The defensive line looked good yesterday under its new coach.

Wednesday was the first day of practice without defensive line coach Kerry Locklin, let go Monday in what Ryan termed a "mutual decision" and replaced by Jeff Weeks and Chuck Smith.

"I think today was our best day out there," defensive end Marques Douglas said. "[The] communication was excellent, we worked as a group [and] our tempo was great."

When asked if he was surprised at the shakeup, Douglas replied, "it’s kind of something you don’t think about, because we as players are supposed to play, and the coaches and GM [Mike Tannenbaum] make that decision.

I doubt there's a big difference between the quality of Locklin's coaching and Smith's coaching. I do expect the line's play to get better. This was done to send a message. The players got an indication the powers that be are not happy with the play. If this continues, there will only be one constant and only one left to change.

Do you expect a more inspired defensive line?