Opening remarks: "Alright, wrapping that last ball game up, I'm proud of the guys. They battled through it with great poise. Good comeback. (RB) LeSean McCoy played excellent. We missed some things; I was disappointed in a couple of things. We left it on the field, however, on occasions those things do happen and we battled through them and won the ball game. Now, this ball game, this is a great challenge, great defense, may be one of the best, may be the best in the league. Statistically, they're up there in virtually category as the top two or three or four. First of all, they have excellent players across the board. There are no weaknesses there. (It's) very difficult to find weaknesses with this ball club. They are very disciplined with what they do and they've got just enough to keep an offense off balanced."
On why Chicago's defense doesn't rank high in the sacks category:"Well, they do pressure the quarterback big time. Sacks are a little cyclic, too. Some quarterbacks you play and they get the ball out and throw the ball away. They're number one in giving up points, I mean, that's the key."
On whether he anticipates teams to start forcing QB Michael Vick to his right out of the pocket, similar to what the Giants did on Sunday: "Well, I've been through it a lot before with movement of quarterbacks – (former Eagles and 49ers QB Jeff) Garcia and (former 49ers QB) Steve (Young). They did both sides. But you have to counter that and I thought we did it just a little bit. We left a few on the field. You have to hand it to the Giants. I mean, they're a heck of a defensive football team. That was a part of it, but we've got to get better at a couple of those situations."
On whether WR DeSean Jackson should have caught the ball in the end zone: "Oh, all those balls should be caught. Now, Mike will tell you he should have put it in a better spot. The receiver will tell you, 'we should have caught those balls.' The line will tell you, 'we should have given you a little bit more time where you could get it to him.' You know, all those things come into play certainly. We expect all the balls to be caught."
On whether he was surprised with the Giants calling G/T Todd Herremans a dirty player: "It's an emotional game, sometimes. You know?"
On the challenge of going against a Cover 2 defense: "Well, I think that's sort of a misnomer there with the Bears. And you talk about the Bears, they do play that very well. That's a big part of their scheme and they're very disciplined within it. However, they play an awful lot of some other coverages as well. It reminds me a little of Tampa (Bay) way back when. I think because they've got the players and then it's also a very similar scheme. In fact, the Bears do a little bit more than the old Tampa Bay when they were very, very good on defense. They've got such great players that if they're disciplined – which they are in their two-deep scheme – what they do is they try to force you to throw it underneath.
"It's reasonable to say, 'okay, if you throw it underneath, boom, you run for the first down let's say on third and eight or ten.' But they've got such great players, man, and they are fast and they run through the football and they tackle you before you get to the first down. I mean, you see it on film time and time again. They're very good that way. The other thing, I believe they were first in the league last year and I believe they're third in the league this year at stripping the football. They're excellent at that all across the board. Every player on their defense does a heck of a job that way. We've got to have good ball security all game."
On whether things become a little more dangerous with having the most talked about offense and single player in the NFL and whether that gives other teams more motivation: "Well, yeah, I think you're right there but we don't want to sneak up on anybody. We want their best shot and we'll get their best shot. That assures that we'll get everybody's best shot. We want all their best players on the field. We want their best shot and that's how we go into ball games with; yeah, with that mentality. But you're right, that's a good point."
On how he keeps RB LeSean McCoy patient when things aren't going the way he'd like: "Well, we have that mentality where we don't care how we win the game. We don't care how we get it done on any particular series early in the game or late in the game. Our whole mentality is whatever it takes to win the game and he has that mentality. He's a tough guy, battled through a lot of things. (He's) very tough now, physically and mentally. I think (running backs coach) Ted (Williams) has done a great job with him. And then (former Eagles running back) Duce (Staley) is here and he's done a great job with him as well. It's cyclic here a little bit, and I know I use that word a little bit, but I mean you could go games without popping one, and then all of a sudden you pop three in any particular game; you could go three quarters and not pop anything, and then boom, there's a couple there for you."
On whether some guys let not breaking a big run affect them: "Well, he shouldn't. And I would not expect that to influence a player at all."
On whether he has started to prepare for the Texans because of the short week following the Bears game: "Yeah, well we do that every week. Last week was a short week; we were a day short there. So that's another big step that we took, the players took, that was a heckuva job by our players last week. And then this week it sort of feels like a short week. I believe Chicago had ten days, here. And then we have the Thanksgiving thing, which feels like a short week, here. So that will be important with our preparation. Then we have an extra short week next week. So as far as doing work, we always do that - I don't individually do it, and then we're ready when we get off that plane to go to work and get a good gameplan there. And then next week is really uncommon, abnormal, maybe once or twice a year you do that."
On whether he knows Bears offensive coordinator Mike Martz: "Yeah, I know Mike Martz."
On whether he and Martz talk a lot: "Well, no. We're not that close, but I know him."
On whether he has talked offensive philosophies with Martz before: "No. We don't."
On the importance of an ugly win against a division rival in cold weather going forward: "Yeah, it is important and you make a good point. I was just proud of the guys because we did a nice job in many of the areas, and then there was a few times where we had chances, really good opportunities to score (and) it didn't happen. So we have to get better there. But the fellas battled through and that's really a good trait to have, and it's a good sign, so that's a good thing; now the other things were not good. But that part of it was a good thing."
On whether he or anyone on his staff has done a statistical analysis about the offenses average starting field position: "Oh, yeah. We always do that. Look, we've talked about this before. When your defense and special teams are playing good, that's a big plus for your football team and makes it a little bit easier offensively. And easier may not be the right word, but you're open to as many things as you can do on a football field. Yeah, that's always – for a quarterback to play well it's usually when special teams is playing well and the defense is playing well and you have some people around you on offense. And then that quarterback can really thrive."
On McCoy having a high pain threshold and whether that has an effect on his teammates: "Well I think all of our guys are tough. I think everybody in this league is tough. You don't make it this far if you're not tough. Now some guys are rock tough, and some guys are built to play this game and they can last a long time, you know they're just built a little different. So you have different kinds of that toughness part. But I think LeSean has both of those, and then some of it is upstairs there, that mental toughness. So I think all of our guys are extremely tough. You know, (WR) DeSean (Jackson) is tough, a little guy, (but) tough, tougher than nails. And then our big guys are tough guys. And all that's important. You know, the great (former Eagles offensive lineman) Jon Runyan, I mean, he's as tough as you come.
"So all of that too when you have a bunch of tough guys – you get respect in this league in several different ways, but one of them is tough. If you're a tough guy, you get great respect. The other ways are sheer talent, the 'Wow' factor, if you have great talent. And then the other way is if you're consistent and that takes a little longer to get that great respect. But those three things in combination are the things that get guys playing at that high level on a consistent basis there."
