Andy Reid, Donovan McNabb, Brian Westbrook and Brian Dawkins spoke to the media yesterday and all of them answered questions about their disappointing record, the upcoming game against the Cowbooys and what else lies ahead for the football team.
Head Coach Andy Reid Press Conference
12/12/07
Injuries:
“The people that will not practice today are [WR] Reggie Brown with knee swelling, [DT] Mike Patterson with an ankle sprain, [T] Jon Runyan with knee swelling, [RB] Correll Buckhalter with a concussion, [FS] Brian Dawkins with back spasms, and [TE] L.J. Smith with a couple different things, the ribs and the knee. Most of those are just day-to-day situations. Hopefully, we can get a few of them back tomorrow for practice.”
Opening Remarks:
“We look forward to the challenge of playing the Cowboys. Right now, they’re the NFC and NFC East’s best team. Again, we look forward to going down to their place this time and playing against a good football team. Our guys are ready to go. They’re going to practice hard this week and detail all the work, as are the coaches, and try to put our best game together.”
On how Cowboys QB Tony Romo has improved since last year:
“He’s more consistent this year than he was last year. That comes with the experience. He’s playing good football right now and making a lot of plays.”
On what is needed to turn the team around to maintain the striking distance he talked about on Monday:
“We’ve just got to take care of the fourth quarter right now. We’ve been ahead in the fourth quarter the last few games. We need to finish things up, both as coaches, starting with myself, putting guys in the right position to make plays; then the players making the plays when they have an opportunity and being smart with the penalties.”
On whether he is considering personnel changes:
“No, unless there’s an injury and we have to do something.”
On whether the fact that they beat Dallas twice last year with two different quarterbacks says anything about the way the NFL is:
“Every year is different in this league. There is a lot of parity in the league. That’s what the league has strived for and that’s what the league has. I think it’s a good thing because it gives every city an opportunity to have a winner year in and year out. I think that’s a positive thing in the long haul, even though we sure would like to have a better record right now and we’re going to work on changing that.”
On his thoughts on Falcons former coach Bobby Petrino leaving his team after 13 games:
“It’s a tough business. I’m not really in that situation. They have a great owner down there, one that’s very close to the Lurie’s and they’re just trying to do that thing the right way. It looks like their front office is very strong. The ones I probably feel the worst for are the players and the assistant coaches. You forget about the small things. You’re assistant coaches went out and spent a lot money on homes in the area thinking they were going to be there for a couple years at least, then the players for getting revved up and playing for the person. So, it’s a tough situation that they’re going through right now, especially with all the other things going on. But, they’ll work it out. Everything works out in this league. Somebody will come in and replace him and do a good job for them.”
On whether it is surprising to see some teams at 12-1 and another team undefeated with all the parity in this league:
“Yeah, well they are. We’ve been on the other side of that. I do understand that first-hand. It’s nice to be on that other side and it’s a compliment to those teams that have done that.”
On whether it hurts to see the NFC East crown given up to another team:
“Well, that’s already done. So, we’ll give it up for a year here. We’re going to keep battling here and keep working for some other things.”
On whether RB Tony Hunt will play a larger role now that there are more injuries:
“Obviously, if [Correll Buckhalter] Buck can’t get back then Tony will step in and work in there. He’s done a good job. He did a great job for us when he had an opportunity at short yardage and goal-line for the weeks that he was up. He’s picking up the offense better than he was before, not that it was any different from any other rookie. But, he is picking it up well and he’ll step in and do a good job if Buck can’t be in there.”
On what the biggest factor has been from holding back Hunt from playing a regular role:
“Well, it’s just numbers. He’s good enough to be in there playing. You’ve got to situate all the special teams numbers and the gameday numbers that you’re restricted to there.”
On whether the lack of production from the tight ends has hurt the offense:
“We can do better. We’ve been banged up a little bit there. Down the stretch here these last three games, I’m sure they’ll get a few more catches.”
