Q. How does it feel to start with a return touchdown?
CHIP KELLY: Obviously, we talk about starting fast, but I don't think you can get a faster start than that. Both teams obviously, and you've been on both sides, you've been there. Teams are excited, they're ready to go. They've got a game plan in, [say] 'Let's execute it, let's go play,' and then you take the opening kickoff, I think that's got to take a little wind out of your sails if you're the opponent.
Q. What was the thought to only have WR Josh Huff return the first one?
CHIP KELLY: Depending on what returns we were running, just depending on what [special teams coordinator Dave] Fipp was calling. One guy was running one return, one guy was running the other return.
Q. What makes Huff so effective as a kickoff returner?
CHIP KELLY: I think he's got great speed and then also he's got some size to him so when he does ‑‑ the kicker got a shot at him and he threw a stiff arm on him, and then the safety came over. He's got a physical nature to him. He's good with the ball in his hands.
We saw one early in the year in the Chicago game, I think, in preseason. And just getting Josh back up to speed, it was good to get him out there and gain a little confidence. Q. What did you see out of the running game? A lot of runs to the left, just kind of how it panned out?
CHIP KELLY: No, I think that's how it panned out. I think we ran to the right also. It just depended on what they did. They stayed in base front more than ‑‑ even to our 11 personnel, they were in base front. I thought our guys did a good job up front. I thought [RB] LeSean [McCoy] did a good job hitting the hole today.
Q. What did you see out of QB Mark Sanchez and also what did you see out of those two interceptions?
CHIP KELLY: I thought Mark did a good job overall. I think he probably wants that one back, especially the one where he stepped up in the pocket and made a great decision in terms of stepping up, but the ball seemed to get away from him. It looked like it got a little low. I didn't really see the other one so I'd have to take a look at that one on tape, but I thought overall he played well.
Q. Without looking at the film, what did you think the biggest improvement in the pass rush was from last week to this week? CHIP KELLY: Obviously you're playing a different quarterback, so he held on to it a little bit longer. I think [Tennessee QB Zach Mettenberger's] time of throwing the ball away was probably a little bit less than [Green Bay QB] Aaron [Rodgers'] was a week ago. But I think our guys were relentless in terms of going after it. I don't think [defensive coordinator] Billy [Davis] schemed very much. It was a lot of three‑man and four‑man rush, so individual match‑ups going. I thought they played really, really hard. [LB] Connor [Barwin] had a couple nice moves in there to get in. I thought [LB] Trent [Cole] played outstanding today, so I just think it was some real good individual efforts.
Q. What do you think you guys were able to take advantage of as far as the run game is concerned? CHIP KELLY: They tried to play a lot of guys close to the line of scrimmage, so when the ball does get popped, there's no real second‑level defenders, and if we could get it past the second level then we were going to get some big runs, and I thought that's what we capitalized on.
Q. You have a short week now. Are the players and yourself and the staff going to go back tonight?
CHIP KELLY: Players aren't, no. They're going to go home, I hope. The staff will go back and we've got to put our game plan together for Dallas and we'll start training tomorrow.
Q. At any point during the week, did you sense that this team was looking ahead even a little bit to the Cowboys game? CHIP KELLY: No, not at all. They were focused on Tennessee, and I thought that showed in their play today.
Q. It looked like your coverage maybe had some problems, especially in DeMeco Ryans' spot. Where are you now with LB Emmanuel Acho hurt?
CHIP KELLY: I don't know. I mean, I haven't gotten any updates. I know Acho was out of the game, so we'll see how that goes. Q. Not every team can put a bad loss behind them. What is it about the mentality of this team and maybe the coaching staff that they can do that?
CHIP KELLY: Well, I think our attention was totally on Tennessee because you only get to play one game a week, so there was nothing else to look at farther than in terms of just getting ready for those guys. So I think these guys have done a good job of staying in the moment, playing a game. I thought they did a good job last week when we talked about it -- when you make a mistake, admit it, fix it and don't repeat it, and let's move on.
I think they understand what we've got to do. It's a long season, and a loss, no matter when a loss is, is going to hurt you but you can't let that loss ‑‑ you can't let the Green Bay Packers beat you twice. I thought our guys came back on Tuesday last week and had a great week of training.
Q. Does it say something about the character of the players that you put together? Doesn't it say something about that?
CHIP KELLY: Yeah, but I mean, I don't think anybody that's inside that locker room ever had any question that we were going to bounce back like we did.
Q. Last week when I asked about getting RB Darren Sproles more carries, you said obviously you were going to stay with McCoy. What is it about his preparation that makes you feel comfortable going back to McCoy each and every week, 20 carries?
CHIP KELLY: I think he's an outstanding running back and I think he's proven that in this league for the years that he's been in this league. So we've got a lot of confidence in LeSean and we'll always have confidence in him, as long as he's healthy.
Q. How much have you looked at Dallas and what do you see similar and dissimilar from a year ago?
CHIP KELLY: We've looked at them a lot. I think yesterday afternoon was a big day for us. A lot of us didn't break just because we had to have our breakdowns done. They'll have one more game tonight when they play the Giants. We've got a pretty good understanding of what they are right now, and we'll add that last game in. They're playing late, so we'll get that last game in.
But we have an understanding what to do. They play extremely hard on the defensive side of the ball. I think that's the one thing that really jumps out for you, and then obviously offensively they're running the ball at a very, very high rate and putting up a lot of really good yards in terms of what [Dallas RB] DeMarco Murray is doing, and then you've got a great quarterback in [Dallas QB] Tony Romo, you've got a great tight end in [Dallas TE Jason] Witten, got some outstanding receivers, so it's going to be a heck of a game on Thursday.
Q. Do you need to see more from your secondary against those weapons? It seemed like CB Bradley Fletcher had poor angles again today.
CHIP KELLY: I don't have an answer to that one. I'll watch the film and get back to you on that. Q. Huff has had a tough season by his own admission. What can a game like today do for him?
CHIP KELLY: Yeah, Josh has just got to stop beating himself up, and I think maybe the good part about him is he has high expectations for himself, but I know we're not as down on him as I think sometimes he expresses that he is. He really doesn't talk to us like that, so maybe you guys are intimidating when you ask him questions.
Q. In these first few weeks since Nick Foles' shoulder injury, how does it look, recovery-wise? Is it more of a six or an eight‑week?
CHIP KELLY: I don't have a timetable on that.
Q. K Cody Parkey hit five of six field goals today. CHIP KELLY: Yeah, and he probably wants that one back. He just doinked it off the upright. I thought it would have been great momentum for us. They scored on the field goal so we had a chance to ‑‑ did a good job in the two‑minute drill of getting down there and giving him a shot, he just kind of pulled it a little bit. But he was outstanding; another one from 50. He's been almost close to automatic for us so he's been a huge weapon for us and excited about where he is right now.
Q. So it's almost a surprise, I guess, when he misses like he did?
CHIP KELLY: It is right now. I don't know how many he's hit on the year, but he's only missed two, so it is kind of a surprise if he does miss one.
