I was able to catch up with wide receivers coach Keith Gilbertson recently to get his thoughts on some of his players.

Before I run that, though, I wanted to announce that the blog is going to be slow until training camp unless there is breaking news. I am going on vacation for a while during this "slow" time in the NFL schedule. Once things heat up again for training camp, we'll be back with more frequent posts.

Having said that, here is the Keith Gilbertson interview:

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Q: Now that you are the wide receivers coach, can you evaluate those players you are now coaching?

A: I’m sure you are saying that Bobby, Nate and Deion are pretty established guys. But of the young guys, you start with the Ben Obomanu, he has played some, he has been with us now going on his third year, he can all the spots, all four receiver spots, very very bright guy. He has had some really good practices. He is probably ahead of everybody in terms of what he knows. Then you say Courtney Taylor, who had some sensational practices because of his size and speed, but he has been hampered by injuries. That slowed him down. I thought Jordan Kent has been a very pleasant surprise. He has a long way to go, because football is kind of new to him and he has improved his game a lot. As long as he catches them clean and understands the refinements of the position, he will keep getting better. And I thought Logan had good days. His practices are good, he has the fundamentals down of a couple spots. Every once in a while he will revert back to some fundamental things that I thought were setting him back but when he does it right he is a good player. He has great vertical speed, he is strong, he has great hands. When he stays within the fundamentals of the offense he is really good.

Q: Let’s assume Deion will miss the beginning of the year, do you have a sense of who that third guy is going to be?

A: Oh, you have to go through camp. There is a lot of practice and a lot of things, four preseason games, it will weed itself out. You hate to say this, you have guys with a pulled ham, a pulled quad, and that sets them back. I want these guys to compete. They have to compete because you are only going to keep so many receivers.

Q: How many will you keep? Five?

A: Oh, I don’t know. Whatever Coach Holmgren decides in that regard. But you don’t keep seven or eight active. There are some guys who will be on the practice squad, but these guys are competing for jobs.

Q: Mike talked about this a little bit, but if Nate is going to be one of your starting guys he is probably not going to be a returner?

A: That is out of my department.

Q: What do you like about Courtney Taylor?

A: He has great vertical speed, he has good size, he has made plays here in the camps. He can get by people. There is always something that is holding hi back though. A year ago we thought he was going to be a guy who was ready on the first Sunday. And then he had a pulled something that held him back. So then he is on IR and missing practice. All those things that hold a guy back – because you know the train keeps rolling, so if you are out, and missing practice and falling behind. So if he can stay healthy and make sure he gets all the reps and all the fundamentals of playing, I am excited about him.

Q: How has this transition been for you?

A: Well, it really hasn’t been all that different because the thrust of what I had done the last few years as a coordinator at Washington was all passing game stuff. And even though my title was assistant line coach, 95 percent of my time was spent on the passing game. I really did very little with the offensive line. As soon as I got to work here, after a few weeks Mike said I’d like you to work on these passing game projects. And he knew that was kind of my thing. So that is kind of where I have been anyway so it has not been that different.