On at what point he wants to see the younger guys play in a game:
“We’ve got to see most of them somewhere this season, one week or another, [DE Victor] Abiamiri and Hunt, so on. We have a little bit of a feel for what they can do and we’ll see how things go here these next few weeks. We’ll see if they’re in there, if they get an opportunity to do something. We’ll see how that goes.”
On how Hunt’s blocking has improved:
“The thing he needed the most to work on, it wasn’t carrying the football, he was okay there, it wasn’t blocking per se, it was the blitz game. That’s where most young running backs struggle in this league for the first year or two. So, he’s been working hard at that and he’ll continue to work hard at that and has gotten better. We’ll just have to see once he gets in the game how he does.”
On what has held Abiamiri back from playing:
“Again, just numbers. With Victor’s spot, we have a lot of players out and we don’t have a lot of injuries at that spot like we normally do. It’s just been a matter of numbers and getting him on the field. When he’s had opportunities he’s done a nice job.”
On whether he wants to see Hunt as more than just a short-yardage running back:
“Yeah, an every-down guy. He can go in and rotate like Buck does. He can go in and rotate, he’s working at that.”
On whether it is tough to see high level draft picks not playing:
“Those guys are going to play, I’m not worried about it. They’re good players. They’re going to have an opportunity here.”
On why they aren’t on the winning side this year:
“We haven’t won enough games.”
On why specifically they aren’t winning this year:
“I can’t get into all that right now.”
On whether CB Lito Sheppard is where he is going to be at for the rest of this year:
“I saw improvement last week. I thought he played better last week. I think he moved around better, and that’s what you’re getting to. Has that been hindering him? Yeah, it has been. I saw improvement last week and he’s feeling pretty good this week. I would expect even better from him. He’s a good football player. He’s just trying to play through an injury and it slowed him up a little bit.”
On whether Sheppard will have to take care of his injury in the offseason:
“With surgery or something? I don’t think so. No.”
On what he has in TE Brent Celek:
“I think he’s a good, solid player. He’s played a lot now, this year, particularly the first half of this season, which is great experience for him. He’s a solid catcher, tough to bring down after the catch, and a good line scrimmage of player in the run game.”
On what Celek’s blocking is like:
“He’s a good line of scrimmage player in the run game, he does pretty good there.”
On why McNabb and the receivers don’t always seem to be clicking:
“We’re going to get that straight here in the next three weeks.”
On whether he can isolate why McNabb and the receivers don’t always click:
“They’ve done some good things. They’ve really done some good things up to the 20-yard line. Then for a span there for about four weeks we did pretty good there. We were off a bit last week in the red zone and third down. We’ve just got to get back to where we were a few weeks before that.”
QB Donovan McNabb Press Conference
12-12-07
On the Cowboys defense and LB Greg Ellis:
“I think Greg Ellis has had a wonderful year. Coming off of an Achilles injury that took him some time to be able to bounce back from that and the things that he’s been able to do since he’s gotten back in the game and gotten in the flow of things, he’s had a good year. Defensively, those guys are starting to gel together. They’re starting to put guys in position to make plays, their cornerbacks are healthy again, and they’re flying around and making plays.”
On why the offense struggled after the first series against the Giants:
“We just weren’t able to capitalize on getting first downs. I thought we had a lot of positive plays in there, and when put in position on third-and-short or second-and-medium, we weren’t able to convert to sustain the drive. There were a lot of times where we would get plays and move the chains, but weren’t able to capitalize to get in the endzone. In the red zone, when we got the fumble [recovery] by [DT] Mike Patterson, being able to put us in the red zone, that’s a situation where you have to score [a touchdown] and in that situation we didn’t. We had some mistakes and miscues and I probably should have thrown the ball away instead of taking the sack. Things like that kind of snowball. It’s a collection of things at the wrong time. If you look back at that game, there are a lot of positive things in that game, but for us to come out on the losing end makes matters worse.”
