Opening Remarks: "That last ball game, it was a good game. All the players played very well at all positions. Things sort of fell our way there. We're done with that game and moving on to this game. This is a great challenge for us. (They're) the number one defense coming in and number one in third downs. We just played the number two team in the NFL in third downs. We're playing on a short week, and that's a big challenge in itself. The preparation will be key here and there are many things that we've got to do well to have a chance to put any points up on these guys at all. This is a very physical, very fast, very quick defense. (They have) excellent personnel, excellent scheme. Against many teams they just absolutely shut them down. We're excited about the opportunity."
On whether he has to lighten things in terms of preparation to keep players fresh because the team is playing four games in 17 days: "Well, no, not in the preparation part. We double that part, however, we do cut many things down just a little bit, the body and having their legs back; fresh body, fresh legs. Coach (Andy) Reid does an excellent job that way. Now, individually and as a group and unit, they kick their preparation part up, the mental part up, and that's sort of how we handle these short weeks."
On what he's seen from the offensive line over the past couple of weeks: "Early in the season, if you remember when we had guys coming in and out there, we had to overcome a host of injuries there. I've been proud of the offensive line as a group. First of all, they've gotten better every day – individually and as a unit. We've been through so many (guys) in there. We lost our starting center. We've been through some injury situations there and they really started to come together and are playing at a high level and playing physical. (They're) doing well in both the run and pass and other things that we ask of them. They're playing well right now. Now their challenge is to continue to play at a high level."
On whether he expects RB LeSean McCoy to practice today: "Oh, yeah, as of now I think he will practice, yeah."
On whether the Giants are doing anything special by constantly getting to the quarterback this season: "Yeah, they're rushing the passer. This group, as you know, can rush the passer. It's really across the board. It starts with their ends. I will tell you, they're very good inside. They've got a good scheme, they've got a good blitz scheme as well, especially in their nickel-type situations, and they do a heck of a job getting to that quarterback."
On whether the defensive scheme helps the pass rush:"They've got a new coordinator; he's done a heck of a job. (It's a) whole new scheme, whole different scheme. He brings his own flavor there and he's done a heck of a job getting to the quarterback with the players that he has. He's got excellent there, up front. Cumulatively, may be the very best defensive line that I've seen up to date. They're very, very good up front."
On whether the defensive scheme is similar to what former Giants defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo ran two years ago: "No. Yeah, it's a different scheme, a different package. However, as the statistics show, it's very effective and they're very good, very well coached with great talent."
On the blocking improvement among the team's running backs and tight ends: "Well, they're a big part. Everybody's a big part with the protection. The backs and tight ends always play a big part in that as well as even the receivers and the quarterback. It does start up front with the five and then ends in the backs and tight ends are important as are the receivers and the quarterback. We've got to be right on it against this group coming into our place here."
On how QB Michael Vick's elusiveness has helped the offensive line: "Well, it helps in many different ways. You can go through and count the ways that it helps. Mike's movement, I've been proud of him because he's been very disciplined within his movements and that tends to help the offensive line rather than the opposite of that. He's done well there and the way that he's done it certainly helps the offensive line and it helps in many, many factors there."
On how Vick has developed that: "He has put the hard work and the preparation in. He's getting a lot of attention right now and he's earned it. Now he has to do it the right way here. First of all, he's got uncommon talent; we all know that. But then he's put the hard work physically and he's put the preparation in mentally. Of course, (quarterbacks coach) James Urban has him prepared every week. He's earned all the attention that he's been getting."
On whether Vick's elusiveness counteracts the defense's spies:"Well, I've got my own thoughts on it, but I'm not going to say it publicly. We have seen that, we have seen that, spies. There are all different ways that you can do that type of thing. Schematically, (there are) many different ways to go about, generally speaking, a spy. I'm sure we'll see more. The one challenge that our offensive football team has is that when you've got a quarterback, no matter what style, if he's playing at a high level, you will see different things from your next opponent and then the next one and then the next one. You will see that, so that will be a big part of this game and going forward as well."
On whether Vick's skills are similar to Steve Young's: "They're very similar. The makeup is there on the field as far as talent and ability. Mike has really worked hard to (get to) the level that Steve worked hard at. Steve ended up being one of the most accurate passers ever in the history of the game; first ballot Hall of Famer. So Mike has worked very hard, very diligent. He's very focused, he's very determined to continue to work to get to that level and then to stay at that level. As far as the exact plays, you always play to the strengths of your players no matter what position they play. That's what we're trying to do here with Mike."
On specific target areas that Vick needed to improve on and on how much he needed to work at that: "Well, he escalated that part of his play very quickly. Everybody is different that way. Some guys take very long and he took a relatively short period of time. But I will tell you, it was an awful lot of hard work by him. He was very diligent that way. It was always a first priority."
On what he saw in Vick that he felt needed to be worked on: "Yeah, there were several things. That's one thing Mike wanted to do when he came here. He wanted to focus on playing the quarterback position at a high level. You start with, day one, coaching and then you go pretty fast through that. If you remember last year, he worked before every practice and he worked after every practice with very, very few exceptions. He worked some off days and really focused in on playing that quarterback position at a high level. He's got himself playing at a pretty high level right now."
On whether offensive quality control coach Doug Pederson contributed to Vick's development: "Oh, sure, yeah. We've gotten a lot of guys in this building, James Urban and Doug Pederson, who are really involved in that, yeah. And James has him prepared each and every day and each and every week."
On whether it's a concerted effort to get Vick to stay in the pocket: "Well, it's not staying in the pocket, it's moving when you're forced to move and being disciplined within his movement abilities. We can talk for hours on the thought process that goes into that. He's done an excellent job there. He's got great gut instincts as well. When he was going through the process it came very easily to him, almost natural for him, yeah."
On whether he keeps various folders on the various offenses that he's used over the years: "Well, I do have some of that, but within this system, everything's there for any style of quarterback. Now you can invent some new ones if needed. We do that every week. Now you keep the files on the different defensive coordinators, which I think is important. The original question is, you've got everything you need within this offense. If you've got a big six-foot-six guy that doesn't move, you play to his strengths. If you have a guy that moves a little bit and you have a guy like Mike, then you play to his strengths by play selection."
On whether he uses gadget plays in the gameplan because of Vick's abilities:"That is a good point, however, we have a guy just sit in every week and I like to keep pressure on people. However, with Mike's movement ability, your last point is valid there. You can sort of turn loose in skyrocket and flight-type situations because he'll take care of some things that way with his movement ability."
