Andy tried to quell the discussion of Shawn Andrews' health but I don't think it worked. Donovan seems ready for his preseason debut. Here's what they had to say.
Head Coach Andy Reid Press Conference
8/16/07
Opening Remarks:
“These are the guys that will not play in the game: [LB Dedrick] Roper, [RDT] Ian Scott, [G/T] Shawn Andrews, [FS Brian] Dawk [Dawkins], [CB Dustin] Fox, [QB] Kelly Holcomb, [LB] Craig Kobel, [DE Jerome] McDougle, [RB Ryan] Moats, [LDT LaJuan] Ramsey, [G Stefan] Rodgers, [WR Bill] Sampy, and [TE L.J.] Smith. The one offense and defense will go for approximately a half, and [QB] Donovan [McNabb] I will see how he’s doing through the first quarter and we’ll see how it goes from there.”
On whether McNabb will start:
“Yeah, he’ll start.”
On why Andrews said that his injury was a “tear-jerker”:
“Well, Shawn’s an emotional guy. He wants more than anybody to be out here and playing. That locker room can kind of be a rough place when you’re not playing, you’ve got to get out here a little bit. But, in my opinion there’s nobody that wants to be out there more than Shawn. He’s frustrated. But the main thing, and really the only thing, that I care about right now is that he’s getting better, and that he’s doing.”
On whether he expects Andrews to be ready for the season opener:
“Yeah, I believe he will be. Yes.”
On why Andrews made it sound like a career threatening injury:
“That’s him being Shawn. One thing that makes Shawn a good football player, he’s an emotional football player. He showed you a little emotion yesterday and he wants back out on the field and he’s just got to weather this thing and as frustrating as it is for him he’s got to weather his foot and get back.”
On whether the emotion Andrews showed was from him wanting to play not news from the doctor:
“Yes.”
On why he doesn’t let players talk about injuries:
“I’d rather just do it myself. I think it just works out better. I mean, we’re taking this thing here and blowing it way out of perspective.”
On what he wants to see from Donovan McNabb:
“I’d like him just to get back into rhythm. I think with that will come confidence in his his game, and the leg and, his form, and so on. Just try to get him in a rhythm and back into the speed of a football game.”
On how important it is to improve from last week’s game:
“It will get better. I can sit here and tell you a million different things. They’re all excuses. Bottom line is I’ve got to do a better job as well as the coaches and the players. We’ll see how we do tomorrow.”
On why the players made mental mistakes on the opening drive of the last game:
“To me they’re excuses. We’re all focused in on the why. I guess the one nice thing about having only a few days in between games is we can do something about it and focus in a little bit better tomorrow. So, we learn from it and try to get ourselves a little bit better.”
On Brian Dawkins progression:
“He did a great job yesterday. He went out and practiced, he practiced fast. Probably a little harder than what I anticipated him going out and doing. So, I thought he moved around very well.”
On whether Dawkins will play in the Steelers game:
“If we can, yeah. If we can. Again, unless there’s a set back, he should have a shot at that.”
On whether Dawkins is experiencing soreness:
“Yeah, really that’s what it is. You’re dealing with the Achilles tendon. So, if there’s soreness there you back off. Right now it’s good, and you want to keep it that way. If through practice- we have a long week this next week- if through practice, it gets sore, and inflames on him then we’ve got to get him out of there.”
On whether CB Lito Sheppard will play this week:
“Lito will play. I can’t tell you how many plays, I don’t know. It won’t be very many. He’ll go out and take a shot at it.”
On whether Sheppard will start:
“Yeah, he’ll start and we’ll see how he does.”
On when Ian Scott will play and how he fits in the defensive line rotation:
“Well, that’s a good question because we don’t know Ian as well as some other players. He’s new here. He’s got soreness in there and he’s had a bunch of different people look at him. There’s still some soreness that remains. So, we’ve got to work through that and practice a little bit the last couple of days on the scout team and test the knee out. And, hopefully we can get him out there for the Pittsburgh game. But, we need to get him out there somewhere here so he has the opportunity to play.”
