Andy Reid spoke to the media yesterday after practice. He talked about L.J. Smith, McNabb, and the upcoming hitting which will commence on Wednesday morning.
Opening statement:
“[As far as injuries go], [LB Dedrick] Roper has a foot strain, we’ll see how he does. [WR Bill] Sampy has a quad bruise that he got yesterday in the morning practice. [DT Montae] Reagor came out and did some things. His knee was bothering him a little bit after the run, so we pulled back off of him today and we’ll see how he does tomorrow. [TE] L.J. [Smith] came out and did a nice job—we just had him do the individual period and seven on seven. We held him out of the team period. It looked like he performed pretty well. The guys did well on their running tests this morning; it looked like they are in good shape. In particular, the big guys did an exceptional job. This afternoon, we just had a light practice: seven on seven, a team period, a couple of individual periods, and a good, long special teams period to get back into the swing of things. Tomorrow we’ll jump start it with a regular two-a-day practice. We’ll go live in one of the periods tomorrow morning.”
On whether he expected Smith to participate as much as he did today:
“Yes, we expected him to do it now. He’s worked very hard to get to that point. I can’t tell you I expected that a month ago, but he worked himself into the position where he could do it. I’m not going to rush him back into anything. We’ll see how he does in individual periods and seven on seven. I’ll try to hold him out of the contact of the team [drills] as we get started.”
On the pace of today’s practice with tomorrow’s practice looming:
“I thought the pace was actually very fast. My thinking wasn’t about what’s going on tomorrow; it’s about what they got done doing this morning [with the running tests]. That’s quite a test they have to go through. They came out and I thought they were sharp this afternoon. There was a lot of enthusiasm.”
On whether he gets excited about the contact portions of camp:
“Well you get excited—that’s football. I don’t have to get too much of an adrenaline rush. I’m not doing too much out there other than watching. The other guys, they’re the ones with the adrenaline rush—the ones actually doing it. I can’t tell you that I don’t get excited to get to that point, just like the players. That’s what this game is all about.”
On whether he enjoys watching contact drills more than anything else:
“You enjoy the competition of it. That’s the main part of the game. You’re actually playing the game when you add contact.”
On how much it matters who is taking reps with the first team:
“I’ll tell you the same thing I tell the players—it really doesn’t matter. They’ll sit there and count numbers in line. Just go play. We’re going to evaluate every play of every day and you can’t worry about who is in front of you and who is behind you and that kind of stuff—you’ll drive yourself crazy. I don’t put much stock in it, I’m just out here evaluating the guys and seeing how they do.”
On how much he expects QB Donovan McNabb to participate tomorrow:
“For the most part, he’ll do everything tomorrow. He did everything this afternoon, and he’s getting stronger every day. If I see something in there I don’t like, I won’t hesitate to pull him out. If I think his leg is getting tired, or whatever it is, I’ll pull him out. Right now, he feels good about doing everything. Nobody is going to touch the quarterback, so he’ll be alright.”
On whether he was happy with McNabb’s drops and side-to-side movement:
“He looked good out there. It was good to get a rush coming at him, where he could stand in there with that first offensive line and just get back into that part of it. I thought he did a good job of it.”
On who he is most excited to see with the pads on:
“I think I’d just have to say the guys I haven’t seen before. I know what some of these guys can do. Other ones, particularly the young guys, I haven’t had a chance to see them hit or be hit. I’ll be curious to see those fellows.”
On whether you can tell more about a guy by the way he hits or by the way he takes a hit:
“It depends. In this type of camp, you can tell after about a week. The first day, they’ll all be charged up. They’ll be able to take the hit, and they’ll be able to give the hit. It’s the guys who keep coming back day after day [that you like to see].”
On whether there are higher expectations for RB Tony Hunt than there were for previous offensive rookies:
“We’ll see how he does. That’s kind of where I am with Tony. Obviously we liked what we saw in college. If he can translate that to this league, he’s going to be very successful. If he can do it sooner than later, he’s going to have an opportunity to get in there and play.”
On whether it brings an emotional boost having FS Brian Dawkins back:
“Brian is one of the team leaders, so it does bring a little energy. I think everyone is glad to see him back.”
On what he likes about QB A.J. Feeley:
“I like the way he handles this offense. He sees things the right way. He’s a smart kid. He’s got a very good arm and good enough feet. He knows how to play in this offense and handles it very well.”