On whether the offense is the same west coast offense that it has been in the past:
“I think it’s somewhat of the same west coast offense, but we’re adding different wrinkles into it. Every week, you add something different into it to attack the given defense that you’re playing. Defenses have been trying to eliminate us from getting the big play, which we had a lot of success with last year and in previous years. That leads us to checking down to the back, throwing it to the tight end, working intermediate routes in the passing game. For what we’ve been able to do, it’s very similar to the normal offense in which the west coast offense is run.”
On whether they are seeing defenses they haven’t seen in the past:
“We’ve seen base cover 2, we’ve seen man, we’ve seen quarters, we’ve seen blitzes. They are a lot similar [to defenses we’ve seen in the past], but you have to know who you’re facing. We’re facing a team we see twice a year. The Giants had an idea of what we do. [Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo] calling his defense, bringing his blitzes, trying to eliminate that. You give credit to them, as well, but when we have the opportunities to make plays, we have to make them.”
On why the red zone offense hasn’t been able to turn the corner:
“I don’t know. If it’s a mistake on my part, if it’s mistakes as a unit, or miscues, they just happen at the wrong time. That’s the situation that you definitely have to eliminate. We thought we had the answer to it when we started scoring in the red zone for four or five games or so, and then all of a sudden you’re back to it again. If I had that single answer, then hopefully we would have it fixed, but as you can see, I guess it’s become a problem again.”
On whether he has been reluctant to throw the ball downfield:
“With the defenses we have been facing, yes. There are chances to take shots, but also you have to be smart with the ball. The situation where, especially at the end of the game, where we took shots downfield and put us in position to kick the field goal to tie, those are opportunities. Other points in the game, you either have to move around in the pocket or check it down to the back because the linebackers got soft and we weren’t able to throw it over the top of those guys.”
On why he hasn’t taken as many shots downfield against the cover 2:
“A lot of teams aren’t just playing base cover 2, they’re playing a soft shell where you can get your linebackers to soften up to be in the intermediate part. That’s where we’re checking down to the back. A lot of times, we catch them in a zone coverage where we may have three wide receivers going deep, where you kind of hit the slot guys. Sometimes we’ll have to hit the outside guys because the nickel-backer runs with the slot guy. In that, it kind of goes off in your head that you have to get the ball out, so you check it down to the back. There are going to be opportunities to get the ball down the field, but there are going to be opportunities where you won’t be able to, where you have to check it down to the back.”
On whether, at 5-8, it would make sense to take more shots downfield:
“I don’t believe in that. I believe that if you check it down, you give your guys an opportunity to make plays for you. [RB Brian] Westbrook and our running backs and our tight ends can make a guy miss and pick up 15 yards, instead of just trying to throw it up there and see who comes up to get it. Worse comes to worst, our guy either knocks it down or they pick it off. That’s something that you want to avoid, especially on third down. You want to convert on third down and move the chains, because then you have the opportunity to take shots. In this situation, yes we’re 5-8, but this isn’t the time to just start throwing the ball up and seeing who is able to make plays.”
On whether the offense is too reliant on Westbrook:
“We ask him to do a lot. For all of us to take pressure off of Brian, you have to elevate your game. If there are plays to be made, they have to be made. This offense asks Brian to do things that not a lot of running backs are able to do. That’s a tribute to his athletic ability. Catching the ball out of the backfield, running the ball out of the backfield, picking up blitzes, whatever it may be. He’s a talented guy, so you want to get the ball in his hands any opportunity you can.”
On what his greatest motivation is at this point in the season:
“For me, and for all of us, I think the motivation is winning these three games and seeing where it puts us. I don’t think there’s really any added motivation because we’re playing the Cowboys or the time that we’re playing Cowboys, with them winning the NFC. Our motivation has to be that we have to win this game and the next games to come to put ourselves in a better position to make the playoffs. I don’t even like to say ‘playoffs’ right now, because our playoffs really has to be these next three games. We have to win each game.”