On with LaJuan Ramsey being out, are you too thin at the defensive tackle position:
“Oh we are. [LDT] Montae [Reagor] will have it there, too. So, you get those three guys back in there and you’re okay.”
On L.J. Smith’s progress:
“He’s doing well, he’s not ready yet. We’re going to get him back out there. He’s still tender. It’s in the groin, in the muscle, again not directly related to the sports hernia. But, we’ve seen this with the sports hernia where the groin area does get tender. This is right in the body of the groin muscle. We’ll see how he does this next week. He is getting better. But he is still tender there.”
On whether Smith slows down the rehab because of this:
“You’re not. You treat it like you would a groin injury. The rest of it- the surgery he had is fine. It’s all intact. It’s been double checked and triple checked. I think that was the scary part.”
On how much QB Kevin Kolb will play Friday:
“Somewhere between a quarter and a half in the second half. This was going to be Kelly’s [Holcomb] week down, and [QB] A.J. [Feeley] was going to take maybe a quarter. We’ll just see how it goes with Donovan and then I was going to give the rest to Kevin.”
On what G Scott Young gives him when Andrews is out:
“Scott’s done a nice job. We’re rotating [G] Max [Jean-Gilles] in there so Max is going to start. Scott started last week. Max is going to start this week. But Scott has been very consistent, he’s a strong player, he played both sides along with center. I think every year we’ve had him here he’s gotten better. I think that will continue the more he plays.”
On what he looks for in McNabb:
“Just see how he feels. Is his knee sore? Has he absorbed too many hits? Whatever it might be.”
On whether he plans to switch the holders on Friday:
“[P] Sav’s [Rocca] going to start the first half as a punter and then he’ll start also as a holder.”
On who will be the third receiver rotation:
“[WR] Jason Avant.”
On whether it was tough to evaluate the Baltimore game:
“Well, the first game is always tough. I just want to get out and see the guys play aggressive football, and we could’ve done a better job with that. I put the coaches and the players a little bit of a bind just because I didn’t let them practice against the opposing team until that last 10/10/10. So, when you’re dealing with a team that happens to be a 3-4 front, who likes to blitz, there’s going to be some issues. The bottom line is we’ve got to do a better job at just playing. Just playing aggressive football, you can’t lose that part of it.
On whether TE Brent Celek will start:
“Celek will rotate with the ones. He’s not going to start but he’ll rotate in with the ones.”
On where RB Tony Hunt will rotate:
“With the ones, that’s where you’ll see Tony. With the short yard and goal line situation.”
QB Donovan McNabb Press Conference
8-16-07
On how big of a step it is to play on Friday:
“I don’t approach it like it’s a big step. I think I tried to approach the practices and training camp that way. You gauge what you can do and how it’s going to respond. I think it’s responded great. It’s just my inner soreness. The speed of it [is a step]; trying to do the right things in the decision process—getting the ball to guys and let them operate a little bit on the outside, make the right checks to get everyone in the position to be successful. This game is going to be exciting, in a way, to get out there with the team and put on a game uniform and try to do the same things we’ve been doing in practice.”
On whether it is painful to play, or if he is still trying to be cautious about not having it happen again:
“Both are similar, because you’ve been through an injury, you’ve been through rehab, and now you’re getting out there to play. So, it’s not focusing on doing anything else, it’s just trying to get back to the form that you left. We were pretty much rolling on the offensive side, and that’s the main thought that I have is just getting back to the top of our game as an offense. If it’s getting the ball to guys in the flat, if it’s downfield, making big plays, or just being patient. Whatever offense we decide to run against a given team, that’s the thought that I have. I don’t focus on the injury itself. I think any time that you do that, it takes away from your game.”
