LOVIE SMITH: ...to be done with our training camp, with our padded practices, but when you had a couple days off, so it kind of takes a while to get going. But I like to wait until guys finished, all the way up to direct kick and hitting a field goal. You've got to be ready at all positions. You never know when it's next man up.
So that was encouraging to see. We have some bumps and bruises like everybody does this time of the year. Tomorrow we'll transition to getting ready for San Fran. As far as playing time for them, we're going to play the guys a lot more this week. This is the game we've kind of been shooting for to play the guys. I'm not going to say exactly how long right now, but a lot more.
Q. (Regarding Justin.)
LOVIE SMITH: Justin, it's a long time since Justin has been here. But you always have to have -- we have a couple guys.
Normally your punter can kick a little bit, too, so you have a couple of options. But Daray (phonetic), the soccer player, most of those soccer players can boot it through when you need them to.
Q. Going back to San Fran, can you talk about Grayland Arnold?
LOVIE SMITH: He's gotten our attention. For young players that haven't gotten a lot of time, it's about taking advantage of the opportunities that you get. Grayland did some good things for us last year at the end of the year.
He's been productive. We played him a little bit at the safety position, both safety positions, and he can also play the nickel position. He made some good plays on the special teams. That's what training camp is about, guys getting an opportunity and then producing.
Q. How pleased are you with the productivity and the depth of the defensive line?
LOVIE SMITH: Well, we do, and we've known that we've had good depth, but you can never have too many good defensive linemen. It's always going to -- most times it's going to come down to them finishing, being able to finish. Their best rush is at the end of the game. Both of our games we've gotten that.
This week some of the guys that haven't played as much, Maliek Collins will play this week, Jerry Holmes will, so anxious to see those guys play, too.
Q. Can you talk about what you've seen from Kenyon Green?
LOVIE SMITH: Well, I mean, he's missed a lot of time, but getting him back out there, just in a group, was big for us. I think the last couple days he's practiced with us he's done well. No lingering effects from the previous injury. Hopefully we'll be able to do something with him this weekend.
Q. Do you view him as a starter?
LOVIE SMITH: We're not naming many starters. Normally a first-round draft pick eventually is going to move into that role, but it'll play itself out.
Q. I know you're not naming starters right now, but you didn't play (indiscernible); what made you feel so comfortable in that decision?
LOVIE SMITH: Just what we saw against the Saints. Guys, on training camp, once you see a little bit from one guy, when you have a lot of running backs you've got to let them all have an opportunity.
So don't look too much into it. We've seen some good things from Damion, but some good things from the other guys, too.
Q. (Indiscernible.)
LOVIE SMITH: No, he has an injury right now, you know, any guy that's not practicing. We don't think it's anything too serious, but we'll see -- I'm not sure if he'll be able to go this week, but eventually he'll be out there.
Q. You mentioned getting other guys in that backfield and the fullback group, undrafted free agent Troy Harrison catch your eye this past week?
LOVIE SMITH: He's caught our eye throughout camp. Versatile player and was a defensive lineman in college, low linebacker. Normally those guys can transition over to the fullback position. Brings a lot of athletic ability. He's an excellent special teams player, also, good lead blocker. We like a lot of things that he's done.
Q. After the third preseason game, the final preseason game on Thursday, you have a long layoff. How difficult will that be to keep things going? What you have going right now as far as progress?
LOVIE SMITH: I mean, everybody has a long one. That's just the nature of our game. Guys grind, grind, grind, and then guys get a chance to heal up, which we'll be able to do.
We got a lot of good work in, so that's the part of it we planned for. It won't stop any of our preparation as we go forward getting ready for Indy after this last game.
Q. With the (indiscernible) you guys kept it pretty simple, pretty basic. How does that look in terms of evaluating the first-team offense?
LOVIE SMITH: I don't think it's that difficult. We have games that we get a chance to see them. We've gotten a chance to see them a little bit in practice and experience -- most decisions to me aren't that hard at the end if you let guys continue to play.
We've seen everybody on our team a long period of time. Feel like we have a pretty good handle on how this is going to play out. But we have one more chance to maybe let one of the guys step up that we haven't seen.
I see Grayland Arnold over here talking to someone; he's been in the background. Hopefully we'll have somebody this last game kind of step up and make us take notice, too.
Q. (Indiscernible) throughout the pre-season, there's been a little bit of a lapse in that first team. Where have you seen some people step up, or who do you need to step up to fill that role?
LOVIE SMITH: You've got to keep in mind that we haven't played our entire offense together. We've had two, three linemen out, tight end not in there, running back wasn't in there this week; wide receiver wasn't there.
So I wouldn't put too much into it. We like what we're getting in practice. Those guys are healthy, will be ready to go when we need to go.
Q. Are you able to say if Christian Harrison is closer to coming back?
LOVIE SMITH: He's closer, but they're all a little closer. He's not going to play this week. He's not practicing yet. Whenever you have a soft tissue injury it takes a while. He eventually will be out there.
It's not anything that's going to be season-ending or anything like that. He was making a lot of progress -- whenever you have an injury on a young player it's not an ideal situation, but, again, eventually he'll be out there. We can't wait. He's going to help us win a lot of games eventually.
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FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports