On how much it hurts WR Jeremy Maclin not being here: "I thought he did a good job this spring in the OTAs. He's making progress. He's gotten better. That contract thing will work itself out and when it does he'll be here. We'll just coach him up. The other guys are doing a good job."
On what he can tell from drills:"I think you can tell a lot. We're trying to get all these young guys some reps, get them a chance to develop and learn, understand the schemes and the systems. They'll get better as we go along."
On what he's seen from the guys so far:"I see a lot of good things. I think guys are moving around, some of the young guys changing direction, doing some of the things aggressively that we want. The vets have come in, in good shape, so I'm real pleased at this point."
On where the kick return/punt return rotation is at right now: "We're going to start with the guys that played last year, the guys we're going to stay with and start with. [S] Quintin Demps is going to be the kickoff returner right now. [CB] Ellis Hobbs has done a great job and has good skills. He's going to be back there. Jeremy, when he gets into camp, will also be a part of that group. At punt return, we really like [WR] DeSean [Jackson]. He's done a nice job. [He's] very explosive with the ball. He's the guy right now, with Jeremy Maclin working his way in as he gets back."
On whether there has been any conversation about DeSean being on the field too much: "That's real easy. When [Coach] Andy [Reid] says he's out there, he's out there. When Andy says he's not, he's not. That's just the way it is."
On how good of a punt returner DeSean is: "I think he has very good potential. I thought he had a good rookie year. There are a lot of little things as a returner that you have to learn as you go along. You have to experience it. You have to be in different situations, the wind, the rain, the weather, all the different things you have to learn as a returner. He's maturing and doing a nice job."
On whether he has tweaked things schematically so far: "I was talking to one of the officials out here today. There have been rule changes, and we have to understand [the rule changes] and what the interpretation of what that rule is. The different amount of guys in the wedge, can it be a three-man, a four-man? Can there be two that come together? So we have to get those interpretations before we really set our plan.
"Now I have two plans; one, to go with the rule of the two-man wedge and it's just strict like that. And then another one is, if they allow you to do some different things, joining a third man to the wedge. I have to get that interpretation from the officials before we can do that.
"I think that you have to play a couple of preseason games to really get a feel of how that's going to go."
On whether there is still a gray area there in terms of how things are going to be called: "Personally, I think there is, but I just need to get that from the officials, and the officials will come in and meet with us here in a couple of days and we'll get that resolved."
On how rules were changed because things were getting too violent:"Everything needs to be done in football to protect the players, and if that's what they feel needs to be done, then I'm all for it."
On whether Maclin's absence has messed up his practice plans at all: "You can only coach the guys that are here. The guys that are here are working and doing a good job. We have quality returners here. We have Quintin Demps and we have Ellis Hobbs and we have DeSean Jackson. We'll work him in when he gets here."
On how he feels about the linebackers: "I like them a lot. The guys work hard. They are tough, hard-nosed, physical players. They can run well. I like the way they react to the schemes I'm trying to introduce to them. I like the way we're going in that direction. Whoever we decide to keep at linebacker, we're going to be fine."
On what kind of personality he wants his special teams group to play with: "I'm going to be as straight as I can. We need to be hard-nosed, running, hitting, getting -- nonstop, relentless every second of every play of every day. I don't know if you guys have noticed that, but I've tried to instill that a little bit in practice, and I think the guys have kind of grasped that. I think they're running with it, and I see some good things coming."
