Opening Remarks: "I'm glad everybody could make it out today. I look forward to the upcoming 2010 season. We've got a lot of new faces, and it's important that we come together as a football team and this is a great place to do it at, at Lehigh. I think the weather is going to hold up for us, so we'll get a little work in the heat, and be able to get ourselves into football shape and ready to go. It will be obviously a tough camp, very similar to ones that we've done in the past. But the most important thing is that learning takes place and that we gel as a football team. Right now our first and second round picks have not signed. (President) Joe (Banner) and (general manager) Howie (Roseman) are in the process of working with both of them and we'll just see how things go there; a little bit closer with (S) Nate (Allen) than we are with (DE) Brandon (Graham). Time's yours."
On who will start out on the PUP (physically unable to perform) list: "Well, nobody from this crew until we get with the veteran players. So, right now (C) Jamaal (Jackson), (DE) Victor Abiamiri, and (T/G) Todd Herremans will probably be the three that start off there and we'll just see how it goes from there. Obviously, we'll be doing a little bit more with Todd than we will be with the others at this time. We just want to see where he's at." Video Player : Andy Reid Press Conference
On QB Michael Vick's situation: "I've had the opportunity to talk to Michael and the commissioner. He's ready to go and get on with things. I think he's learned some important lessons and it's just very important that you put yourself in the proper situation. I think you've gotten to know Michael here and Michael's a very nice guy, tries to please everybody and do the best he can. Those are great redeeming qualities to have, but again you've got to just be careful about the situations you put yourself in and I think he's very aware of that."
On whether to punish Michael Vick: "I think, number one you listen to what exactly happened and the law enforcement part of it. I think they know that Mike Vick clarified it, so he obviously didn't break the law there. That's the number one thing you look at and then we've just got to make sure he learns from it."
On what happened at the party: "I will just tell you this. I talked to Michael right after the situation happened. He called me and told me what happened and it was the same story all the way through. The story didn't change. Law enforcement people proved that fact, so I'm just going to leave it at that. I'm not going to get into all of the details of it. I will just say so we can move on here I think that Michael learned from it and just make sure that he's a little bit more aware of the situation he puts himself in."
On Vick getting more chances: "The law enforcement people didn't find anything there that he was guilty of, so I'm not sure about the chance part."
On whether the commissioner would take action: "I've talked with the commissioner, so I've been in touch with him and kind of knew where we were at with him."
On whether there will be any further action taken: "I think both the league and the Eagles looked at what the law enforcement people said."
On Vick being a role model: "Well, obviously until this incident came up I thought he had done just a phenomenal job with trying to right himself in the situation that he was in. Like I said the people here that do know Michael, know that Michael is a very nice person. So, you've just got to make sure that you don't put yourself in a bad situation."
On the importance of training camp this year because of the new players: "Yeah, it's important. I think since (QB) Donovan (McNabb) had been a rookie or his first couple of years, I think we're back in that situation again here where you've got a new quarterback. So, there will be things that (QB Kevin Kolb) will learn as he goes through the process of being a starter. He's gotten a little bit of a heads up on Donovan that he's been here for some time. But again, as a starter this will be a new experience for him."
On the status of contract talks between Graham and Allen, and the likelihood of Allen signing before tomorrow's practice: "Well, I think we're closer right now with Nate than we are with Brandon. I think it's important that they're here. These three days are great training for the young players and both these two are going to have a role on our defense, so as many reps as they can get will be very important. I think if you lose a day, you lose an opportunity to get better."
On the reason that there are so many unsigned first round picks right now: "I'm not sure. It's probably a little bit like 3rd-and-2, but they don't have to make that decision."
On the phone conversation he had after with Vick after the incident: "Michael is a very nice person. He really is. So, it's important that you put yourself in good positions and that's what he's learned from. I'm not going to get into what I said or did, but I'll just tell you that that's the case. (Jokingly) I did like the other questions that we had going, we were on a little bit of a roll."
On whether he believes that the Eagles can sign Allen and have him attend tomorrow's practice: "Yeah, I think so. The people around him, in front and behind got their deals done, so we're sitting there, and I think that will get done. Howie is doing a great job on his side with it, so I think (the Allen deal) will, but we'll see how it goes."
On how much Herremans will play this week: "You know what? That's what I want to see. I want to see how he's doing before we take him off the PUP. We'll gradually bring him back. I don't want him to jump in and hurt himself again, so I want to take it nice and slow here. We've got a little bit of time."
On whether he is concerned with Herremans' injury: "Right now, it's really not bothering him. I want to see it. He's had time off here and he's been working with (head athletic trainer) Rick (Burkholder), but I want to see myself, and I want to take it nice and easy here and make sure we go by doing this the right way."
