Opening Comments: "Alright, injuries – the players that will not practice today will be (RB) LeSean McCoy with an ankle sprain and then (CB) Asante Samuel with a hamstring strain. (S) Kurt Coleman we've put on Injured Reserve, he has a partial biceps tear. Everybody else is going to practice and go through the workouts and get prepared for the Washington Redskins. You know, we look forward to the opportunity of playing the Redskins – NFC East rival – which always generates great competition. So our guys are going to focus in on the game plan and executing it and bring energy to the stadium."
On the chance he gives McCoy to play this Sunday: "Well, it's not a high ankle sprain so we'll just see how he does here. If he can play, he'll play. He wants to play. We'll see how he does."
On whether Coleman has an injury that would have put him on Injured Reserve a month ago, or whether he was placed on Injured Reserve because of how late in the season it is: "It's a six-week injury. Right now he's seeing a specialist again, to see if he needs surgery or doesn't need surgery. I think when you see it you can tell it's a pretty painful thing he's got."
On whether Coleman will be back by the beginning of next season: "Yeah. He should be fine."
On whether a roster move will be made to fill Coleman's spot: "Right now we haven't done anything there. (General Manager) Howie (Roseman)'s looked at a few different guys, along with our own guys, but we have not done anything at this point."
On whether Samuel will play this week: "We'll see, I think it will be a stretch for him to get there. He's got some bleeding back there, it showed up on Monday kind of in that upper hamstring area, so I think it'll be a stretch. But he's going to try to do everything to play. It's not by will that he's not getting better."
On what he has seen out of S Jaiquawn Jarrett this season: "Jaiquawn will step in and take Kurt's spot. He's had a couple of opportunities in there when other guys were banged up and he did a nice job, so I would just expect him to continue to build on it. Great experience for him, so I think it's a positive."
On why Jarrett hasn't been able to take one of the safety spots: "Well you know what, you've seen with Kurt and Nate is that you've seen improvement every week. It's really only due to that, it's not by effort or knowledge or anything from Jaiquawn's spot. It's just the other guys have continued to improve and really, the last month and a half or so, have really done a real nice job."
On how CB Dominique Rodgers-Cromartie did playing the full game on the outside: "He did good. He got a little bit tired there towards the end, but that's understandable. He was in there every snap and also played on a few of the special teams. You could tell he loves playing the game, he's into it. I think he had fun being out there, in particular on the outside. We asked him to cover their best receiver in a lot of cases and I thought he handled that challenge well."
On whether he sees Jarrett starting or competing for a starting spot next season: "I think when, I've said that before, I think once minicamps start, once training camp begins, it's wide open competition for really every position. That's how it works."
On whether Rodgers-Cromartie will return kicks: "Probably won't do that. I won't do that."
On whether the way the team has performed the last few weeks is the way he expected the team to perform in the prime of the season or whether it should have been earlier: "I think as coaches and as players, I think you're asked that question you're going to say 'We wanted it to happen week one.' In reality, there were a lot of moving parts and that didn't happen. A lot of that is my responsibility, to make sure that that gets taken care of. There are a lot of things I could have done better with that. The bottom line is they're together now, and they have an opportunity to play a good football team and continue to get better as a unit."
On whether having another week to look at Rodgers-Cromartie on the outside and Jarrett as a starter as a result of the injuries to Samuel and Coleman helps going into the offseason: "Well listen, if you're searching for positives in the other two injuries, I would tell you that would be a positive in that. I feel bad for the other two kids though, that they were injured because both of them wanted to play.
"In Asante's case, he still wants to play. Again, I think it'll be a stretch that he makes it, but he's trying to do everything possible. When you're looking for positives, that would be a positive. We have a pretty good idea about Dominique; he's been out there for a few years there playing on the outside, and we know what kind of player he is. Jaiquawn, that's a whole different story, he doesn't have as much experience."
On how DT Trevor Laws is: "I think he feels better. We'll see today how he does. The practice will move around at a good pace today. I think he's feeling more comfortable."
On Laws seeming to come on at the end of last season, working hard this offseason, not having any sacks this season, and whether he has been close to the quarterback: "Listen, he's made some big plays for us in there. He's had some quality snaps. I think he's continuing to get better. It's too bad that he got the tendinitis and that, because he was improving every week, and he did work very hard."
On QB Michael Vick being a step away from being an elite quarterback in terms of what he's done this season and whether he is still on pace to become an elite quarterback: "Listen, again, I can give you a positive in that first of all Michael has got an unbelievable attitude. He's had it all year long, I mean, phenomenal attitude. He's tougher than shoe leather. He's one competitive guy.
"The players respect him and love him. The one nice thing, again, when you think Michael hasn't had an offseason as a starter to really go through things, I'm saying without the lockout. With us he hasn't had that opportunity. That'll be a positive going into this thing. I look forward to that."
On Vick making better decisions, seeing the field better, and staying in the pocket: "I think a lot of that is just being healthy, really, and feeling like he's back now. It kind of started in the Atlanta game with the concussion and then kind of moved from there. I think he feels good right now and I think that's showing in his play."
