Jim Johnson answered quite a few questions about the outstanding starting debut of middle linebacker Stewart Bradley. Marty Mornhinweg let us know how his offense can become more consistent.
Defensive Coordinator Jim Johnson Press Conference
12-27-07
On whether he’s ever had a rookie with a better debut than LB Stewart Bradley:
“Not that I can remember. He started a little shaky, but he came on and got a little confidence and played well in that second half. He did a nice job.”
On when he will evaluate how to fit the linebackers together next season:
“It’s a good problem to have. I think it’s something you have to evaluate at the end of the season. (Jokingly) Maybe we’ll go to the 3-4, who knows? We’ll just have to see. I think there are going to be plenty of opportunities to mix and match, as far as different personnel groups, having both [LB] Omar [Gaither] and Stewart on the field at the same time in certain packages. It’s a nice problem that we’ll have to evaluate at the end of the season. Omar has done a great job too, so it was a good opportunity for Stewart, no question.”
On what they have done differently in recent years to evaluate linebacker prospects:
“I’m probably slightly involved in the draft, to a certain extent, as far as working players out. We don’t work them out; scouts and other coaches work them out. The biggest thing when we drafted a linebacker is that we felt we needed speed. Most of our linebackers that you’ll find right now run pretty well. We’re not concerned as much about size, although we do have some size. We try to get some quicker linebackers and I think it has paid off.”
On whether he is reluctant to take Gaither out of the middle after playing so well this season:
“I think he can play all three positions. I think we’re just going to evaluate and see how it goes during the offseason. We haven’t made up our mind yet; like I said, it’s a good problem to have.”
On whether he would like to have LB Takeo Spikes back:
“Yes, we’d like to have Takeo back, no question about it. He wants to be back, he’s a good player, and he had a good year for us.”
On whether LB Chris Gocong has come the farthest this season of any defensive player:
“It’s probably a tie between him and [DT Brodrick] Bunkley. I think Bunkley has come a long way. To answer your question, Bunkley started out well and was consistent. Gocong actually improved during the year. Overall, I think Bunkley has really improved tremendously. He is what we thought he would be.”
On how exciting it is for the defense to be playing the way they are:
“It’s exciting. We have a bunch of young guys. I like the front, and we’ve got the linebackers producing. Again, we have to make sure we get everybody back and healthy and go from there. It’s exciting, no question.”
On how close the defense is to being dominant:
“I think we’re close. You’re only as good as that last score on the scoreboard. We’ve still got to finish games in that. I think our front is proven, our tackles and defensive ends played well. Like I said, we’ll see how it happens next year. I don’t know how close we are, but I do like our defense right now.”
On FS Brian Dawkins’ future:
“I still think he has a lot of athletic ability. I think he still has a year or two left in him. That’s how I look at it. The biggest thing with him, of course, and he knows it, is the offseason. As you get a little older, you really have to work a little harder in the offseason. He knows that; he’s ready to go. Again, that’s one of those things. We’ll see how healthy he is during the offseason and he’ll be able to work out and get ready for next year.”
On the safety position:
“I feel good [about it]. I think that [S Quintin Mikell] has done a great job. It’s going to be an interesting thing when [S] Sean Considine comes back. Great competition there. [S] Marcus Paschal, a young safety we brought in, I like him. Of course, we have Dawkins. [S] J.R. Reed has done a great job. I’m sure we’re always going to look for good football players. I’m not going to say we’re not going to look for good football players in the draft, but I feel good about those safeties, especially with Sean Considine coming back.”
On the defensive end position:
“I think we’re solid there. I think [DE] Victor [Abiamiri] is showing a little bit. He’s probably going to play a lot more this week. I think he’s a solid player, and I think we’re in good shape there.”
On whether Considine is on schedule to return in time for camps:
“I think so. I think there was a better surgery than the last time, I understand. I think he’ll be back for early camps and training camp.”
On whether he expects teams to attack the young LBs now that they have film on them:
“I don’t know if they’ll do that. I think they’ll probably have their gameplan about how they are going to attack. I don’t see them attacking a linebacker so much. They might attack some certain defensive lineman on one side or the other, but I don’t see them attacking a linebacker. I think they’ll probably attack our scheme more than anything else.”
On whether he saw potential in Bradley all season:
“We knew he was a big guy who can run. I think the light went on at about midseason for him. He became a really good special teams player. All of a sudden he got his change. He started off pretty shaky; he wasn’t A-plus right away. But, he came around. When he got that sack, I think he got a lot of confidence. He really started playing. Sometimes, the light just comes on. I think the light came on for him in this last part of the year.”
On whether CB Joselio Hanson has earned the right to be the nickel cornerback:
“I think he has. I think he’s one of the solid players right now. He’s done a great job for us. He’s not a really big guy, but he plays hard and is a good cover guy. He’s done a great job for us.”
