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I know how important it is to have your quarterback standing upright. Matter of fact, I know how important it is not to allow someone hit on him period because I want him to think that this pocket is completely safe, no one is going to get to me and I got all the time in the world to make whatever decisions I need to make.

We have rules in the rule book that are very specific. If the quarterback is in a throwing position, he gets protection. But in the event that the ball is handed off, at that instant, there's no telling whether or not he is a runner or not, so he loses that protection.

There's obviously a push to protect the quarterback, but you have to give the defensive players a chance. All of the quarterback has to do is pull the ball, and he's a runner. How's the defender going to know if the ball is pulled or not?

There's a way you have to play the quarterback position in the NFL. Maybe I'm a little bit old school, but I think you have to play the game in the pocket with consistency.

The quarterback, you can play with a lot of big injuries. You get a little injury like an index finger or a thumb that most people can play with, sometimes you can't. I've stayed away from some of those.

I would start with the most important thing a quarterback has to be: poised. If you panic in that pocket, you are no good. I don't care what else is there; you have to be poised.

When you play quarterback, you have to process information quickly, get the ball out of your hand to the right guy.

It's always a danger when you've got a great quarterback that throws the ball well, that scrambles well. You may push him into his asset. You may force him to do what he does best. So you've got to be able to throw curveballs and stop the pass as much as stop the run.

You love for a quarterback to sometimes make the decision as the rush is coming and make the decision as the play, as opposed to where that computer is hitting it fast and he's knowing where to go with the ball at the right time.