Derek Stingley reflects on labor situation and previews rematch against Philadelphia Soul
The following is part of what Power Head Coach Derek Stingley said at his June 20 news conference:
On labor solution being settled: “I really wasn’t worried about our team. Our team was in it to play regardless.
On multiyear deals as result of labor deals: “The good thing about that is it would help for years to come. Let’s say we sign P.J. Berry to a three year deal. You have guys throughout the league that want to play with him but maybe within their first year, they’re not playing with P.J. They see P.J. here playing with the Power and they see that he is etched in stone so it’s a great recruiting tool.”
On injuries: “We have some small dings. We’ve lost Sione [Ohuafi] for a game. We’re going to be putting a competitive team out there for this Sunday. Sione has a knee injury and we thought it was really serious during the game, but came to find out that it’s just a pretty bad knee sprain.”
On who will be new center: “Greg Niland. He stepped up when Sione went down. We’re good at the center position.”
On trying to get that signature win vs Philadelphia: “This is the game that’s at hand right now, so regardless of the fact that they’re our instate rivals and that they’re in our division it’s all about winning. That’s the mentality this team has now. We understand that every game is important regardless of the situation, they’re all competitors in that locker room and they want to win.”
What was learned from last meeting vs Philly: “Offensively we turned the ball over probably six or eight times. Defensively we gave them three big plays. We onside kicked the ball a lot to the point where they got the kicks and recovered them for touchdowns. It wasn’t a whole lot that I can take from it besides the fact that we shot ourselves in the foot.”
On if Bill Stull is ready to come off of IR: “I’ve got three good quarterbacks right now. Bryan is doing a great job, especially with the offense I put out there. Andrico is our more advanced quarterback in this league. He can be a starter on any team as well. I think Bill is just that guy who the more he stays around this game, the better he gets. As of right now if I had to list the order of three, it would be Bryan, Andrico and Bill Stull.”
Note:
Offensive Coordinator Mike Tomczak will be on the field, however much like last week’s game, Stingley will be the one calling the plays. Tomczak may have been able to call plays this week had the game against the Cleveland Gladiators not been a forfeit.