On how far apart the Eagles are to agreeing to a deal with Graham: "It's a little bit with what Les asked me. Nobody around him has done anything. There's one first round pick that's really signed. To me it's crunch time, but I'm not sure that urgency is there, and I'm not saying with Brandon, but with the agents that are involved with all of these first round picks. To me it's 3rd-and-2. I've got to make that call right now. It's a shame for these kids. Every day that they get is a good day for them."
On whether there is a different feel to camp without former QB Donovan McNabb: "I think there is. There's a little bit of unknown—which I kind of like. I like that. I think it's a great challenge. I think it's a great challenge for the coaches and for the players. There are some big-name players that have been proven players on this football team that aren't here. It's important that the young guys step up and they go. That, to me, is exciting."
On whether it had gotten "stale" with the established players that are no longer with the team: "I don't think it was stale, I think you just kind of knew what you had at certain positions. The one that you asked about is a pretty important position—the quarterback—that's a pretty important position, so we've got to find that out. There are also some young guys we've got to work in here. Thirteen draft picks—I want to see how they do with their pads on. That's a lot of new bodies."
On different it was for him to not have McNabb at training camp:"We've gone through a process this whole offseason. It doesn't seem that much different right now. We've had a little bit of lead-in here. This just didn't happen yesterday, so it doesn't seem that unusual right now. I would take it the other way and say I'm looking forward to working with Kevin and seeing how he progresses, I think that's going to be a neat deal."
On whether CB Ellis Hobbs will participate fully in practice: "He will. Yeah. Listen, I'm going to monitor him and see how he does. He'll be in with the veterans. I'll just see how he does and exactly where he's at, but right now he's cleared and ready to go."
On whether he anticipates Kolb to play significantly more during the preseason compared to Donovan McNabb in recent years due to Kolb's lack of experience: "I'm just going to see how things go with him. I didn't do that necessarily with Donovan when he was young, so I'll just play it by ear and see how he does in practices. We'll just kind of see how he progresses here. We have a lot of confidence in him. It's a little different situation than when Donovan was coming in. You do have a little experience here with the offense, a little bit more than what Donovan had."
On what some of the unknowns are on this team: "We obviously drafted a lot of young defensive players. I can't wait to see those guys go here and hit and be able to sustain. I think they'll do real good the first day, but I want to see after the third, fourth day when that body is sore and the mind is tired and it's hard to get out of bed. I want to see how they react to that and then I want to see how they work together to gel. The obvious one is Kevin Kolb. (RB) LeSean McCoy now that he is the starter. (WR Jeremy) Maclin is another year into it. Our offensive line. (C) Nick Cole is at the center position as we open up this camp. These are all good things, kind of exciting things to see. I'm curious to see how it all works out."
On what Kolb has to show him this camp: "Well, he needs to just keep doing what he's been doing. Obviously we made this move with confidence that Kevin can step in and be the guy, so he just needs to continue to progress. Will there be a little blip here and there? Yeah, he's a young guy. Just keep pushing forward and being you and that's good enough."
On whether the recent Michael Vick incident will cause a distraction in camp: "I don't see that. I don't think that will be a problem with our football team, no. I think the team knows Michael, they understand that he's a nice guy, they understand the situation and they'll invite him in. We've had other camps where there have been a couple sticky thumbs. I don't see this as that type of situation."
On whether he has talked to Brandon Graham recently: "These guys are kind of in a bunker mode. Their agents kind of tell them, 'Don't pick up the phone unless it's me calling' being the agent. So, I understand that game."
On whether he would like a salary structure with first round draft picks: "I'm not sure I'm in a position to answer that, although I have a feeling that that's probably the direction things will end up going here down the road. There's a little bit of a slot there as it goes anyway, but it's one that there's quite a little bit of flexibility with right now. I can see things going in that direction possibly."
On whether he still feels that it would be unlikely that Jamaal Jackson would be ready for the start of the season: "Right now, coming in I would say that. However I think he's doing very well. I think time is important. I think Rick having him up here and really putting him through a little more strenuous exercise will be important. Although I will tell you he's in great shape. His leg is feeling good, it's just that it happened not too long ago here. We'll see how it goes."
On whether Jackson has been running regularly: "Yeah, he's been doing good with that. He's been doing some drills."
On whether he has an over 30 club at camp: "I think we average 24.1 years of age for our team, (jokingly) so I'm going to take every third day off. I think we have a couple players, our special teams, our kickers, they'll have the day off."
On whether there is any additional pressure on him as an evaluator: "I've been in that position for a couple years. I don't worry about that. That's all part of the competition. I'm kind of fired up about the whole thing. Most of all I'm kind of fired up just to see you guys again."
On whether the uncertainty and the unknown holds up his expectations at all compared to past years: "No, it really doesn't. I don't feel that way. I'm expecting the new guys to step in and play and play well when they have an opportunity."