On whether getting to 8-8 would be a salvaged season:
“At this point, yes. To be 8-8 would be a goal right now, because that would mean that we would win the next three. I try not to even focus on the next couple of weeks and just focus on this week. This week is obviously against the Dallas Cowboys and we need this win.”
On whether this season has been internally frustrating for him:
“It is, because I haven’t been a part of anything like this, even in my rookie year, when we were losing games by three or four. My second year was the same way. We were able to overcome that. This isn’t that type of team. We had a lot of young guys then, we have some young guys here now, but a lot of us are older and haven’t been faced with anything like that in previous years. So, you have to be able to dig yourself out like we did then to come out with wins.”
On his reactions to President Joe Banner’s comments last week that McNabb would be back next year:
“I felt the same way. I’ve said that every [time] the question was asked to me, that I would be back here next year and the years to come. I didn’t look deeper into it than what was said.”
On whether it’s important for young guys to experience tough seasons:
“I don’t think we have that same team like we had back then. When I came in, they were 3-13, and we went 5-11 my rookie year. Then, we obviously had winning seasons consistently. But, this isn’t the same team and it’s not the same players. In this new age of players who are coming into this league, guys are coming in their rookie year and making an impact. So, you wouldn’t expect the same thing to happen like it did back then. That’s why it’s really frustrating for a lot of us, because the times are changed and things are different.”
On whether a lack of impact from rookies has hurt the team:
“It’s different for different guys and their situations. Some of the guys that were drafted early had to play. For the guys that we bring in here, they’re brought in to learn and understand what we do around here and are asked to play in their second year. Situations are different with different teams. Maybe things will change.”
RB Brian Westbrook Press Conference
12-12-07
On the offense maybe being too reliant on him:
“I wouldn’t say that we do. I think, as a team, you depend on your players to make plays. If you have one guy who makes plays when he has the ball in his hands, then you depend on him a little bit more. On any defense, they’re designed to stop the most dominant players on the offense; no matter who that person is. Much of the Giants’ defense was shifted towards trying to put two men on me and things like that. They were successful in some instances, and, in some instances, they weren’t. We have to have everybody making plays, and we have the players that can do those things. [WR] Kevin [Curtis] can make plays, we know that [WR] Reggie [Brown] can make plays, and [TE] L.J. [Smith] can make plays from the tight end position. We have other receivers that can make plays too. We’re dependent on those guys to step up and make plays as well.”
On why things haven’t come together for the offense yet:
“We need more from everybody. A little bit more from me, more from Reggie, Kevin; a little bit more from everybody. That doesn’t exclude me. I need to do a better job and everybody on offense—across the board—needs to pick up their play and do a better job so we can win some football games. Our whole strategy is to score more points than the other team. If we’re failing to do that, then everybody needs to pick up their play.”
On the fact that RB Tony Hunt has a chance on playing this week with RB Correll Buckhalter injured with a concussion:
“He knows the situation. He knows that he’s playing behind Correll and that Correll’s a very good running back. It’s given him an opportunity to learn how the NFL lifestyle is, how things work in the NFL. I told him this week that he has to prepare like he’s never prepared before. He has to continue to get better this week and know everything that the Cowboys are going to do before they do it on the field. He’s a play away from starting in the NFL. That’s the way things are across the league. The second guy is always a play away. You never know what might happen in a game.”
On how different it is to learn the game on the field rather than from the bench:
“It’s a lot easier to learn that way than to try and watch people without actually doing it yourself. Tony is going to have his work cut out for him because he hasn’t been out on the field very much. He’s been doing a lot of the scout team reps and not very many of the offensive reps. He has to learn on the fly. I want to try to help him out and try to help his adjustment period go a little bit smoother.”
