Marshal Yanda press conference. Photo by Jesse Simmers / contrastphotography.com

G/T Marshal Yanda

On how his shoulder feels: “It feels good. It should be ready to go. There haven’t been any setbacks. It’s been a smooth process.”

On if he has been weightlifting: “Yes – getting back into it. I’m still just doing more weight each day, and it’s coming along really well. No setbacks, getting stronger every week. I’ll be ready.”

On if he’ll be ready by training camp or preseason: “I don’t know yet. We’ll see what happens. Ss you know with injuries and dates, you can talk to coach [John] Harbaugh on that one. I’ll be working out hard every day, and I’ll be ready to go. I can just tell you, Week 1, I’m going to be out there. How about that?”

On how difficult last year was, physically, switching sides to LG: “It was tough. It was definitely one of the toughest things I’ve done as far as … It didn’t look [flawless], but I had to do it at a high level. I feel comfortable doing it. That’s what you’ve got to do. It’s part of football. This is a game where injuries are part of it, and you’ve just got to fight through it any way you can. I was happy to finish it that way than to go to I.R. and get the surgery then. It was nice to be able to go down fighting. Obviously, we didn’t finish with what we wanted to do last year, but I at least wanted to die trying doing it. I was happy to be able to finish the season.

On what was harder – right tackle or left guard: “Left guard, for sure. I’m mostly a right-sided player, so to go to that left-handed stance is just … Run-blocking and all that … My power producing angles just aren’t the same on the left side. Just years of doing that on the right-handed stance is all muscle memory.”

On what he likes about offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris: “He’s a good offensive line coach. He seems like he brings a lot of passion. It’s been a short time that I’ve been around him, but he seems like a good coach. He cares about his players. He’s a technician guy, just like most line coaches are. I like what I see from him. We’re learning each other and getting to know each other, but I like what I see so far. He’s a good, hardnosed coach. He’s working hard out there.”

On if his familiarity with last season’s shoulder injury recovery: “It does help, but you don’t know how everything is going to heal. You hope it’s going to be like a different shoulder, but it could heal differently. I think this one actually went better, like when I’m lifting. I don’t have as much pain lifting as I did with my right one. Shoulder rehabs … Everything is just painful, whether it’s lifting or rehab, getting back shoulders are a pain in the butt. The left one has been better than my right one, as far as rehab so, I’ll take it.”

On if there have been any changes in the way the team blocks under offensive line coach Joe D’Alessandris and senior offensive assistant/tight ends coach Greg Roman’s guidance: “We definitely have a lot more run plays, but obviously, we run the plays. But, it’s how you run them verse what front you’re running them against. I feel they try to put us in the best position to win and succeed.”

On if “blocking downhill” is the approach this season: “Yes. I feel like there are going to be downhill plays. There are probably still going to be zone plays. There’ll be gap-scheme plays, too. I think it’s a little blend of everything. Greg talked about being balanced, so it’s not all going to be about the run game; it’s going to be pass, too. The runs that they are running, it’s a good dose of everything, to tell you the truth. Inside zone, outside zones, gap, pin and pull schemes – just everything.”

On if he was pleased with the front office emphasizing the run game this season: “You don’t want to be a distraction. You just want to keep your head down and grind. Obviously, we want to run the football more this year, and we didn’t get to do that this year. Everybody in the building wants to get it right. To be a better football team, we want to [run effectively]. In the end though, it comes down to wins. We’ll do anything it takes to win. Offensive lineman … I’m biased. Yes, we want to run the ball more. It makes it better for everybody. We’re going to try to get that done, but we’re still going to be balanced. We’ll be throwing the ball a ton to win games, too. Everyone understands you can’t just pound the rock; you have to throw the ball to win in the NFL, too. It’ll be a balance.”

On if he felt the offensive line is being sold short with talk about the need to bring in more offensive linemen: “I don’t think they’re getting sold short. I think they’re working hard. I think we let Ozzie [Newsome] and John [Harbaugh] handle those decisions. If they feel like we could get better in this position, and they make a move and get someone, they can do that. As far as being ‘worried’ about that, we’ll definitely work our tails off to be ready with the guys that we have. You try not to worry about that stuff. If I’m a guy who is in that position, it doesn’t change anything if they bring a guy in. You have to keep grinding. If they don’t, then you keep grinding either way. You let Ozzie and John handle that stuff, and you take care of your job on the grass. Otherwise, it’s a distraction that you don’t need.”

On if he thinks about his age in the NFL, coming off an injury: “No. You just wish it’s going to heal, and you’ll be good to go for the season. Most surgeries, you want an entire year before you feel better or 100 percent. With us, and our job, you’re going to have to get ready faster and put stress on it quicker than normal. You have that in the back of your mind, but you can’t let that bother you. You keep grinding, rehab and lifting weights. It’s just another part of the process. A process of playing football is injuries and rehab. Unfortunately, that’s just the game. It’s a game of injuries, and you’re going to have to fight through them if you’re going to have a career in the NFL.”