Head Coach Andy Reid Press Conference

8.22.10

Injury report:

“Those guys that did not practice today were [DE] Victor [Abiamiri], [G/C] Nick Cole, [CB] David Pender and [C] A.Q. Shipley, who was hurt in the game with a knee contusion. Everybody else was out there and played.”

Opening remarks:

“I had a chance to look at the film. Obviously we saw some good things and we saw some things we need to work on. I thought the ones, particularly on the defensive side, did a very nice job. Always room to improve, but they played very emotional, aggressive football. Had some turnovers in there against what I consider a pretty good offense there. Offensively we’ve got a couple things we need to work on and we started that today. We will get better. The things I mentioned to you before were turnovers, penalties and then just overall execution on all phases of the game; special teams, offense and defense. As coaches, we can do a better job and the players know they can do a better job, too.”

 On Nick Cole’s knee:

“Nick’s a tough guy and I know that. Nick will go out there and push himself through, really, anything. That’s just the way he’s wired. This is me backing off on him. To make sure we keep the swelling out of that knee, that he continues to just rehab it and get that area strong around the knee and then we’ll go from there. Until I feel that – myself and [head athletic trainer] Rick [Burkholder] – until we feel that that’s where it needs to be, I’m just going to hold back. I know what Nick can do. He got enough work in there. He’s in good shape and all that. He lost some weight and he’s in very good shape. That’s not what I’m worried about. I just want to make sure we’re smart with that knee.”

On whether he had an MRI on his knee:

“Yeah, they looked at it and have done everything that the doctors needed to do with it. Now it’s just a matter of letting him relax here for a little bit.”

On how C Jamaal Jackson looked today:

“He did some good things. Again, it was a 10-10-10, but he was able to get out there and move around. We wanted to do some contact, as much as you can do with shells on.”

On what the next step is for Jackson:

“Just add some contact to it; some restriction to it. It’s not like [G/T] Todd [Herremans]. Todd, right now, is full go, where Jamaal we’re just kind of treating him as contacts, very slowly and ease him into it.”

 On Jackson’s participation in practice today and whether he’ll be ready for the next preseason game against the Chiefs:

“He won’t be able to play this week. He only did parts of it. He won’t play in this game.”

On whether Herremans will be able to play in Friday’s preseason game:

“Todd will play in this game.”

On whether Jackson will be ready to play against the New York Jets in the final preseason game:

“Well, we’ll see. We’ll just see how he progresses here and where we’re at.”

On the importance of getting Jackson out on the field before the start of the regular season:

“Well, I think he’ll tell you the same. If possible, he’d like to do that. The most important thing is that he’s comfortable with his knee and that it’s strong and that we feel like he can keep himself out of trouble and function and do the things he needs to be able to do to play in the game.”

On whether he needs to see him play during the preseason in order to be ready for the start of the regular season:

“No, not necessarily. We’ll just see and we’ll play it by ear and see how it all works out.”

On whether it’s the mental part for Jackson and whether the knee is fine:

“Structurally the knee is fine. I’m not going to tell you it’s psychological. Structurally the knee is fine and I think it’s important that you just ease him back into the contact part.”

On Stacy Andrews’ knee:

“Nope. He’s fine.”

On how much of a difference he sees in Andrews from this year compared to last year:

“He’s getting better. He’s understanding the scheme better and he’s working hard. He’s getting better every day.”

On the play of the interior line in last Friday’s preseason game against the Bengals:

“I think, collectively, we can all do better. That’s what I think. So that game wasn’t about the offensive line. It was about everybody doing a little bit better on the offensive side. That’s me and the coaches included.”

On Friday’s preseason game and how the officials called a lot of illegal formation penalties against the offensive line:

“During the preseason I have to call things very close. They pick a problem area and so this one happened to be the depth of the tackle. And this has been going on for the last couple of preseasons. They got their point across, the officials did, and then [T] Jason [Peters] talked to you about it. He didn’t make any excuses and that’s how he is, so he knows. During the preseason they’re going to get you on a certain part of the game and that was it for this game.”

On whether the officials talked to the teams before the game:

“Yeah, they warn you.”

On whether he evaluates red zone execution as much during the preseason:

“I’m going to tell you this. If you execute properly, then you’re probably going to get the touchdown. So, it’s a little bit of a chicken and the egg, here. Everything’s faster and quicker down there and we spend a lot of time during the season on the red zone practicing it against whatever team we’re playing. I can’t tell you we do that during the preseason. I’m not making excuses or anything, but that’s not what we do. The thing that we have to do is we have to be better down there and a little more precise and accurate. I’m not talking about all positions when I say accuracy, there. I’m talking about blocking, throwing, catching, running routes.”

