Dave Caldwell is on with 1010XL, and he was asked directly about the Justin Blackmon situation.

 

He said it's very much a hands-off situation right now, and that he's not expecting anything from Blackmon this year. 

 

Nothing earth shattering, but it is clear they don't expect to see him playing this season. 

 

A few other notes:

 

He doesn't like the way the schedule is laid out with so many away games early in the season for the second year in a row.  He actually contacted the league about it to express his displeasure. 

 

Henne is the starter.  Bortles is going to get a lot of action during the preseason, particularly in that final preseason game. 

 

At this point, they don't expect any players they sign to be starters, but more role players. 

 

He defines improvement this year as being more competitive on the field.  80% of NFL games are determined by 1 TD or less according to Caldwell, and the expectation this year is that the team will play games much closer than what they did last year.  If they are within 1 score late in games, then it becomes a matter of learning how to win.  As the team matures, those close games will become wins. 

 

He talked about how the offense has to get better this year.  He pointed out that the defense actually played well, especially late in the season last year.  The problem was, they were usually put into impossible situations because the offense wasn't extending drives, and had way too many 3 and outs. 

 

They love Gerhart.  They feel like he's a guy who is the ultimate pro on and off the field.  Caldwell pointed out that he has always been productive, whether he's getting 4 carries or 40.  He's a tough guy who will take whatever they throw at him.

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