On whether the Eagles let other teams dictate their offensive playcalling:
“I think [offensive coordinator] Marty [Mornhinweg] does a good job of trying to gameplan and scheme against the things that other defenses can do and to try and take advantage of those things. Most of the successful teams in the NFL say that ‘this is our gameplan, this is what we do, and we’re going to run it no matter what a team plays against us.’ To some extent, we do that here. He tries to out-scheme and out-gameplan other teams. It works sometimes.”
On there being more checkdowns this year:
“I wouldn’t say that it’s a big difference from in the past. I think that it’s probably about as many checkdowns as we’ve had in the past.”
On what types of things RB Tony Hunt has struggled with this year:
“I think that his struggles have been typical of any rookie. The pass protection is a big thing. Trying to get out there and see who you have [to block]; especially with the different audibles a quarterback can make, the different line-calls that the line can make, as well as the different defenses. It’s a lot of things to think about while also thinking about what you have to do to try and counterbalance those things. As a running back, you have to see so many things, and know so many things that it’s tough on you if you’re not out there every day working on them. I just want to make his adjustment period a little bit easier.”
On how important it is to him to be voted to the Pro Bowl this year:
“It’s important that you be recognized for your accomplishments, and other things that you do on the field, by your peers. I think that everybody in the NFL would say that it’s important. It’s not more important than wins and losses, but it’s important that people outside of your team recognize the things that you can bring to the game and that you’re a quality player.”
On how, with his numbers, he couldn’t possibly be overlooked for the Pro Bowl this year:
“To be honest with you, I haven’t really looked at the numbers at all. I look at my numbers every now and then, but I rarely do that. For me, I go game by game and try to have the best game that I could possibly have during that week. Really the only chance I get to compare the numbers is when we do the voting. We’re able to see what the other different guys in the NFL have been able to do. There are a lot of good running backs out there.”
On whether he was disappointed that he didn’t make the Pro Bowl last year:
“I felt as though I had a good year last year. Of course, I wish I had made it to the Pro Bowl. I was disappointed in that aspect. Those guys that made it were very deserving.”
On the importance of a right tackle and what he thinks about T Jon Runyan only making one Pro Bowl in his career:
“I think that Jon’s had several Pro Bowl caliber years. I think that it’s a product of guys not liking him, not liking his toughness. Jon is a nasty guy. For a running back, that’s the type of guy you want on your team. He’s qualified and capable of being a Pro Bowl tackle for the last, however many years he’s been playing [12 years]. He’s talented and able to do those types of things. Sometimes the vote turns into a popularity contest and guys just don’t like Jon because he’s a nasty, tenacious guy.”
On whether he thinks he’ll make the Pro Bowl this year:
“To be honest, when it comes down to the Pro Bowl voting, I haven’t really put much thought into it at all. I know that there are some very good running backs out there, but, at the same time, I’m more concerned with the team than the individual. I hope that people can see the things that I can bring to a football team, but if they don’t then it will just be another opportunity for me to work harder in the offseason and hopefully catch their attention next year.”
On teams adjusting at halftime to try and control him better:
“I think that Marty does as good a job as he can to counter those things. Teams do a lot of different things throughout a game from the first series to the second series. You’re always trying to counterbalance the things that they’re doing. I think that Marty is a very good offensive coordinator who tries to do a lot of different things throughout the game. He has to be on his toes at all times. I think that, just like a player, he has some bad plays where he would have wanted to call something different, the same way that I wish I had some plays back so I could do something different. Nobody’s going to be perfect throughout the game and have perfect playcalls throughout the game. He’s not going to be perfect and none of the players are going to be perfect either.”
On the fumble last week against the Giants:
“It’s tough. I think, at that point in the game, that it cost us the game. In that situation, with them on our side of the field going right into the endzone, it cost us the game by them scoring on that drive. I was praying that our defense would stop them and get a turnover to get us the ball back. It didn’t turn out that way. It’s disappointing to me that I let my team down in that way. As a leader on this team, you can’t have those types of mental mistakes and physical mistakes at that point in the game where your team is right in the game and has an opportunity to win the football game. You can’t have those things to win a football game in the NFL.”
