Andy Reid had his Monday news conference and answered quite a few questions about Donovan's progress, Trent Cole's relentless motor and the progress of All-Pro safety's rehabilitation from the stinger injury.
Head Coach Andy Reid Press Conference
10/29/07
Injuries:
“[WR] Reggie Brown has a trap spasm. [CB] William James has plantar fascittis. [WR] Greg Lewis has a sprain in his shoulder area. [T] Jon Runyan still has the glute contusion and quite a bit of soreness there. The rest of the guys, it worked out pretty well for them during the game.”
Opening Remarks:
“It was obviously good to get a win against what I consider an up-and-coming team, a team that I think [Vikings head coach] Brad Childress has done a great job with. He’s played some pretty good football teams this year and he’s done it with a variety of quarterbacks. I think once that position gets settled for him he’s going to be very hard to stop. It’s tough to do when you’ve got a different guy in there each week. We had a few big plays on offense, which I thought we needed a few explosive plays. They are very important when you’re playing a good defense. I thought the wide receivers did a nice job catching the football and actually had a couple really top-notch catches, with Reggie having a career day and having one of those catches, and [WR] Kevin Curtis having one of the other ones. I thought [QB] Donovan [McNabb] played very well. He really handled the gameplan well, and moved well in the pocket, little subtle movements in the pocket, kept his eyes down the field and made big plays down the field. Defensively, I thought they played well as a unit. I pick [DE] Trent Cole out of that bunch of having a great game. He had pressure on the quarterback and constantly played well on the run game. Anytime you can hold a back like [Vikings RB Adrian] Peterson down to 70 yards, I think you’ve done a good job of sticking them when they try to come in and feature him as the guy that day. Special teams wise, I thought [P] Sav [Rocca] really turned it on the last couple punts he had. That last one was excellent and it took them out of a position where they could strike for a touchdown. [K David] Akers continues to kick the ball well and I thought coverage teams did a decent job on covering the kicks. I was proud of the injured players, the guys that were banged up a little bit. They worked very had to get back out on the field. When you’re sitting there with a losing record at that time, in the National Football League, you don’t always see that. But, these guys they have a lot of pride, not only in the football team but in what they are doing, at their jobs. They sucked it up and really got out there and played and played well.”
On how the team feels the day after a win like that:
“I think everybody enjoys it. We have long flight, so you enjoy the flight. You get back and you might enjoy it a little bit today. A lot of the guys are in here getting started on the Cowboys. You have to shift quickly in the National Football League, and that’s what our guys will do here.”
On how Runyan will get through the rest of the season:
“With four to six weeks it should heal up, and he’s gritting it out. That’s him. You’re not going to keep him out of the game.”
On James’ plantars fasciitis:
“You have different cases of that. This isn’t a severe case. It’s really a slight strain of the plantar fascia there.”
On how the team’s aggressiveness yesterday compared to other games:
“I thought the coaches did a nice job, particularly the guys calling the plays, did a nice job of getting after the opposition there. They got us on the one special teams play. I thought our guys knew it was coming, we just didn’t field it very well. With the exception of that, we were on the attack mode there and did a nice job of that.”
On how important this game was for Reggie Brown’s confidence:
“I think it was good. He’s taken a little bit of flack here and I think it was very good for his confidence.”
On whether he has seen McNabb steadily climb from week one to week seven:
“Yeah, I have. It’s small things. I just thought he moved very well in the pocket laterally. Then, when he did decide to take off and go, he took off and went. He did a nice job of that.”
On whether he can separate certain plays for McNabb when his knee is a factor:
“I can, yeah.”
On how much McNabb’s knee is still a factor:
“There is a negative to that question. I don’t want it to be a negative because he’s done so many good things right now. A couple things that might not go his way, if he takes off and goes in a certain direction, maybe a year ago he could do it a step quicker. But, he’s getting right to the point now where those things are equalling out. He’s moving around a lot better.”
On whether Trent Cole has become a complete player:
“He’s tough right now, tough to stop. He had a good teacher in [former Eagles DE] Hugh Douglas. He was able to be here with Hugh and Hugh could share some of the things that made Hugh successful. [Hugh] was a defensive end that was what people consider a little undersized. [Trent’s] on the climb. Time will tell here. He plays relentless football, he was in for every snap in that game. [He] didn’t fatigue. He gives his 110% on every snap and players respect him for that, his teammates do.”
On whether other teams prepare differently for Cole:
“A year or two ago [Green Bay Packers QB] Brett Favre mentioned that to me just after the game. He said, ‘Hey, we were real concerned about 58. He has a phenomenal motor.’ We saw it as a staff, but you’re never quite sure what the other team sees. It was something that Brett made a point of telling me that. So, to answer your question, yeah, I think other teams notice that.”
On whether he sees a lot of similar traits from Douglas in Cole as a player:
“The one thing Hugh did was Hugh was able to get lower than the defender. Even though he was a little bit shorter than most of the offensive players, he was able to get lower than the offensive tackles that he played against and still maintain his speed around the corner. Normally you do that within a five-step turn there. We saw that in Trent. Not a lot of guys can do that.”
On whether Cole’s motor is something he was born with or was taught to him:
“That’s one thing you noticed when he was at Cincinnati. I’m not sure you can develop that. I think you’ve either got that or you don’t. You can direct it in certain directions and become a better player. But, I think you’re born with the motor. You saw that with him in Cincinnati. He was relentless there and had a knack for pass-rushing.”
On what the key is to sustaining a winning momentum:
“I think you make plays. Both sides of the football, you make plays. Then, you support each other on the sideline, which I thought the guys did a great job with. Not every play is going to be a great play on offense or defense. There are going to be highs and lows during the game and it’s important that you pick each other up during the lows and support each other. I thought the players did a nice job of that.”
On what FS Brian Dawkins has to do to play on Sunday:
“The last couple of weeks you’ve seen him work with the scout team. This week he’ll start off, unless something crazy happens here in the next day or two, he’ll start off with the defense and start working with them. Then, it’s just a matter of having no setbacks. There is nothing during practice, I don’t think, that would cause a setback to that injury.”
On whether Dawkins’ first few hits are a concern to him:
“I think once he gets through his first couple he’ll be okay there. It’s just a matter of getting confidence back in it. [FS Quintin Mikell] Q’s done very well in there and it’s not a situation where Brian would have to play every snap when he comes back. [We’ll] kind of ease him back in there and get him started here again.”
On whether Dawkins will be able to play the same way he has always played:
“I think so, yeah.”
On whether Dawkins will hit this week:
“No more than what we normally do.”
On how TE L.J. Smith felt coming out of the game:
“He feels great. He really feels good. He had a limited number of plays, 32 plays. So, it wasn’t like he had an over-abundance of plays. We’ll just increase his load here this week.”
