QUOTING: Jon Gruden 10/16/03

Head Coach Jon Gruden, October 16, 2003

(on injured players)
"Again, (Joe) Jurevicius did not practice. He's doubtful. Keyshawn didn't practice. I think he's getting a little bit better but (he's) still very sore. (Jason) Whittle did not practice; he's questionable. (Ken) Dilger did not practice; he's still questionable, although he's making a little more progress. And Brian Kelly practiced and appears to be moving around pretty good; same with Shelton Quarles."

(on if he anticipates LB Shelton Quarles playing on Sunday)
"I'm confident he has a chance to play. I've got to turn some of these matters over to the training staff. They're going to use the film, use the next day or two to make their final analysis. We
should know sometime before kickoff. It looks pretty good, but I've been saying that for some time."

(on the NFL admitting a bad call against Indianapolis)
"Everybody makes mistakes, you know what I mean? It takes a real man to admit when they do, and I commend them for that. But that doesn't help us now."

(on who will play nickel back if Brian Kelly is back in the lineup)
"We've got so many rotations going on right now, there's a good chance we'll play very similar to how we played last year, with (Jermaine) Phillips at safety, (Dwight) Smith at corner and (Ronde)
Barber kicking inside. It will be very similar with the exception of Jermaine Phillips replacing Dexter Jackson. But, again, we've worked on the contingency plans more than we've worked on
the master plan. Hopefully, that makes us a better team in the long season. We've worked a lot of different tight ends, different wideouts, Jiminy Christmas, different fullbacks, different linemen,
and we're only five games into the season. We do have an opportunity to test our contingency plans and our depth, that's for sure."

(on if it's challenging to work with improvised lineups)
"Yeah, it is a challenge. You go to training camp and you have an entire offseason to get your roster in place, draw up plays for certain guys and certain situations. Now it's time to rally around
healthy people. Every team to some degree has to go through it. We're obviously going through great measures."

(on if Kerry Jenkins will play left guard and Cosey Coleman right guard if Jason Whittle can't play)
"Well, we'll see. We're not going to rule out Whittle yet, but that is a possibility, yes?"

(on why the team is leaving for San Francisco on Friday)
"It's a one o'clock game. Had it been a four o'clock game or a night game on Sunday, maybe we would have left on Saturday. But to fly four or five hours, have a three-hour time change and play at one o'clock Sunday, we felt it would be wise to give our players some down time in California on Friday afternoon, let them get a good night's sleep. They'll have a full day Saturday to get themselves acquainted with the time zone and get their body clocks organized."

(on if it's special for him to go back to the Bay area)
"Yeah. I mean, I'm not going there to see friends, really, or do anything but just try to do what we can to win. I liked living there. I like living down here, too. I just like living."

(on the situation in San Francisco when he was an assistant coach for the 49ers)
"I've said it so many times: That was the greatest football team I've ever seen. Our backup quarterback was Steve Young. We had three nose tackles – Fred Smerlas, Jim Burt and Michael
Carter. That was a machine. The two-time defending World Champions. A lot of head coaches on that staff – (Mike) Holmgren and Ray Rhodes – (plus) Bobb MicKittrick, Bill McPherson. (They
had) a dynamite coaching staff, great players, and they knew how to win. Jerry Rice, his fastball was clocked at about 180 miles per hour back then. He was incredible. And (Joe) Montana was
in his heyday. It was quite an impression made on me at that time."

(on if it was a great learning situation)
"If you get around good people, great players and good guys, you have a chance for some of that to rub off on you. I don't know if it did or not, but I tried every way I could to learn."

(on Dwight Smith playing both safety and cornerback)
"It's a different transition, but fortunately he's had a lot of background playing there. It's no different than Will Heller. It's quite a transition for Will Heller and Todd Yoder. A real transition is
going on this week for a lot of guys. But you've got pro football players, you've got pro coaches and our job is to work together to try to get them ready. It will be a challenge."

(on finding a player like Smith who can go from one position to another during the season)
"It's rare. That's the beauty of a guy like Dwight Smith. He proved that he could move from corner to safety. Obviously, he'll have to prove again that he can move from safety back to corner, which we think he did last week against a fine offensive attack in Washington. It's taxing, it's no question."

(on if the team will still be able to use it's entire tight end package if Ken Dilger is out)
"Well, we did last week. You've got to live in your hopes, not your fears. Whatever way gives a chance, in our opinion, to move the ball and block these people, whether it's two tight ends or four
receivers. We've got to see who's healthy and who we feel gives us a chance to win."

(on if newly-signed FB Cecil Martin can have an impact on special teams)
"We think he can. He ran a 4.74 (40-yard dash) on grass here, a 4.78, pretty good times. He's got some speed to run and cover and he's had some of that in his history. He's working through
learning the system. There are some (thoughts) out there that our system is just like their system (in Oakland), that we all come from the same playbook, but it's going to take him a little time to
get acclimated to terminology. There are some subtleties that are different, but we think he can."

[DUTCH IS BACK]

(on if it's special for him to go back to the Bay area) "Yeah. I mean, I'm not going there to see friends, really, or do anything but just try to do what we can to win. I liked living there. I like living down here, too. I just like living."

LOL.