On whether that fumble affects his approach to this game:
“I think you just have to pay a little bit more attention to your ball security. On that play, I didn’t have terrible ball security; it was just one of those instances where the guy got his hand in there. I have to do a better job of protecting the ball and securing it so that things like that won’t happen in the future.”
On whether his ability is being wasted on this team:
“No, I don’t think it’s being wasted. It’s just a matter of time that everybody has to get on the same page. I’m a key part of helping this team win football games. When everything gets back to moving the way we need it to—moving in the same direction, winning football games—I’m going to help this team win. Hopefully that starts soon.”
FS Brian Dawkins Press Conference
12/12/07
On how comparable the Cowboys are to the Patriots:
“They’re [the Cowboys] a good team. That’s stating the obvious. We all know what the Patriots have and the weapons that they have on the offensive side of the ball, and the quarterback that makes that engine run. He’s [Tom Brady] pretty good over there. But, I would consider them to be a pretty good team. I don’t know if you could say, ‘Well, this team is way above this team,’ because you never know. Game in and game out, things change. They’re definitely two good teams.”
On whether he expects the opposing offense to take what they give them, defensively, or come after them if they are playing cover-2 or cover-4:
“It kind of depends on the team and the scheme. Sometimes if you have a team that says, ‘I’m going to be deliberate and put a safety 20 or 30 yards deep’, there’s no chance to be throwing the ball downtown. It’d be kind of hard to do that. But, other times you kind of trick them into biting on something and hope to get out on top. Or sometimes putting your receiver one-on-one with that guy deep and seeing if he can make the play. So, it kind of depends on the scheme. Then, you have some offenses that work on timing. They try to get the ball out and get the ball in the receivers’ hands so he can turn upfield and make some plays that way.”
On whether he has been in a situation where they played cover-2 and teams have gone after them with the deep ball:
“There have been times that teams have done that, yes. But, they just kind of throw the ball and hope the receiver gets [the ball]. If the receiver doesn’t catch it, he makes sure the DB doesn’t catch it. It has happened a couple times, not a whole lot to me. But, it has happened a couple times.”
On whether he is surprised that the WR Terrell Owens situation hasn’t blown up on the Cowboys:
“I don’t even look into all that, to tell you the truth. That’s not something I even pay attention to.”
On what he sees from the Cowboys wideouts and tight ends:
“With this team, the wideouts and the tight ends are pretty much the same because [Cowboys TE Jason] Witten, I think, is leading the team in receptions right now. They flex him out at times and put him in motion to get him out wide. So, he is virtually a wide receiver in that offense. With that being said, this is a high-powered offense. They get the ball to every guy. I think even the third receiver has seven touchdowns, something like that. Everybody’s getting the opportunity to catch the ball. So, this is definitely a huge challenge. We all know that. We all know what we’re facing against this team. Things we can’t do is what we did last time, we can’t have mistakes against this team. We did that a lot of times last time.”
On how he feels being 5-8 and fighting to stay alive and also how that translates to young players who only know the feeling of a losing season:
“I’ve been through it before. I haven’t always had success as a pro. I’ve been through the ups and downs and had to fight and claw through different situations. To think about it is, first of all it’s your job. No matter what your record is, it’s your job to go out and be professional and prepare yourself for every game to go out and give 110% in order to win games. That’s your job. Then secondly, because it’s a game that we’ve all chosen to play, that you should love this game, so you should be passionate about going out and trying to win games, period. Even in the midst of turmoil and the midst of adversity, the goal is and should always be to go out and give your all to win games. I think young guys will follow your lead in that respect. You won’t have to tell them or talk to them, so much as go out and the way you prepare in practice and the way you continue to play games in the midst of whatever the score may be on the board. If they see you continue to hustle to the ball and continue to try to make plays, that will teach them more than what you’re trying to tell them.”