On whether he thinks it’s important to have a good showing:
“Any time I’m out on the field, I want us to have a great showing. I think we can do that. When we’re clicking on all cylinders, we’re definitely one of the best teams in the league, if not the best. I can say that with confidence. Consistency is definitely something that we all have to continue to do. In this particular game, it’s important that we sustain drives, pick up first downs, and come out with points. Not just three points, but seven. If we have that opportunity, we have to capitalize. This is the time, and in order for us to continue to grow in this preseason and to have that confidence going into the first game, it’s got to start now.”
On whether he will be wearing the brace:
“I will be wearing the brace.”
On whether he feels confident about his ability to step out of the pass rush while wearing the brace:
“Yes.”
On what he will consider a success:
“I would love to sit up here and say I want us to win, but it is the preseason. It’s not anything that’s a test for me. Again, I try to prepare myself for the test of coming into training camp, knowing what we were going to do. This particular game, I think it’s important, as a unit, that we capitalize on what we were doing in training camp. Being able to pick up first downs, get big pass plays, big run plays to set us up to score. I think it’s important in this particular game that we be able to do that, and look up at the scoreboard knowing that we had a nice drive and were able to get in the endzone.”
On how much he wants to play:
“It’s really not a situation where I say I’ll play a quarter or two quarters. I think the ones are playing a half. If I play a full half, or a quarter, depends on how it feels. [I have to] continue to be smart with it. If it’s a quarter, or a quarter and a half, whatever it may be, I just want to get good work.”
On how much playing at home affects his emotions:
“I think it would be great for fans, but it wouldn’t matter to me if we were playing at home or away. In this situation, it’s something that would eventually put us in a position to be at the top of our game going into the beginning of the season. If it was last week, and I felt like I could go, I would have gone. Due to the turf and due to other situations, I didn’t. I’m ready to roll and I’m looking forward to having a great time tomorrow.”
On what type of reception he hopes to get:
“I hope it’s positive, but I can’t control all of that. I can only control what’s out on the field and the outcome of our performance on the field. Hopefully we go out and do what we’ve been practicing and the way we’ve prepared, and it will be a positive reaction.”
On whether he thinks the fans understand how hard he has worked to come back ahead of schedule:
“I hope so, but you never know. For those who have suffered through the injury, they’ll understand. For those who know someone who suffered through it, maybe they’ll have a better understanding. Some people really don’t care about your particular injury, they just want to see you out there playing. When I’m out there playing, they want to see a good showing. That’s the way I’ve prepared and that’s the way I want to do it.”
On whether he has any trepidation about coming back so early:
“No, I’m looking forward to having a good time.”
On how his knee feels right now compared to other times during the rehab process:
“I’ve never been through an injury like this, but you know that the knee has been worked on. It’s stronger, I’m able to do the things I was able to do before I got hurt. I’m just looking forward to getting out on the field and doing the same things I did before I got hurt. To say that I’m at 100%, that means it never actually happened. To be at 90%, it’s probably in that same range as well. To be 80 to 85%, that means I could go out and still be successful with it. (Laughing) I didn’t mean to throw any percentages out there, because I know it’s going to escalate to that again. But again, I feel confident that I can go out and play well again.”
On whether it will take a hit for him to get back into it:
“I don’t need anyone to hit me to wake me up to let me know what I’m doing. I’ve played eight years, and this is nine. I didn’t need anyone to hit me when I went out with a sports hernia groin, so I definitely don’t need anyone to hit me to wake me up, to let me know I’m playing football again.”
On G Shawn Andrews’ comments about his own injury:
“I didn’t hear the comments that were made. All of us have feelings. I don’t know what the reactions were to Shawn’s answers to the questions. Shawn is a guy who loves the game of football and he’s passionate. He wants to do nothing but get back out here and have fun again.”
On whether he will have extra emotions to battle when he gets back out on the field:
“(Jokingly) I think I’m going to shed a tear. No, it’s hard to say and I’m sure it’s probably going to be hard to believe, but it feels like I never left, like I never got hurt. It’s hard to say because I can look down at my right knee and [it] reminds me that I did get hurt. When I come out of the tunnel, I’m just trying to be calm, trying to wait to see if we get the ball first. If we get that first crack at it, I’m just trying to do the right thing.”
