Opening Comments: "Alright, injuries – (WR) DeSean (Jackson) has an elbow contusion and is a bit sore today, but should be okay. (G/T Todd) Herremans, who had an ankle sprain, did well through the game. (WR) Jeremy Maclin did well through the game. (CB) Asante (Samuel)'s hamstring strain doesn't look like it's too bad. He's getting treatment and working on that. (QB) Michael Vick made it through well, other than just normal soreness. He feels better than he did last week, than he did after the Dolphins game. (DT) Trevor Laws has knee tendinitis, and we'll just see how he does here. Again, compliments to our fans for the spirit that they brought, and energy they brought to the stadium. They really end up being the 12th man out there when they do that, the players feed off of that. The Jets, good football team, like I mentioned yesterday, very good in the red zone, actually, the number one team in the red zone. I was proud of our defense for really holding them out; I think we were two-for-five in the red zone defensively. They're a good football team; it was a good game to win. Like I've said before, every win in this league is a good win. A ton of individual, good performances, but most of all a good team performance. Always start with the O(ffensive) and D(efensive) line, and then working in to the other positions. The obvious ones, (TE Brent) Celek's, (RB LeSean) McCoy's, (DE Jason) Babin's, Michael. I thought our secondary did a nice job. Special teams and turnovers, we've obviously got to do a better job with the turnovers. That's been a bit of a problem this year, and we had too many of them yesterday, so we've got to continue to work on that and you know, the fumbles, we've got to take care of those. We've got to take care of the football. It wasn't a matter of effort – in some cases it might have been too much effort. You're going for that extra, extra, extra yard, you've got to make sure you protect the football. In McCoy's case I thought that's what happened. The coordinators and the coaches did a nice job, again, against a good football team."
On what he has seen from Defensive Coordinator Juan Castillo over this stretch as far as learning about his players more and applying it to his calls: "I think from a player's standpoint, I think you see consistency. I think what he told you happens, and he's aware of it, knowing the players, playing to their strengths, and covering up whatever weaknesses they have. I think the part that he's been consistent, he's not afraid to admit a problem and fix the problem. He's not hiding from anything there. The players, he obviously has the trust of the players and the confidence of the players."
On CB Nnamdi Asomugha stating that he sees Castillo growing on the job, and whether he sees it as well: "Listen, I don't know all about that. I mentioned to you guys along the line, in Buffalo, which was quite a while ago, when you have safety blitzes going right into the runs that those are pretty good calls. I think he's done a pretty good job of that throughout. I think just a matter of getting to know your guys and putting them in the right position and being more familiar in there I think is important. And then the young guys, I think understanding what's expected of them, and the new players."
On whether the players are executing the same plays that Castillo had been calling in September and October, better than before: "I just know I mentioned that at that time. I think it's a combination. I don't think it's the players, I don't think it's the coaches, I think it's everybody doing a better job, and it's important to do that. We've got a good football team that we're playing this week, so we've got to make sure we continue to work and do the right things and execute and put the players in position to execute."
On whether he thinks a full offseason will allow Castillo to continue to grow into the job: "Listen, I think everybody's getting better every week. That's what I think. That's where I'm at. You guys all know how I feel about Juan, I don't think that's new news. But I think it's important that we all, starting with me, that we all get better every week and play as a team, and that's the important thing."
On whether Samuel will have a short turnaround time on his injury: "I think he's going to be okay, I think he's going to be alright. Listen, I had a chance to talk to him after the game, and then today he came in. I think he's going to be alright."
On whether Samuel will practice this week: "We'll see. We'll see how it goes. If I think he's going to hurt himself we won't put him out there. We'll just see how it goes."
On how CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie played in Samuel's absence: "You know what, I thought all the way around, when he had an opportunity to play I thought he did a nice job. You saw him on the one slant route; I thought he played that very well. I think he's getting a better feel for the inside game, and then outside he knows that, that's why he's very comfortable on the outside. He was a Pro Bowl player out there, so he understands that even more than he does the inside, but it looks like he's getting more comfortable with the inside."
