MIKE PETTINE FRIDAY PRESS CONFERENCE TRANSCRIPT

On how RB Ben Tate came out of the week:

“Good. He progressed every day. We increased his workload. He was full-go today.”

On if he’s made a decision at long snapper:

“No, not yet. I’m going to get with (special teams coordinator) Chris (Tabor) this afternoon and just kind of see. He took them outside for a little bit to snap in the weather. We filmed it so I’ll get a chance to peek at that with him, and we’ll make a decision.”

On if he thinks the problems with the run defense have been solved:

“You never know until you get out, but we’re encouraged by the progress that we made. We hope that the mistakes that were made aren’t repeated. It’s something where we felt we addressed it and improved it, but you never know the results until you get out there.”

On what he liked about offensive line coach Andy Moeller, if their paths crossed in Baltimore and if he liked the fact that offensive coordinator Kyle Shanahan was bringing this team or if he would have brought Moeller in either way:

“Yeah, we coached together for a year. It’s likely that no matter what offensive coordinator I brought in, I was going to hire Andy as the o-line coach. He’s a football coach, another coach’s kid. He grew up in the game, and he just loves it, loves it. (He’s) very passionate about it. (He has a) great rapport with his players. That was an easy hire for me.”

On if he anticipates the long snapper decision to be made today or tomorrow:

“More than likely today.”

On if there would be a benefit of making the move today or tomorrow:

“I think just by the way the rules are with the league, we have by 4 p.m. tomorrow to make a move.”

On his comment in the spring about not being a fan of the draft being pushed back two weeks and what he thinks of the fact that it moved up by one week:

“Probably the last thing on my mind is next year’s draft (laughter). I think that was also a function of being the last staff hired and also having our players in early. Those things kind of combined to make it – It was actually helpful last year to have it pushed back. I think if you polled the league, I’d be in that boat, as well, that getting it back to where it was is beneficial.”

On what he’s seen in DB Joe Haden in practice:

“Not much different. I mean he comes out, Joe is Joe. He’s the same, has got a smile on his face, hopping around, high energy. He practices hard. He’s not pressing. It’s not like, ‘Hey, I have to be different so I’m going to press.’ He goes full in practice all the time. It’s a great example for our younger guys. How he practices, it’s a great example to set.”

On if teams are picking on him because when teams target him he has the third-highest passer rating against in the league, according to NFL Network:

“I don’t follow those statistics, though. We give him a tough matchup. If he’s covering the best receiver, a lot of times he’s going to get thrown at or there are a lot of times where the read, based on how we line him up, the read is going to take the ball to him. That comes with the territory of being in that position.”

On if a player has ever said anything to him about how he talks about players and their play:

“Maybe a few instances there were, but to me, I just think guys know that I’m going to be straightforward. I think, for the most part, the vast majority of them appreciate that. I just don’t think you can [be indirect]. That way to go doesn’t really help anybody. I’d rather be straightforward and have it might not necessarily be what they want to hear, but I think just given the urgency we have, you just don’t have a lot of time to beat around the bush with players. I know some of them that are sensitive, but if you’re sensitive to criticism in the NFL, then you’re going to struggle no matter what.”

On if somebody taught him to be candid with the media:

“It was the house I grew up in. My dad didn’t mince words. When he wanted to say something, he said it.”

On LB Barkevious Mingo saying that he would do anything that’s asked of him but he wants to get back to rushing the passer and if he likes hearing that:

“Sure, you want guys to say, ‘Hey, listen, I think I can help the team make plays.’ But we’re still all about putting our guys in the best position for us to be successful. He’ll get his opportunities to rush the passer, and we’re hopeful that he can make the most of them.”

On if it’s a point of pride among coaches to have a good record after a bye week:

“I think that you’ll look to guys like – I think (Chiefs Head Coach) Andy Reid for the longest time had a really good record out of the bye. It is a copycat league so you try to go, ‘OK what was the schedule? What did they do?’ I also think you have to look at when your bye is. We’ll see how it worked out. I kind of blended a couple different systems that I’ve been in. The fact that it was earlier, we probably did a little bit more than maybe later in the year. We probably would have given them an extra day off if it was later in the year, but because it was so early, we went ahead and got out there and worked on corrections and got a little bit more of a head start on Tennessee. It’s something that you’re aware of. You look at the guys around the league that have had the success.”