Preseason Week #4 - Josh McDaniels Weekly Presser

On having limited preparation time before Thursday’s game against Arizona

"We play a Thursday game during the year. I think everybody that has been in the NFL has probably played a Thursday game at some point. You just cram everything in. You have got a couple days. Today, we worked on first, second and third down short yardage stuff and multiple stages of our kicking game. Tomorrow, we’ll finish it up with stuff we haven’t hit yet. Everybody has got the same amount of time. (Arizona) does not have more than we do. You just have got to shorten it down and do what we can do."

On if his preparation is focused internally or on Arizona

"We are doing both. We are doing both for sure. We certainly are doing things that just apply to us, and then we certainly worked quite a little bit on Arizona. You have got to get ready for a game. You can’t go out there and not have prepared for what they do differently than the last so many teams that we have played, or you look silly."

On if QB Kyle Orton will be ready for the regular season opener at Cincinnati

"I don’t know that. I am hopeful we will have all of our players ready to go on opening day. Again, the timetable for that, I would be totally guessing and (would be) probably wrong if I started guessing about that kind of stuff right now."

 On QB Tom Brandstater’s performance at practice today

"Tom did well. He is getting better every day. He is a mature kid. He has really picked up some of the things that sometimes take quarterbacks longer to do: run the huddle, get the formations lined up and all that kind of stuff. It seems to have been an easy transition for him to do that. Now, it comes down to playing and throwing and being accurate. He had a really nice red-area period against the defense today, where he completed, I think, 9-out-of-10. He is getting better every day, and that is what we like to see out of our young guys."

On RB Knowshon Moreno’s return to practice

"He didn’t take a ton of reps today. He took some and looked fine doing it. We are going to work him back in the way we should, not 100% of the reps the first day, but he took plenty (of reps) in the passing game and did some stuff in the running game. We didn’t have pads on, so it is a little different, but he was fine."

On if Moreno will play in Thursday’s game against Arizona

"I don’t know. We are not sure about that yet. That will be probably something we decide here in the next day or so. (We will) see how he feels tomorrow and make a smart decision about that on Thursday."

On if QB Ingle Martin is prepared to play in Thursday’s game against Arizona

"No doubt. He will be ready to go on Thursday. He took some reps in practice today for Arizona. He is a smart kid (and is) picking it up pretty quickly. He will be ready to go if we need him."

On QB Chris Simms’ status

"Hopefully, he will be ready to go next week. He is doing a great job. He is doing everything he can do to get ready as soon as possible. He has got a great work ethic now in the training room. We all saw it on the field, in the weight room and everything else, but he is busting his butt to try to get out here as fast as he can. Hopefully, that will be sooner rather than later."

On approaching the final preseason game prior to trimming the roster to 53 players

"I think there are a lot of things at stake for a lot of people and also some things that we want to get better at in terms of our football team, but we certainly need to evaluate the last so many decisions we need to make. Some of that is going to come down to how people play on Thursday (vs. Arizona) and what we feel about them after the preseason is over with."

On if the 53-man roster will include players intended to only play special teams

"We would definitely do something like that if we felt like the spot was more valuable in that area than it could be as a backup lineman or receiver or whatever. What we have tried to do and accumulate here in the spring and going into the training camp are enough players that can play on defense or on offense that have speed and qualities you want in the kicking game so we don’t have to do that. We would if we had to, but we are not looking to if we can avoid it."