On what it felt like to be back on the field again: "You know it felt good. I'm totally blessed. God has blessed me to have the opportunity to come back and play football. Some people would not have been able to come back after two concussions and that's not what I did, but it's definitely what God has been able to bless me with, so I'm thankful for that. It's a relief to get back on the football field with these guys. Great football team, great guys on this team. Anytime that you have 53 guys out there fighting the way we did today, you're going to be hard to beat."
On what it felt like to get hit for the first time: "I had confidence going into the game that I'd be okay. But that first hit, you're always kinda looking for to just make sure you're going to be straightened out. I felt good after it. My head felt good, no headache, no more concussion, so I'm definitely blessed."
On if it took any time at all to get back to the tempo of the game: "You know, not really. I think a couple plays I wish I had back, a couple situations I wish I would have done something different, but I'll get used to it."
On how long it will take to get back to his full capacity: "I think at this point, you just go out and try to help this team. No matter if I was going to be the Brian Westbrook of '06 or '07, whatever it is. Whatever this team needs me to do, that's what I'm going to do. These guys have been doing so many good things. At this point, they don't need me to be that Brian Westbrook right now just because we have so many guys that are performing right now, but as time goes on, I going to get better and better every single week. I'm going to continue to push myself to get back into that form."
On the hardest hit he took today: "I didn't really take too many big hits. I think (S Brian) Dawk(ins) spared me a little bit. That's who he is."
On how his new helmet feels: "It felt good. There's a lot of cushion. The joke is it's a big helmet, so there's a lot of cushion in there."
On the route he ran when he was isolated against Dawkins: "Actually it was a breaking route. I slipped a little bit, I didn't get out, didn't break the way I should have. I didn't have my shoulders over my toes like I should have. So it was a bad route by me."
On if executing that route comes with playing at full speed: "Yeah, you know, it really does come with playing at full speed. The ground was a little loose today at well, that contributed as well. But it will come."
On the effectiveness of screen plays today: "Well that's what it was. The time that we did run a screen, they were looking for it. When they called it out it, it's tough to get it off and get set to run those plays. We've been so successful with screens, not just me but the other running backs as well, so teams are definitely prepared for that when we have the opportunity to run it."
On whether he is surprised by the young offensive players' success: "I think those guys, that they're just coming into this program a lot more polished than before. Jeremy with another great catch today, he did a great job of getting open and making that catch when we needed it. It came at a time when we needed it the most today, but those guys have done a great job of learning the offense and (QB Donovan McNabb) is doing a great job of teaching them as well as the older guys are doing a great job of taking those younger guys underneath their wing and saying, 'Look man, we're going to need you to play. Everything that you can do to learn this offense and get it down as quickly as possible, we need you to do that.'"
On how special it was for him to come back to play in a game against Brian Dawkins: "Dawk has been an inspiration, mentor, role model for so many of us, but for me in particular. For me, it was just getting back to play, that was great, but to play against him and be able to talk a little trash to him from time to time, it means a lot to me. He's done so much for this team and this league and this city, so much he's done. Even with all of the things that he's done for this city and this team, he's done so many more things for me personally and I really appreciate the things he's been able to do for me."
On whether Dawkins counseled him at all after his concussion: "I talk to him frequently whether it's about the concussion or just life in general. I talk to him frequently. Of course, he always continued to keep me in his mind, continued to keep me in his prayers and I do the same for him. He just continued to tell me to be patient, be smart about my decision as far as football goes. There is a life after football, he reminds me of that all the time."
On whether he was more or less involved than he expected: "I went into the game not really expecting to be that involved, but when you're called upon as an offensive player you have to answer the bell. I think (offensive coordinator) Marty (Mornhinweg) did a great job of really mixing me, (FB) Leonard (Weaver), and (RB) LeSean (McCoy) in there a little bit today. Hopefully we can have a little bit more success running the ball next week."
On the different weapons in this offense: "In the past we've had years where it was almost just me and Donovan just doing our thing out there. This year we have so many weapons, (WR) DeSean (Jackson) leads a corps of wide receivers that have just done a great job. (TE) Brent (Celek) has done a great job. LeSean McCoy, Leonard Weaver has done a great job. Of course you have our general out there, Donovan. There are just so many things for us; it's hard for any defense to stop us if we're playing like we can. We made it tougher on ourselves than it needed to be today and we'll fix that, but for those other defenses it's going to be tough."
