Q: Are you excited?
A: Definitely.
Q: Anything that you can draw from the Monday night game?
A: No.
Q: RE: Eagles
A: They are a good football team. They are talented; they are well coached, diversified.
Q: What are the things you need to do this week to get back on track offensively?
A: Well, I think as it always is – particularly when you face a defense such as the Philadelphia Eagles defense, it is a recognition thing, a decisiveness, an accuracy in communication situations because we will be on the road in a noisy, hostile environment; so all of these things come into play. Obviously the playmaking aspect of it has to be first and foremost. They are a very aggressive defense and you do have to be able to take advantage of the opportunities that you have. You have to have great vision. You have to see the field. You have to know exactly what is going on and what your plan is. And what you thought is prior to the snap of the ball based on what the look is. So it is just a continuation of the way that we prepare every week. There is nothing unusual about the way that we are preparing.
Q: Are they scheme-wise any different this year than they have been in the past?
A: A little bit.
Q: Is it basically the Jim Johnson influence?
A: No question about that.
Q: You talk about recognition. Is that something that was an issue last week against Arizona when the playclock ran down several times, including the two delay of games?
A: No, it wasn't a recognition thing.* * That wasn't the issue. We recognized what they were doing. They did it very well and did it very quickly. They were very sudden.
Q: When you say that you talk about how they had a bunch of guys on the line and some were able to drop into coverage from there…
A: How they aligned and who you distinguished as who and how you communicated it to the rest of the people and how fast you had to do it in; the moving parts.
Q: So is it encouraging that at least you were able to recognize it because it is something that the Eagles do a lot of, right?
A: Yes.
Q: Your thoughts on Brian Westbrook. Obviously he suffered a concussion in the game.
* *A: He did. He is an excellent football player and he has been there for a long time. And we wish him well…maybe in another week or two.
Q: What kind of weapon is DeSean Jackson? You saw the game that he had Monday night.
A: He is an excellent football player and he has been that way since his rookie year. He just came on the scene and when you watch his punt return tape and the fact that he has such great speed and utilizes the open field so well. He is quite a weapon.
Q: They haven't done as much as some people expected with Michael Vick. Do you still have to prepare just in case?
A: Absolutely. They run the wildcat formation with him at that spot and Jackson at that spot, and McCoy and Westbrook. They have quite an extended package. It depends on how they dial it up this week.
Q: Your thoughts on Hakeen Nicks – his progress so far this year and his contributions.
A: He has made outstanding progress and contributed pretty much game in and game out. And there is certainly more to go – refinement, detail work, that type of thing. But when given opportunities he has performed.
Q: What is your opinion of the wildcat?
A: I think different people utilize it in different ways. So for what purpose I can't tell you what their thinking is. Although when you look at the effect that it has had on the Miami offense you certainly can appreciate it. And when you see the various ways in which Philadelphia goes about doing it – not all on the same week – but you know that there is a plan there for what they are trying to take advantage of having thrown the ball out of it, tol. Michael Vick gives you a little bit more that you have to defend.
Q: Do you have to be able to look ahead and say, "Well, here is what they are doing now but here is what they might add this week, especially with Vick?"
A: Well, I think so. But I don't really think that they want to take away from their base offense.
Q: Is there a way to characterize how important this game is?
A: It is a divisional game; we have a half a game lead on the Philadelphia Eagles. The game is in Philadelphia. I don't know that it gets any more exciting. Our games with Philadelphia have been – they have gone in extremes. There have been games with high scoring and there have been games with low scoring. There have been games where a field goal at the end settled it or a missed field goal at the end settled it. It has been extremely exciting. And I really don't see it any different.
Q: Does the fact that they beat you twice in a relatively short period of time at the end of last season resonate in the locker room?
A: I'm sure it does. They have a great memory.
Q: You talk about Jackson's punt return. Do you say anything to Jeff Feagles this week after last week or do you just let him go out and do his own thing?
A: No. There is always communication. Every player is coached; every player has a strategic job that they have to fulfill. And certainly there will be instructions this week.
Q: You took some responsibility right after the game for asking him to do things certain ways. Did he have a bad game?
A: He did have two bad punts that were very short. And we gave them the ball in bad field position. And that is what we talk about. Now the offense didn't help any. The first premise that we discuss is we feel like our offense is going to take the ball, even deep, and make a first down or two and then when we punt the ball we can change field position. But in that respect we didn't. And that is what the problem was. We didn't accomplish what we wanted to; we didn't change field position. We gave them the ball in the middle of the field. And you just can't do that.
Q: Kevin Boss is not on the injury report. Is his head and neck okay?
A: He is going to work.
Q: How much will Kareem McKenzie do?
A: He is going to get at least half.
Q: The other three guys?
A: They are going to work on the side. I really don't have any information for you.
