Opening Remarks: "That last game, I'm proud of the fellows. I thought we were going pretty good early. We made a couple of mistakes there, so our point production wasn't quite what we wanted there. Then, all of a sudden it turned into a slug-it-out game. I was proud of the guys who just kept swinging and won that type of game, so that's a good thing. Then, on to the Bears, they are very well coached. Excellent scheme. Excellent talent level. Very, very good upfront, the front seven, both in the run and the pass. So, we have a great opportunity and a great challenge Sunday night."
On how he'll establish an offensive rhythm if RB Brian Westbrook isn't ready to play Sunday: "We just keep practicing and we get the other fellows some reps. Brian is day to day, so we'll see on his availability at the game. We just keep practicing, and we prepare. That was one thing last game, we were down an awful lot of guys and we were scrambling just a little bit personnel-wise with certain packages. The guys prepared well. They had themselves well prepared, and they were able to come in and play at a high level."
On how difficult it makes his job to not know which injured players will be ready to go for the game Sunday: "I think we know who we may have. That does change day to day. Most of those guys are day to day, so what we do is establish a plan and then get the fellows that are practicing ready to go. Then, the guys that are practicing day to day, they hammer it mentally so they are ready to go."
On how he establishes a game plan not knowing who he will have available to play: "(On) who we think we are going to have. It doesn't always work that way, so the guys that are not practicing or may not practice, they have to double-time it on the preparation because they are not getting the reps. Then, the fellows who are out there practicing, they may be the ones in the games, so they are getting the reps in both mentally and physically."
On whether he expects RB Correll Buckhalter to get more reps in the game this Sunday: "We'll see. We'll see how good Brian is here down the stretch late this week. We'll see."
On whether he has the same plan for the reserves during the game that he would have for the starters: "It occasionally affects the play selection. (It's) more rare, but occasionally it does, yes. We try to play to those guys strengths."
On whether he would consider Bears S Mike Brown to be a big playmaking safety: "He would be right up there. He would be one of the very best. He has an excellent track record. He's playing fast right now. He has a lot of experience. Yeah, he's one of the very best. He's right up there, yeah."
On whether he considers it a fluke that Tampa Bay put up good offensive passing numbers against a strong Bears defense last week: "Few things are a fluke. Not many of those. You usually get what you earn, and so they earned it. (Tampa Bay QB) Brian Griese did a heck of a job in that game. He got the ball out quick. Their line and their backs and the tight ends did a heck of a job protecting, but he got that ball out quick. Now, they threw it 60-some times, but I believe they had, if I remember right, two series there in overtime, so that expands it just a little bit, but they did a heck of a job. Now, the Bears are coming in 1-2, and they could very easily be 3-0. They were up in both of their losses, significantly, they were up late in the game."
On whether he would be comfortable starting TE Brent Celek: "I think highly of Brent. I think he's going to be heck of a player. He already is a fine player. He's a little bit different than (TE) L.J. (Smith), a little bit different skill set, but I think he's a very good tight end already, and I think he has a pretty good future ahead of him as well."
On whether he feels the offense has more depth this year than in past years: "We're a little bit deeper at certain spots. There have been times where we've been banged up and the guys have come right in and played pretty well. In past years, there were maybe one or two times there that we were just so depleted that we were one deep there. But yeah, we're pretty deep, and we have some pretty good talent there."
On what he has seen from WRs Jason Avant, Greg Lewis and Hank Baskett so far this year: "They've all stepped up. They've all been well prepared. They put in the hard work, and then it's paid off. They've helped us many times before and much of that was situationally. However, all of them have produced in the past, and now they've produced pretty well up to date. We'll see how they continue."
On what some of the improvements are that he's seen in Celek: "I thought he was playing pretty well last year, and then he's gotten better both in the pass and run game, and he'll continue to get better for some time here in the future. I think he's a pretty good player."
On whether the Bears have a different type of defense that almost dares you to throw the ball: "They've changed their philosophy just a touch it appears and are playing a little bit more aggressive and blocking people up, and so, we have to be prepared for that. They still do some things within in their philosophy, in the 'bend but don't break,' and they are very, very good at it. And then, within that philosophy, they've gotten just a little bit more aggressive."
On whether he has any thoughts on the release of Detroit Lions general manager Matt Millen: "Take the high road here. I've been removed from that for some time. This is a tough and unforgiving profession and those things happen. We'll leave it at that."
On whether he has a backup plan for QB Donovan McNabb in case he can't get the ball down the field due to his recent injury: "Donovan has been banged up and beat up at times and has played very well. I would expect him to play well. I see no problems there. We always have backups."
On what it was like to have both WR Reggie Brown and WR Kevin Curtis back on the practice fields yesterday: "All those guys, they've been day to day for a long period of time. Kevin, now, has gotten back to the point where he is day to day, so he was on the field yesterday. Having our two top receivers back on the football field is a good thing. I've been proud of our other receivers. They stepped up in a big way and contributed to a couple of wins there, and they'll keep going there as well. Kevin looked good yesterday. He wasn't quite 100 (percent), but he's going pretty good. Reggie looks like he's 100 percent. I believe Reggie got nine plays in last week, so he's off and running now, I would think. Then, but still the both of them, it goes to the guys who have been playing, and they have been doing an outstanding job."
On whether there might come a time when he won't be able to get all of the receivers the reps that he would like to get them: "We roll them in there. There are certain packages that we'll use and certain plays that we'll use and certain guys, and so, we'll continue to do that. They've all been successful, and they all have different strengths as well, so we'll use them to try and get them in there and put them in a position where they can best succeed and play to each one of their strengths. We'll just keep doing that, and then, we'll take it week by week there as far as the plan moving on, but our receiver corps is deep. We have several guys that can really play."
On whether there is an advantage to not having a number one receiver: "You can debate that. I personally would rather have a number one receiver, but you can do it the other way and be just as explosive and dynamic. I've had it both ways, and I think that we have several guys that are sort of number one receivers. We spread it out just a little bit and roll those guys in, so it may not look like it, but I think we have more than a couple guys that are pretty good players."
On whether it is important to him to see a guy who has been injured and out of practice all week have at least one day of practice before the next game: "Everything we do is important, and those are important things. Now, some guys can play without practicing and play pretty well and play at a high level. Other guys, they struggle just a little bit. Now, even the guys that can do it and play at a high level without practicing much, at some point it tends to get us whether it will be the next week or the next week if they aren't practicing much. Everything we do is important. Everything we do in the classroom, everything we do on the field is very important. Now, if you're not practicing, you double the preparation part, and so our guys typically do a great job of that, so we'll take it week by week here with the guys who are banged up just a little bit."
