LB Aaron Maybin

On current state of the defense…

Obviously, we (have) a long way to go still. We’re still trying to get better every day and we’re still trying to hit our goals. I think as far as where we (see) ourselves at this point, we’re doing pretty well. Obviously, there can’t be something that we say we’re overly excited about. I mean, we’re very excited about the opportunities we have, but as far as where we are right now, we want to be a little bit more cohesive. We want to be one of those defenses that dictates the entire tempo of practice, games, everything, and like Coach (Mike) Pettine says, until we’re batting a thousand, it’s hard to really say that we’re satisfied.

On if he thinks the offensive line is struggling…

Honestly, it’s hard to really generalize a whole group like that and say that the offensive line, per say, is struggling. We’ve had some injury problems (and) guys have had to rest themselves. We’ve had some issues where guys have had to move around position-wise and try some different things, so are we struggling? It’s hard for me to say, but are we exactly where we need to be? No. No side of the ball is (where we need to be), offense, defense, or special teams. I just think that the offensive line understands that they need to get better, just like we understand as a defense and as a special teams (unit) that we need to get better.

On how close he thinks he is to being an all-around linebacker…

(I’m) still a fair distance away from where I personally want to be, but as far as the strides that I feel like I made until this point, I think that I’ve come a pretty long way.

On if he thinks he can play more on the inside…

(Can I play) inside linebacker? Not so much. But as far as playing on run downs, I feel as though I can do a lot better job of that this year.

C Nick Mangold

On Wayne Hunter bouncing back…

We all struggle at times. Wayne is a heck of a fighter and he’ll keep on fighting. We’re expecting big things out of him.

On the third preseason game…

The third preseason game is obviously the big one. Each game we’ve taken steps forward. Each practice we’ve made some forward steps. Hopefully we put it all together. That’s what we’re looking for.

On the offense starting to click…

You see it on film, you see good things. You obviously see some bad things, but you definitely see some good things. It’s getting guys to realize that we can do those good things all the time. We don’t need to make it interesting. Guys see it and understand it. I think if we build on what we’ve done, then we can be in a pretty good place.