Injury Report: "(DE) Victor Abiamiri has a foot sprain. Looks like it's a mild Lisfranc sprain. (LB) Steward Bradley has a fractured rib. (FS Brian) Dawkins has low back spasms. He should be fine there. (G) Todd Herremans made it through with a sprained ankle but again is sore today. (T) Jon Runyan made it through with a sprained ankle and knee, but he's doing okay. (G) Shawn Andrews is still working on his rehab. (WR) Hank Baskett is feeling better with the MCL sprain. (WR) Kevin Curtis tried to go and warm up before the game; the calf strain wasn't able to do it."
Opening Remarks: "I mentioned after the game, disappointing loss. I think all of our players feel that. I think all of our coaches feel that. I obviously thought that we were ready to play. I thought that the guys played hard. I just didn't think our execution was very good. I thought defensively we started off slow in the first half. We weren't able to get off the field, but I thought that changed around. I thought the second half was a much better display of how we play on defense. Offensively, we started off slow, and really, with the exception of the one drive for the field goal, it remained that way until the last drive. The first half, offensively, we only had the ball 20 snaps, 21 snaps and (we) weren't able to sustain any drives, which obviously is a problem. Field position I thought was a factor. Listen, now, some of that you take care of yourself. We were never able to change that around, and we obviously can do a better job there. We had 10 out of 12 drives that started at the -20 or less and all seven in the second half were right in that area. That's a compliment to their punter. You have to take care of that. A good football team takes care of that and switches that field position around. Third down, I thought that we were poor. Offensively, we were 3-for-14 and you can't do that. There were some good things I saw. Like any game there are some good things and some bad things. However, the bad things directly affected this game and the outcome of it. We had chances down the stretch to put points on the board. We didn't take advantage of it. Too many drops. Just too many errors in particular. With all that said, we have the players coming in here today, and there is still light at the end of the tunnel. Obviously, everybody wants to get to the playoffs and we still have that opportunity. We have a good football team coming in here with Dallas, and it's important that we knock this film out today, be very critical of ourselves, make sure we study it and analyze it, and then come back Wednesday ready to go. I'm saying that as coaches and as players. I would expect that with the character that we have on this football team, that they would do that."
On whether he felt he used the run game enough in the second half: "We probably could have run it a couple of more times, yeah."
On why they didn't run the ball much in the second half: "We were backed up and trying to make some things happen. We took some shots in there and at the time we weren't running it quite as effective as we would have liked to, but we probably could have stuck with it a little bit more."
On whether he thought about going back to the run game with the weather conditions: "You saw this right from the get-go, the wind didn't get worse as the game went on. It was actually a little bit stronger at the beginning, at least that's what I felt on the field. We started off with the wind to our advantage and saw that they were able to throw the ball pretty effectively with the wind in their face, and I really didn't think that that affected it. It wasn't like New York."
On what made him think that the run game wasn't going well considering RB Brian Westbrook was averaging 4.1 yards per carry: "We started off throwing. It just worked out that way. We started off throwing the football. We were backed up and we were trying to make some things happen that way. Like I said, we probably could have run it a few more times."
On what this team can do better to close out games in the fourth quarter: "You're playing a good defense. You're playing one of the top defenses in the National Football League, so you have to execute. You have to catch the football. You have to block and do all those things that you are supposed to do. And again, I'll take the responsibility for that on the offensive side, but I have to make sure that I put the guys in a better position, whether that's running the football more or catching and so on, the routes."
On whether he is more prone to throwing the football when they are starting deep in their own territory: "The majority of the time on first and second down they were presenting an eight-man front, is what they were doing. And so, they gave you opportunities to work your quick game and they were playing off-coverage on the outside. We just didn't do as well as I thought we could do."
On whether he thinks the Redskins forced them to pass the ball knowing that they were missing two receivers: "I think they were willing to put that extra guy up in there and keep him very close to the line of scrimmage. Whether it was missing wide receivers or not, I don't know that, but that's what they did. Heck, we had opportunities to make plays and we didn't."
On whether he was surprised at the amount of dropped balls yesterday considering they hadn't dropped many balls in the past few games: "That did surprise me, and I know what I said there. I think you back it up with the games that we had. I just didn't think that we hung onto it as well as we needed to. We can do a better job with the yards after the catch, too, which we had been doing very well with."
On whether he would still consider this a tough-minded team: "Yeah, they were (all close losses) with the exception of the Baltimore game. But yeah, I do think they are tough minded. Some of those guys playing that were banged up a little bit, they'll need that toughness this week. They all will, and I expect us to utilize that."
On what the difference is between a slow start and being ready to come out and play: "Sometimes you can try too hard. You get yourself out of position and that can go on on both sides of the football. Sometimes you can amp it up too high to put yourselves in a bad position. So you have to maintain that part and make sure that you are balancing out."
On how this is the third straight year that they've made a run in December and whether he sees a pattern in why that is: "I'm not there yet. Right now I'm on the Cowboys. I'll get to all that after the season, but right now we need to take care of business this week."
On what the issue is with the red zone offense: "We're looking at that again today. We are going back and analyzing the last few games on that. We have to do a better job down there, obviously."
On whether Bradley and Abiamiri will be available for Sunday: "Yeah, I think Vic, it'll be a race for Vic to get there. Stewart, I think, will be okay."
On what should have happened on the last play of yesterday's game: "I thought (QB) Donovan (McNabb) did a nice job of sticking it in there. We tell the receivers to make sure that they are in the end zone in those situations, so we could have done a little bit better of a job there. We want to make sure that there is no question."
On how he thought McNabb played: "I think he'd tell you that he would like to have a few plays back. But at the same time, I think down the stretch, he sure made some nice throws there."
On whether WR Reggie Brown should have kept to the original route or made an adjustment on the last play: "He probably should have stuck with the original."
On whether he feels that after losses he's answering the same questions about the same shortcomings of the team: "(Jokingly) Yeah, you guys aren't very creative."
On whether it is tough for guys on this team to not be thinking about contract situations at this point in the season: "That's not on my mind right now. I won't even go there. I'm focused in completely on Dallas right now. I'll finish up with your questions here and I'll be all Dallas."
On whether he can explain players being in the wrong formations in the 15th game of the season: "Did I say anything about the wrong formation? I'm not going to get into all that."
On whether he would rather not know if they are eliminated from the playoffs going into their 4:15 pm game Sunday: "Yeah, but that's probably not realistic in this day-in-age of technology. I said this before, you can't worry about all the different things that you can't control. You just have to go play, that's the important thing."
