Q)What are your thoughts on the retirement of Brandon Moore?
Mangold: Shoot, Brandon’s one of the great players that I’ve been fortunate to play with. We played together seven years which I think in today’s NFL is pretty impressive. He was always a professional. He came in, did his job to the best of his ability, made sure he helped younger guys like guys had helped him. It’s been tough not having him here.
Q)What do you look to get out of the first preseason game?
Mangold: To see what all this has been for. We’ve been hitting each other for a long while now. We’ve been getting some pretty good work in, especially the offensive line. The Lions have a pretty good defense so it’s going to be a good challenge for us really to see where we’re at. This will be a good measuring stick for us.
Q)Where is the offensive line at as group?
Mangold: We’re coming along. I think it’s nice having the veterans there in Willie (Colon) and (Stephen) Peterman because even though we don’t have experience together, we have NFL experience and so instead of having to fully explain after something happens, you’re like ‘Hey, you saw that?’ ‘Yeah, I saw that, here’s how we can get better at it.’ I think that’s been a big help.
I think personality-wise we’ve got a great set of young guys who are trying to learn, trying to get better and we have a bunch of old guys who are trying to help. I think that goes a long way when you’re talking about an offensive line gelling together.
