RE: Coming off a tough loss, how have you seen your team respond? 

“I think obviously we got our feelings hurt, we got our nose rubbed in it and so we’ve got to put our head down, get focused and get back to work.  I think they responded well, even though Monday was a planned day off, they wanted to get together and get back at it and take a look at it while it was fresh in our minds to make corrections.”

RE: What made you guys so confident that Giovanni Bernard was going to be a productive NFL player despite his injured past?

“He had overcome his injuries and literally if you can pass a physical here, you are in pretty good shape.  There were no reservations that way, medically, obviously guys who play football occasionally get injured but he didn’t have anything that was going to be debilitating and linger and stay very long.  We were really comfortable with him and his abilities as well as his vision, strength, and stature.  What we thought was a guy who looked like he was going to be a productive NFL player.”

RE: Did you have a really good idea that Carolina was going to take Cam (Newton), or at least that he wasn’t going to fall to you guys at number four?

“Well I didn’t have any idea.  Actually it’s funny because Ron (Rivera) and I had a talk early on about him becoming a first time head coach and so forth and what my experiences were and it worked out great for them.”

RE: What did you like out of Newton as a junior at Auburn?

“Well he has it in every way. We felt like he really could come on right away as a productive rookie and be a starter and that we could build the offense around him and that he would just keep emerging.  Everywhere he played he won, he’s been a great leader everywhere he’s been and we were just really comfortable with him.  We spent a lot of time with him and his family and we tried to get to know everything we could about Cam Newton.”

RE: Are you guys preparing for Newton to be able to run the ball like he has in the past three years or are you looking more so at how he’s run the past few weeks?

“Well I think that they had the designed runs back in the offense last week so obviously they are feeling better about where he is physically.  The fact that those were back in the plan I would imagine they will continue to expand on those things.”

RE: Have you seen comfort around the locker room and the offense knowing that Andy Dalton is the future of this team for the foreseeable future?

“Well there’s no question that the discussions that Andy and I had were that we all hoped that this thing got done and rectified and he could move forward so he didn’t have to answer that question during every press conference.  Heaven forbid you have a bad week and now that becomes a topic of discussion.  Now he’s just been able to go and be Andy and play and do his thing which he’s done very well.”

RE: How does that wear on a player, team and organization?  You mentioned press conference and that is what the quarterback here and the organization here has had to face the past couple weeks and months.

“Well it is just one where you’ve got to have someone stand up each and every week and say we are not going to answer that question.  That is the stance that Andy (Dalton) and I had taken and our PR staff had to do a good job of that.  We are not going to keep asking that question each and every week so when this is done it will be done and then we will move forward.  We were going to get it done, Andy wanted it done and those were the stances we had taken and it was all true.  Luckily we didn’t have to continue on that line of questioning which we all have to answer from time to time.”

RE: What have you seen out of Luke Kuechly in his first couple years in the NFL?

“I thought he was one of the best players in the draft.  He’s done just what we expected him to do and on top of that he is even a better person.  He’s a fine player and a fine kid.  I’ve known Luke since he and my son played summer lacrosse together for a long time; I’m probably the biggest fan of his from Cincinnati other than his parents.”

RE: What was little Luke Kuechly like?

“I just observed from afar but this is a guy who is everything you want.  My biggest question for him when he was visiting was if he could afford to play here at home in Cincinnati because we are going to have to buy out the stadium every week and he was all for that.  He’s a wonderful, wonderful young man.”

RE: How is this year different from your rookie season?

“I’m probably a little bit more confident. I actually understand the game a little bit more as far as defenses and playing some teams we played last year. I have that familiarity with them. But as far as just my mind set, it doesn’t really change that much. Last year I came in wanting to play and I got the opportunities and when the opportunities came I had to perform and that’s the same thing this year. You can’t really determine how many times you’re going to get the ball but when you do get it, you just have to show out and stay on the field.”

RE: Do you ever run into any NC State fans who bring up your punt return?

“Nah, you don’t get too many of them around here. People around here talk about it. But there’s not too many NC State fans here I’ll say that.”

RE: What’s it like running behind Russell Bodine like in college?

“Yeah, he’s a guy that I came into college with so he’s a guy I’m super familiar with. He’s a good buddy of mine. We hung out during college. A good dude and I’m glad to have him here. He’s one of the guys I definitely admired how he played the game and I’m proud that he’s here.”