarterback?

Petrino: I've always been really patient (laughs). It's one of my strengths. I've been really impressed with Reggie. What we've done is work real hard on his technique and fundamentals, give him a bunch of reps and then we've taken time to challenge him and see how he reacts to that. I love his temperament. He doesn't get upset. It was one of the things I talked to him about in recruiting. Your experience from a year ago is the best thing that could've ever happened to him. His high school team didn't have the year they thought they'd have. As quarterback, that's part of the deal. When something goes wrong, you take the blame. He's got the right temperament, the right personality. It was fun to throw him in the huddle with the ones and watch him and watch the players listen to him and not be intimidated at all.

Will not having Parker restrict your game plan at all?

Petrino: It restricts you a little bit. He's a very talented guy. It'll change things around. I don't know that "restrict" is the right word. But when you miss a guy like that, it'll be different. We're not going to have one guy step in and say, 'You're DeVante.'

Back to Quick: He was charged with having more than 40 grams of marijuana and a scale but he hasn't missed any time. Do you worry about the message that sends?

Petrino: There've been a lot of things that he's been held to in his accountability and his education and his counseling that he went through. He knew there was an opportunity as long as he held to those guidelines and he did everything he has to do.