On whether it is hard to keep the morale up for the team:
“Once again, it’s up to each guy to be able to lean on the guy next to them and to dig deep down inside and find whatever it is they need to find to continue to fight along. So for me, like I said, I love playing this game as much as I’m blessed to play this many years. So, I’ve learned from some of the best to continue to fight on in adversity. I’m talking about [former Eagles CB] Troy [Vincent] and those guys before me. So, to continue to fight in adversity is what you have to do because, sometimes you’re going to have adversity in the game and you can’t give up then, you have to continue to fight through.”
On what he thinks of this football team:
“We’ve made too many mistakes. I’m not talking about offensively in turnovers and interceptions. I’m talking about periods. Defensively, there are a couple of plays here or there that we make mistakes and that causes us to give up 100-yards rushing. The team may have only gotten 60-yards, but because of one play, now all of the sudden they’re over 100-yards. So, just mistakes. Even penalties, we’re overaggressive sometimes defensively, giving the offense yards that they didn’t earn. So, I think it’s mistakes that allow us to give teams gifts.”
On whether there are fewer things a defense can throw at Cowboys QB Tony Romo to trick him because he has matured:
“He’s still a young quarterback. He’s played in a lot of games, but he’s still a young quarterback so he’s going to make some mistakes. You just have to capitalize on the mistakes. It’s not about tricking a guy into doing something; it’s about making plays when the plays are there to be made. Regardless of who you are, or how many years you’ve played in the league, there are going to be plays to be made on the defensive side of the ball. It’s up to us to make those plays when they’re presented.”
On whether it would be significant to finish at .500:
“[We need to] win one game first, and then we’ll think about .500 after that. We have to win a game. The goal is to get to that point, but in order to get to that point, we have to win the game in front of us. Let’s kind of concentrate on that one first.”
On whether his touchdown-saving tackle vs. the Giants is an example of what he is talking about doing when he says he is not giving up:
“Sometimes the questions you guys ask are kind of straight forward. That’s what I’m supposed to do. I can’t give up on that play, that’s what I’m supposed to do. I’m supposed to chase the guy down if I can get him and tackle him before he scores. That’s my job; that’s what I get paid to do. To me, that wasn’t an extra effort I gave, it’s what I’m supposed to do. You guys can write it as an extra effort or ‘he did something spectacular,’ but that’s what I’m supposed to do. If I can catch a guy before he gets to the endzone and tackle him, that’s what I’m supposed to do.”
On whether he’s judging people’s character to see how they will perform sitting at 5-8:
“I don’t know if I’m judging the character from this point on. You kind of judge the character in the midst of a season also. You can’t just throw away all the other games and say, ‘Let’s look at these last three games and see how guys perform.’ There have been opportunities for guys to quit during the season and we haven’t quit. These last three games should just be a mirror image of what we’ve already done. I don’t think I’m going to judge any differently than we’ve already judged this whole season.”
On what happened the first time they played the Cowboys this season:
“We just made too many mental mistakes, and against a good team you can’t do that. That’s something we did against the Cowboys the first time. Whether it’s having good coverage in the back and letting back catch the ball and run for 30 yards, or a guy blitzing who’s not supposed to blitz and giving up a touchdown. Those are the things we did that first game that we cannot let happen this game, and I don’t see us letting that happen again this game.”
On Terrell Owens comment that part of the reason the Eagles have been unsuccessful this year is because he is not here:
“He was a weapon while he was here. Let’s face it, he was a weapon while he was here. He did a lot of good things in the year we went to the Super Bowl. What we have on this team, if you look at the games we’ve lost, we could have and should have won, regardless of whether he or anybody else is here or not. We have what it takes to win on this team, we just have not gotten it done for whatever reason. I think I mentioned earlier the reason why that is, is we’ve made too many mistakes and allowed teams to capitalize. Yes, he was a good player while he was here, that has gone and passed. We have moved on.”