On whether he balances his play calling because he doesn’t want to show teams too much during preseason:

“Yeah, you know to go to your base stuff. That’s what you do and then try to work through you’re progressions and do that.”

 On whether Andrews is progressing to where he needs to be to play on opening day:

“I think he needs to keep getting better every day, like he’s doing. And if he continues to do that, then that’s a good thing.”

On RB Mike Bell’s injury status:

“Mike Bell practiced today.”

On whether it is important for Bell to see game action before the regular season starts:

“He should be able to play this week unless there’s a setback, and I would tell you the same thing with Todd. Unless there’s a setback those guys are going to play this week.”

On whether QB Michael Vick is suffering some setbacks in the West Coast Offense:

“No. Michael will be fine. He’s done this for a lot of years and again, he will be the first one to tell you he goofed on a couple of those plays. He rushed it instead of just being patient, and reading the keys that he normally reads. He’s normally very accurate with that kind of stuff. So, he’ll do better the next time he gets in there.”

On whether he thought LB Ernie Sims played well despite not being credited with a tackle:

“I thought he played a heck of a game. I saw the same thing when I went through and looked at the stats afterwards. He is a tempo-setter and he’s always right around the ball. There were a lot of times where [LB Stewart] Bradley was running free because Ernie absorbed either a lineman, or a fullback, or a tight end. He’s a physical guy.”

On what happened to S Nate Allen on the play where he got run over and his overall play:

“You saw some great hits that he had in there. He learned a good lesson, right there, and it happens. It happens to the best of them. He got caught behind the pile and all of a sudden he didn’t know if the back was going left or right. The back goes right and he has to stick his head out there to look and then it was a train wreck. So, he knows you have to feel the leverage that your linebackers have and that the blockers have and then you just have to sell out to that position. It was a good lesson learned. I was proud of him because he came right back and made some plays after that that were some physical, physical plays. That’s a great lesson to learn. He’s a smart kid. He’ll learn from that and be better for it.”

On whether the first team nickel defense is still in an experimental phase:

“The thing [Defensive Coordinator] Sean [McDermott] feels comfortable in is that he has a bunch of different combinations that he’s using. So, you saw [DE Daniel] Te’o-Nesheim make a nice move on the first one and get penetration right in the quarterback’s face and threw the quarterback off. Then they came back and they doubled Te’o. And then, that allowed [DT Trevor] Laws some movement in there and room to work and then he came back and he put [DE] Brandon [Graham] in there and Brandon made and nice move and they doubled him the next time. So, he has some good combinations that he’s rolling in there. The main thing is that you can get penetration on the quarterback and pressure on the quarterback, that’s what that group was able to do.”

On DE Darryl Tapp:

“Darryl got in there too. He was able to get pressure too. He’s part of this combination of players. [DE] Juqua Parker had nice pressure. They’re all getting around the ball. I thought [DE] Trent Cole did a phenomenal job in that game. He was relentless and held all those combinations down.”

On Graham’s size and seeing playing time at defensive end:

“Well, he’s small, but if you stretch out his thighs and his gluts, he’d be about seven feet tall. So, he’s very big in those areas, very powerful in the core. He plays with leverage and he always keeps his feet moving. A lot of guys will hit and they’ll stall. He’s hitting and his feet just go faster. He has good instincts with that.”

On whether he feels the need for a blocking tight end:

“Those are the things Howie and I are going through and evaluating. So, we’re looking at all the positions, all those type of combinations that you have. Right now, I know [TE Brent] Celek can block and the other guys are learning. We keep our eyes open at all spots.”

On QB Kevin Kolb’s response to the constant pressure put on him during the game:

“He’s okay with that. A couple of times he was just buying time. He had protection in there and he was just drifting toward the side of the receiver that he wanted to utilize. Maybe there was pressure on a couple of the other ones, but normally he just was buying time. I thought he threw the ball on the run very well. He was very accurate. That throw to [WR] DeSean [Jackson] was a beautiful thing right there and he had a couple other ones. The touchdown that got called back that was to [WR] Jason [Avant], that was a nice play.”

 On whether WR Jeremy Maclin practiced today:

“Maclin went today.”

On former Eagle Tra Thomas and his recent retirement:

“Jon Runyan and Tra, those are two of my favorite guys. Tra, we saw him from being a big kid to growing up into this mature, All Pro football player, and person. He’s a good guy. I think if he and Jon Runyan were President and Vice President, I think we would all vote for them.”