Bob Palcic on Nick Ekbatani:
“I told him today that I was thinking of him primarily as a guard, but since he has experience at tackle, that if someone were to get injured, he’d be a possibility. Nick coming back will only make us better. I’m used to having a seven-eight man rotation. You want a backup center, a backup guard, and a swing tackle. If I have eight guys, I usually feel pretty comfortable in that situation.”

Aaron Hester on his recovery from a fractured fibula:
I’m just happy to be walking again without pain. I lost the crutches yesterday; as soon as I got my X-ray results back, they texted me and said there were really good results. I just left my crutches right where they were. Wherever they were, I just left them and started walking.”

Reggie Carter on the bye week practice:
“We don’t have a game to prepare for, so right now it’s more execution, technique. We can slow it down a little bit, work on technique a little bit. Once the season starts, you kind of lose out on that opportunity to work on technique because your game planning.”

Reggie Carter on his performance in the Kansas State game:
“After watching game film, I had an OK game, but there were times where I could have been more physical with offensive linemen, played the ball a little better inside out. I can’t overrun plays; I need to play fast but play the ball inside out. That will be my emphasis this week, working to be crisp with my hands and with my footwork.”