LOVIE SMITH: You always want to get to the first day to put pads on. We're not going to all of a sudden Thursday have a scrimmage or anything like that, but it's a different game when you get the pads on. You try not to make too many big impressions where you are until you put together a few days like this. Good to get the first day in, pads. We'll practice in pads the next two days really, so we should be able to see some more things from our team.
Quarterback continues to protect the football. We're progressing along, adding different situations, which we want to get to the day, of course, we finish up. Most games are going to end up in a two-minute situation, so that's really important for us. No major injuries to report.
I'll take your questions.
Q. Is there an update on Kevin Hogan?
LOVIE SMITH: Is there anything come out officially?
Q. Not officially.
LOVIE SMITH: Kevin wasn't -- we'll respond to it a little bit later. He was not here right now. Next day I'll talk about Kevin a little bit.
Q. Brevin and Nico had some reaching catches. You talked about how they could be one-on-one. What did you see from them today and how they progressed?
LOVIE SMITH: Well, Brevin is a good match-up. It's a tight end. It's a big receiver. Against linebacker safeties, we should have the advantage. And Nico versus cornerback, he's a big body. Those are two guys that need to be productive for us this coming year. I know they can be. They're both talented athletes. It's left up to us to get them involved. Good to see them step up a little bit today.
Q. You mentioned the 7-on-7 period you want to go out there and challenge your defense a little bit. What was the message there about taking the football away? What kind of standard are you trying to set?
LOVIE SMITH: Well, hopefully every practice I'm doing that, but just didn't feel like the standard of excellence, us playing good ball, I didn't feel like we were playing our best ball as much as anything. Didn't really have to go out and tell them that, of course. We have a lot of veterans that are leading the way before I get a chance to voice my opinion on that. The play wasn't where we needed to be.
Q. And the standard is?
LOVIE SMITH: Excellence. Better play than that. As a head football coach, in those situations I'm an offensive coach, so I was pretty happy about that.
Q. You mentioned the other day you have two veteran tackles in the NFL. What separates Laremy and what sets him apart?
LOVIE SMITH: I mean, we could talk a while about what separates Laremy. There's a reason we pay him more than anybody else on our football team. He's not a good player, he's a special player, a special man, his presence around.
But when I talk about the tackle position, Tytus is a good player, Cedric, Charlie. We feel like we have a strong four with Deculus coming up, also. Maybe our strongest position on our team.
Q. What have you seen from Isaac Yiadom?
LOVIE SMITH: Big body. He's physical, likes to tackle. Our corners have to want to tackle. He'll be a special team contributor for us, a good addition since he came into the building. Again, good target, big body, does all the things we're locking for in a corner.
Q. What are you seeing from the defensive line? I know you want to rotate a lot of guys. What do you want to see from them at this point?
LOVIE SMITH: Production. Right now we are working a lot of different combinations. Early in camp you just want to get as many guys as possible on video. We have three preseason games. We'll get into more detailed stuff -- not detailed stuff, more situations where we isolate on exactly who's playing with what group, but right now we're just trying to get everybody on video to make a good evaluation.
Q. Does that feel like to you like y'all's deepest position group?
LOVIE SMITH: We like that position. I've said -- I'm going to say the same thing about our linebacker position. We have depth at those positions.
Q. There's been talk about the offensive line. What have you seen out of Charlie Heck? It seems like you guys have them playing --
LOVIE SMITH: That helps you when you can do multiple things. Charlie can. I think he's a starting offensive tackle in the league, and he's in our third tackle, fourth tackle slot. He and Cedric both have played starting football. That's why I talk about the strength of that position.
Q. Some of the younger blocking receivers, Davion Davis, Connor Wedington, Jalen Camp, they kind of have stood out a little bit. What have you seen from them and what do you like about them?
LOVIE SMITH: Well, first day of pads, what I've seen from them is they've showed up every day. They're getting better. If you come out every day, they have an excellent coach coaching them up, and they'll pick their moments of course to make plays. You notice them that they of course is a good thing. We've noticed quite a few good things they've done.
Q. What does Mario Addison add to your team?
LOVIE SMITH: As we add defensive linemen, can they rush the passer. Start with that. Mario has -- I think he had seven sacks last year in a backup role. I drafted him, I signed him as a free agent when he first came in the league. I've known him for a long time. He knows how we want to play football. A great veteran presence in the locker room. Love everything that he's done and he'll do for us.
Q. We got to see you do two-minute drill. How do you approach that situation, in-game situation approach to the off-season? How do you approach that for this season?
LOVIE SMITH: What do you mean?
Q. Like sometimes people out of the room are --
LOVIE SMITH: As head coach I'm going to be in charge of all those two-minute situations like everything else. We're no different. How do I approach it? Situations come up, we make decisions. Don't look too much into that, all right?
Q. I seen Derek Stingley and Brandin Cooks out there working out together after practice. How important is that for Derek's development, getting to work with a pro like Brandin?
LOVIE SMITH: Well, I think that's really good after practice. I like it even more in practice. Derek right now is getting -- like the rest of the group, he's getting I think just about every period except the last one we held him out. He's getting all of the work. He'll continue to get better. Every rep he goes against Brandin Cooks will make him a better player. Simple as that.
Q. Deshaun Watson was suspended today and last year was kind of a circus at camp getting questions about him all the time. Is it a relief to not have to deal with that this year at camp and start fresh?
LOVIE SMITH: What happened again? Another player for somebody else's team? I ain't paid a whole -- as you can see, 91 guys here kind of occupying all of our time. I know the rest of the league is kind of moving on and whatever is happening they're good for.
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