On whether cornerback is a position that needs to be addressed after this season:
“I really don’t want to get into that. [You’d have to ask] [head coach] Andy Reid and the personnel department. I don’t know what we’re going to do. I think we have to sit down at the end of the season and evaluate. That’s what we do. I just don’t want to comment on that right now.”
On what happened to CB Will James to have him move down the depth chart:
“I think he got banged up a little bit, and all of a sudden [Hanson] jumped in there. We kept [CB] Sheldon [outside]. We like the fit better with [Hanson] inside and Sheldon and [CB] Lito [Sheppard] outside. That’s mainly why we did it. He was doing okay and he just got banged up a little bit. All of a sudden, Hanson got his shot and took advantage of it.”
On Abiamiri’s strengths:
“He’s a good run player. He’s got that kind of a build. He’s a good run player. I think all those guys will develop pass rush techniques He’s got great character about him, as far as working at it, too. He’s got a chance. His strength right now is that he’s a good run player. But, he has to work on his pass-rush techniques.”
On what Hanson did well to earn the nickel cornerback spot:
“He’s got good quickness and good cover ability. He’s not a big guy, as you know, but he does have really good quickness. He’s smart; he knows what position to be in. A lot of guys can get in this league just by being smart. He’s a smart guy, but also has good cover ability and good quickness.”
On Hanson’s blitzing ability:
“He has that good explosion coming off the edge.”
Offensive Coordinator Marty Mornhinweg Press Conference
12-27-07
Opening Remarks:
“Wrapping up the last game, congratulations to [RB] Brian Westbrook, over 2,000 [2,005 scrimmage yards], and [QB] Donovan [McNabb] over 25,000 over his career [25,059 passing yards], and [WR] Kevin [Curtis] over 1,000 [1,048 receiving yards]. Those were some sub-goals that we had going into that game. We wanted to do everything that we could to win the football game and do those things, as well. Getting into this next game at Buffalo, we can’t let their numbers deceive us at all. They do some things very well. #94 [Aaron] Schobel, is an excellent pass rusher; a very good player—excellent player. We’re going to have to deal with him. They do challenge you. We’ve got a pretty good challenge with Buffalo coming in here.”
On who has made the biggest improvements on offense this year:
“[TE] Brent Celek, being a rookie, sure has gotten off to a good start with his career here. That would be one. [WR] Kevin Curtis has fit in real well here as a free agent coming from outside in. [RB] Tony [Hunt] certainly has progressed. We haven’t seen him on the field as much, but he has progressed at practice. Those would be the guys right off the top of my head.”
On whether the Eagles would be a tough draw if they were in the playoffs:
“I would think so. We’re fairly healthy. There are no guarantees in anything we do. You have to earn what you get in this game and we didn’t earn it. There’s no use in talking about it.”
On what needs to be done to improve next year:
“Consistency. We’ve got to be more consistent. You can make up all kinds of reasons for those types of things. Like I said, you’ve got to earn it. We have to have that mentality going forward.”
On why it’s important to win these last two games after being eliminated:
“Every game is important. This is what we do. Players play hard and they want to win. So do the coaches. When you get a little bit of momentum heading into next year, it never can hurt.”
On whether momentum actually caries over from season to season:
“I think you can look at certain teams and say that it very well may have helped them. Certainly, if you look at it another way, everything is different. We want to finish the season off the right way.”
On G Max Jean-Gilles:
“That’s another player who has certainly done a nice job. He’s worked hard, diligently, like a professional football player. He’s gotten an opportunity the last couple of weeks and he’s certainly played well. He needs to play at that high level on a consistent basis.”
On Jean-Gilles competing for a starting job:
“I think he’s got a chance to be a pretty good player in this league. His weight, you’d like to keep it manageable, and he knows that. He works hard at that.”
On whether Jean-Gilles can play both guard positions:
“He can play either side. He’s a right-side guy right now.”
On the reason for the increase in sacks this year against the Eagles:
“Everybody’s involved in that, including myself. We all need to do a better job. A bunch of those came early and we’ve been doing better, as of late. Everybody’s involved in that. It starts with the quarterback and the guys up front. The backs are involved and the tight ends are involved, as well as the receivers.”
On C Jamaal Jackson’s season:
“He’s real smart and normally does the right things. He’s still a young football player in this league at that center position. It’s a very difficult position to handle and I think he’s handled it well, up to date. I would expect, in the next year or two, for him to just get better and better and better.”
On WR Reggie Brown and how he can become more consistent:
“You keep preparing and you keep working hard. He’s done that and he’ll continue to do that. You become consistent with reps and reps and reps and all the preparation that he goes through.”
On whether he’s seen any drop-off in tackles Jon Runyan and William Thomas:
“They both have had excellent years. They both have stayed relatively healthy. Both of them have battled through some pretty serious injuries and played. That’s what professional football players do. They’ve played relatively well. I’ve been impressed with them.”
