Condensing GM Ray Farmer's windy state-of-the-team address into 10 key points.

The full transcript of general Ray Farmer’s first press briefing in quite a while is only slightly shorter than a Tolstoy novel.

Here, we condense it into 10 key topics, using (albeit abridging) his own words.

1, Why he cut veteran wideout Nate Burleson:

“Tough decision. The guys that we kept give us an opportunity to be dynamic in a lot of different ways. Guys that can stretch the field, guys that can be good with the football in their hands.”

2, His projection for the season:

“I set no numbers. Each week is different. You feel good about this one week and next week you don’t feel good about it. The roster’s always in flux. People get hurt. Things happen. We’ll see how ready we are come Sunday. We think that we’re preparing a roster that can win games.”

3, On having 5-foot-7 Andrew Hawkins and 5-8 Taylor Gabriel as the top wideouts behind 6-2 Miles Austin.

“The league ebbs and flows. There was a time when small receivers were in, and everybody was like, ‘Why do we have these big guys? They’re not fast or quick.’ If we want to throw jump balls, we should probably go get tall guys. If we want to run precision routes, we should probably go get route runners. Styles make fights. At the end of the day, it’s what you’re asking a guy to do.”

4, On a 53-man roster that includes 21 players who weren’t drafted:

“It’s good scouting. I don’t know if that number ever comes into my mind like, ‘Oh my goodness. We can’t be over 15. Cut somebody.’ It doesn’t matter to me one iota if the guy was drafted or not. I think one-third of the league is made up of college free agents. We have our share.”

5, On Merril Hoge’s rip job on Johnny Manziel:

“Michael Vick was the first pick in a draft. He played sparingly his rookie year, but he didn’t get anywhere near the type of attention that Johnny gets. It’s a different age ... the land of instant coffee. There is no more time. There is no more development. There is no more, we have to stay focused on the plan.

“Johnny is right where he needs to be. We said this was going to be a process. We said he was going to get opportunities. We said he was going to compete. He did all of those things. He took the bull by the horns.

“He’s in the building, he’s loving life, he’s working hard, and we’re going to stay focused on that.”

6, On rookie No. 8 overall pick Justin Gilbert’s preseason at cornerback:

“He had his ups and downs. There’s a learning curve for everybody. I’d rather a guy learn in preseason what his threshold is. I feel good about Justin. He’s growing. He’s working hard. He’s playing well.”

7, On the difference between last year’s defense and the one that will face Pittsburgh Sunday.

“We’re going to press you. We’re going to challenge you. We’re going to put a lot more pressure on our back end. It’s going to make us a lot more dynamic up front.

“The difference from us this year and last year is predicated on our coaching staff and some of the things we do in the secondary.”

8, What he thinks of Mike Pettine more than a half year after the hire:

“He’s built for this. I spent a lot of time with Pett during this offseason preparing the roster and talking about what what’s right for this football team. I don’t know if everybody else is bought in, but I’m bought in.

“We see the game the same way. I will defer to Pett and say I think his football mind may be superior to mine on the Xs and Os. Generically as we think about how to build a football team and what we like and how we want to play, I think we see it almost identical.”

9, His overview of Brian Hoyer’s readiness:

“I feel good about Brian. We’re at a point now where we get to the regular season, you become a lot more focused. Brian’s going to be prepared.

“He’s a pro’s pro. He studies it. He works at it. His performance will speak for itself on Sunday, but I feel confident he’s going to go out there and play well.”

10, On rookies who have stood out:

“If you are looking for a guy that answered the call and showed people that he deserves a chance to play, it was Taylor Gabriel. Now, when you see the people and smell the popcorn, we will find out if it holds together.”

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