On using Babin in the middle and allowing him to get running starts, and why the team has begun to utilize him in that way: "Well, we had both he and (DE) Trent (Cole) doing that, just moving them around a little bit. Juan's done that periodically throughout the year with different forms. We started in training camp and he just kind of progressed it. We took a step back from it, the production wasn't there, and so we stepped back from it a bit, and then started bringing it back. You've got to know the snap-count to be able to do those things, and study that, and have a decent feel for it or you get yourself into trouble when you're getting the running start. It's a little change up."
On how he felt DE Phillip Hunt graded out: "Listen, he did a good job. He's improving every week, and I'm saying from the scout team reps that he had, to the opportunity to play last week, to the opportunity to play this week. He's gotten better."
On whether this is how he envisioned the maturation of the defense and Castillo to occur: "This is a general statement, I know that I've said it before, but I felt that way with the lockout, that in general throughout the league that the defenses would need time to catch up. Just from the fact that you can't call up your buddies and say 'Hey, let's go through the ball around', and run the routes that you run. You can't do that with the defense. I thought the offense would have a little bit more timing, having had the chance to work with each other in the offseason, and the defense might take a little time to catch up. We've had a few moving parts in there, so it's a matter of everybody coming together. The nice thing is I think that we continue to get better, and that's what we've got to do, on both sides of the ball, and keep working hard at it."
On whether he's had a chance to marvel that at 6-8, the Eagles are still in the hunt for the NFC East title: "Well look, anything's possible in the NFL. I realize that, I've been around long enough to understand that. I'm a huge Jets fan this week."
On whether he will try to discourage players from paying attention to the Jets-Giants game next week: "Well listen, you can't control all that. The thing you can control is going out there tomorrow and practicing, and Wednesday practicing, and Thursday practicing, and Friday, and playing the game. Those are the things that you can control. So take care of that business, I tell myself the same thing, take care of that business, don't worry about the other thing, there's nothing you can do about that game. Take care of what you can control."
On how significant the Eagles red zone defense the last two weeks has been to the team being on two game winning streak: "Well listen, all your positives and all your negatives get exploited I guess you could say, they show up in the red zone. I think from a defensive standpoint it's tighter coverage, attacking, trusting that 12th man back there being the end zone end line, and then just understanding the thing. So, your young guys are getting better down in there, and they're attacking the ball better, more confident."
On whether he's found the right combination of players on defense, especially at linebacker: "I think they're all challenging each other. That's kind of the fun thing. You mentioned the linebackers. They're all having a chance to play. I think they're all young guys, they want to see who does better when given the opportunity. I think that's a healthy competition. They have fun with it. When one of them makes a play they're excited for him. I think it's a nice little challenge for all of them."
On whether he feels like he has an idea of what's expected of his team, and that the highs and lows have calmed down: "That's a hard thing to pinpoint because as a coach, you're so optimistic. You're teaching, and you're pushing, and you're studying, and doing all those things. You don't look at the highs and the lows and that part. You go in and you get yourself ramped up for each game knowing there's going to be success. That's the frame of mind that you're in. I really haven't looked back on that. Just trying to get better, continue to get better, and who knows. Who knows what the next game lays ahead. You never do. It doesn't matter if you're undefeated at this point, you just don't know. But you know you can work your tail off and try to get better at the things you're not good at as a coach and player."
On a Jets defender saying that Vick was calling out their coverage and whether it was his preparation or just Vick getting better: "Listen, I think he does a pretty good job of that type of stuff. We mentioned last year not having him do quite as much, and this year he's been able to see things and he's worked very hard on that. He started really right after last year's season ended of getting tape and DVDs that he could take home and look at, and really study all that in depth. He's really been doing that for most of the year. That team there does a good job of disguising. That number 33 is a pretty sharp guy. It's interesting he recognized that he (Vick) recognized. That's also a good thing."
