Transcript provided by the St. Louis Rams
Post Practice 1 – Rams Offensive Tackle Rodger Saffold – July 29, 2010
(On what position he feels most comfortable at)
“Right now I’m just a tackle. Being left or right really doesn’t matter at this point. All I want to do is continue to try help out the team. Wherever I’m put is where I’m going to be and I’ll be happy with that.”
(On if he’s more comfortable at left tackle because of his college experience)
“Yeah, of course, I’m more comfortable there, but I’m definitely trying to train my body to play both sides of the position so when ever we do drills or anything, I’m making sure I do the left side and the right side so I can continue to be prepared.”
(On being able to talk about football and not his contract)
“Oh my goodness, I was talking about how it was like a real weight lifted up off of my shoulders. I felt like I was 205 again, back in high school. It really felt good to just come out here, be on time and be with all the guys.”
(On if it’s possible to prepare in the summer for the start of training camp)
“Oh man, I’m going to tell you guys right now, there is no way that you can prepare for this, okay? This is something that you’ve got to continue to try to work towards. You know like you can do all of the conditioning that you want, but when you practice, it’s more of like a lift than conditioning. You definitely want to be conditioned, you want to be able to run all over the field, but when you’re in there, when you’re in the trenches like I am, it’s tough every play.”
(On his willingness to carry a veteran’s pads and such)
“I have no problem with that. I’ve already carried my fair share of helmets, brought out towels to people, bought snacks and stuff. I mean, that’s fine with me. I have no problem with that.”
(On his buying snacks not being the last time his teammates make him pick up a tab)
“Oh, no, but it’s okay. I’m okay, I think I’ll be alright.”
(On his efforts to make contact with Orlando Pace this summer)
“He is a hard guy to reach I’m finding out. But I really do appreciate him, once again, letting me have the (jersey) number. Even though it seems like we don’t talk on a big basis, he talks to people that are on the team and he conveys messages to me when he can’t get at me. So I really do appreciate that.”
(On if he’s talked to Pace)
“No, I get messages through to him. He’s definitely let it be known (that’s he’s okay with me wearing 76), but there’s going to be one point where I get a hold of him and then I’ll probably have nothing to say and that would just make me mad.”
(On how much he played right tackle in the spring)
“In the spring I played right tackle pretty much about half and then played left tackle and then I hurt my knee a little bit. Other than that, I’ve been fine. They just move me around. (They) want see what’s going on. I think it’s good that they do that. It just increases the competition on the field.”
(On how much weight he loses in a practice)
“About four pounds, which is not that bad. What really gets scary is when you start seeing guys lose seven or eight pounds in one practice, especially when we’re only out here for about an hour and a half. So the heat can really get at us. We really want to stay away from all heat illnesses.”