On the kind of qualities that McCoy possesses that allowed him to break records this past week: "Listen, you've got to compliment him for his work ethic, getting a little bit heavier, a little bit stronger, being able to endure the NFL season. These are all in the maturation process of great running backs that go through this, the great ones do. So, he's working to put himself as one of the elite, elite guys in this league, and he's on pace to do that. He's on pace to do that with the organization and in the National Football League, so it's important that he continues to work at it. When you're not there yet, you've got to continue to grind, and grind, and grind, and then when you get there you've got to grind, and grind, and grind to be able to maintain it. So, he's still young in that process, but for the work ethic that he has developed, and the effort that he's put in to becoming one of the top guys, my hat's off to him."
On whether he has done anything throughout the season or at this point in the season to try to change the late season results that have happened in previous season: "Listen, you keep battling through, that's what you've got to do. I'm not sure I have an answer for you on that one."
On whether he's changed their preparation: "No."
On how he kept the team focused on pregame warm-ups, rather than focused on the Giants game: "You don't turn it on, obviously, in the locker room, and you go play. Control what you can control, go play. You're going to play the game, right? Whether that team wins or loses you're going to go out play the game, and when these guys play the game they play to win the game. That's what NFL players do. They're professionals, and that's how they go about their business. When you look at it that way, the other game is just another game."
On whether it helps to still be able to practice outside and keep the players off of the turf inside, and whether it's a big deal: "Well, a lot of these guys come off of the college level, where you're used to playing on this stuff. It's the older they get in their careers, and the old coaches, and the old reporters. Those knees start aching a little bit. It doesn't hurt to be able to get out there and be able to stay outside. We've had success either way."
On whether winning at the end of the season makes the evaluation for what the team needs next year easier or harder: "I think the fact that most of the guys are playing, they're having an opportunity to show and contribute, maybe more so than any year, you're able to not only give them experience, but also watch how they grow and then once you get to the offseason then you can do the other part."
On whether he feels comfortable with RB Dion Lewis going forward because of his fumble and him not being able to break one: "We've got to get better there. There are certain things he's got to do a little bit better. I know the kid though, the kid is a determined kid. He's really not a fumbler, that's not his deal. He got careless with the ball in traffic, he learned from it. He's got to continue to hit, I thought he progressively got better at hitting it as the game went on. You've got a lot of pride with that kid, and he wants to be good, so he'll continue to. And then the guys around him, we've got to block, and then we've got to make sure we've got the right scheme in there to pop him. So, everybody's got a little bit of that."
On the safety play over the last two weeks and some of their key improvements: "Really, that middle of the defense, and listen, I mentioned, you guys all know this so I'm stating the obvious, but they're young guys, and it was important that they continue to get better. Two safeties (have) only been in the league a year. They're getting better every week, more confident, they're taking a lot of pride in their job. Big test this week, big test this week for our secondary, they have very good wide receivers, at Dallas. I know they'll study like crazy and rise up to the challenge."
On whether he thinks S Nate Allen was still coming back from the knee and learning to trust the knee: "Listen, you see that with (DE) Brandon Graham, and you see it over and over with players. It takes a little bit of time. Brandon Graham's a good football player. It's just you take a step forward, then you take a step back, then you take a longer step forward and another step back, then a longer step, and then pretty soon, and it normally happens after the year, and then the following year they're back all the way. So you just try to work it the best you can as a player and coach, and we've got (Head Athletic Trainer) Rick (Burkholder) who grinds these guys and really gives them an opportunity to go through that process."
On how he feels his two rookie kickers have done this year: "You know what, I've been proud. They're learning every week. You saw (P) Chas (Henry). Chas had one punt before the last one, the second to last punt. When we had a lead, he kind of shanked it off the side of his foot. They ended up going down and scoring. That's a great learning tool. You can never lose your focus as a punter. It's like any other position, you've got to maintain your intensity throughout the game, and if you let it slide a lick, you give that team an opportunity to score. So that's something that he can put in the memory bank there, in his file, and use as we go. Then he came back with the next one and hit a boomer. And then the other (K Alex) Henery, I think he's getting stronger as the season goes on. It looks like he's doing a good job. Looks like his kickoffs are maintaining their depth, and even a couple extra yards on to it where he's booting a few of them out of the end zone, and that's a good thing."
