Opening statement:"Well just a great effort by our players, just battling through the things they had to battle through during the course of the week. And just showing the resiliency and the perseverance that has been hallmark of our team, especially in the last three weeks, just being able to handle some of that adversity they've faced. But just a great effort by our entire squad. Against a very, very good football team, a team that arguably is one of the better teams, one of the top teams in our league. They are a great football team. I mean they've got a lot more football to play, but, our players, I can't say enough about their attitude and their approach throughout this week in their preparation. And the fact that they came out and were rewarded for their hard work makes me so, so very proud of every guy on our team and our organization as well. We've been through a lot the last few weeks, so I'm happy for them that they were rewarded tonight for their resiliency."
On how he was able to keep QB Michael Vick in check: "The more we watched tape on Michael Vick, the more he made you kind of shake in your boots a little bit because he's making so many plays on so many people. And we just felt like we needed to attack him and not let him attack us as much as we saw him attack other people. Our guys did a great job of executing all the things we had talked about in practice. The play by (CB) Antoine Winfield was a huge, huge play. And Antoine has made plays like that for us before, but none maybe bigger than this one tonight because of where we are as a team. Our goal was to attack Vick and to make him pause a little bit and we were able to get that done with six sacks and constant pressure."
On if it was his idea to send CB Antoine Winfield from the slot tonight: "Well it's a pressure we've always had and we've used on occasion. We just haven't used it as often as we used it tonight. (LB Coach) Fred (Pagar) did a great job of repeatedly calling it. I don't know if you guys remember, but we ran a similar pressure just a few years ago against the Carolina Panthers where Antoine did the exact same thing—picks it up, scoops it, scores it—right before the half that really turned the momentum in that game that we ended up winning. It was almost identical to tonight. So just a great job by Fred and the guys on our defense and defensive staff of executing things that we talked about during the week."
On when he could tell how focused his team was: "When we went through the walk through yesterday I just noticed how attentive they were to what we were trying to get done. I had talked to them before we went out to the walk through that we didn't want this to be a wasted time, that we needed to get something out of it, we needed to get back engaged, mentally, with football because things had changed from the time we got on the airplane to the time we landed in Philadelphia to prepare for a game. So I knew that there would possibly be a disconnect. So I just challenged them, before we went to that walk through, to make sure we were all mentally engaged in what we had to get done because I thought the mental part of it would be as important as the physical in this football game. After that walk through, I grabbed them and I told them that I really believed we were headed in the right direction because everyone was detailed about what they needed to do. And they could have easily drifted away mentally, been discouraged by some of the things that were going on, but that wasn't the case. So I knew then that we were on the right track—and I told them that today before the ball game that I wanted to reiterate that I felt like we were where we needed to be from a mental standpoint, which I thought was critical being a road team against a very good football team."
On his confidence in QB Joe Webb:"You know, we have a lot of confidence in Joe. We've seen him do some things that you just know he has the ability to make plays. Now, how consistent will he be as a rookie playing against a very, very good football team, a very good defense, that's what you don't know. But tonight, you have an indication of things to come with Joe. He showed great composure like he has in practice in some of the other things we've had him involved in and tremendous poise in the pocket, which you don't expect sometimes from a guy who can run the way he can run. But he shows the intangibles that you look for in that position for a guy who has tremendous athletic ability. (I'm) just very proud of Joe Webb and that one run he made for a touchdown, I don't know many guys in the league that can duplicate that."
On whether the 3rd and 11 play to WR Percy Harvin after a Philadelphia timeout was the original play:"We had some time to talk about it.(Offensive coordinator) Darrell (Bevell) just did a great job communicating with Joe what he felt comfortable with and we made a change and it was a great job of executing what Joe felt comfortable with. I mean it was basically something he said, 'Okay, this is what I feel comfortable doing' and he showed that he was right, that he was comfortable. It was a huge play for us. I mean, one of the plays that really determined whether or not we would lose the game."
On if he feels a win over a marquee opponent was long overdue:"Not really. Not at all. I just know some of the things that we've had to deal with, so no not at all. No. I watched the way we practiced and prepared for this game, expected the results that we got, but no sense of 'where has this been?' because our guys have fought and they played hard in every situation. And sometimes the ball doesn't bounce your way and you just have to be able to regroup and come back the next week, that's the National Football League. And credit to our players and coaches, not getting discouraged to the point where you're coming on the road against a very good football team and you could easily whether or not you will win this game, but I didn't sense any doubt from our players or coaches about whether we could win this game."
On an unusual Tuesday night game:"One of the things we talked about amongst ourselves was if they wanted to move this game to a Tuesday rather than play it on a Sunday, for whatever reason, we were going to make this Minnesota Vikings Tuesday night football. I mean this is going to America watching the Minnesota Vikings on Tuesday night, not the Philadelphia Eagles, it's going to be about the Minnesota Vikings. And that's kind of what we wanted to embrace. I mean this is our chance to showcase who we are on a Tuesday night in front of a national audience if we can't do it on a Sunday night. So rather than get caught up in the fact that it wasn't a Sunday night game, the fact that it was a Tuesday night game, we wanted to embrace that. And our guys did."
On how he felt the adversity of the last two weeks helped him adapt to the unusual situation:"I think it helped. I think any time you face adversity you get a chance to find out a lot about yourself, in our case, our team. And we've gone some through some trials and tribulations over the last few weeks, but just a credit to our guys of responding the right way. We always talk about being able to control what you can control and one of the things we can control is our attitude. We couldn't control where this game was going to be played, we couldn't control where the game was going to played a week ago or the week before that, but we could control our effort and our attitude and that's what we've tried to do. Now does that mean that things are always going to be perfect, no. But at least I can control what I can control."
On if he thinks the extra two days helped RB Adrian Peterson: "Oh no, without question this time off made a big difference. Saturday morning, we were really concerned watching him go through our walk through before we boarded the plane to come to Philadelphia. We were all concerned as a staff. So with that time, it allowed him to get a little bit stronger and get a little more confidence in the injury and it definitely benefitted our team and benefitted Adrian, that extra time."
On WR Sidney Rice's concussion: "Yeah, that's what I was told. It was a concussion. So we'll see how things go in a short week."
On the quarterback situation for next Sunday's game:"Well, if (QB) Brett (Favre) can go, Brett will be our quarterback for sure, if he were able to pass that concussion test. So it wouldn't be an issue for me or our team if Brett were able to go."
On if he knew what QB Joe Webb was capable of:"It would be hard for me to say I knew that Joe would play at such a high level so consistently. Yeah I knew he would make plays. We see it all the time, we see his athletic ability, we see the command that he has. And we also know how much our players rally behind Joe. They have a great affinity for Joe Webb. But to say that he could do it so consistently—come up with plays after plays. That third and long play at the end, that's a huge play under a lot of pressure against a very good defense. For him to step up in the pocket and make that throw, that's a heck of a play—and one that you look at and say 'This guy has a chance.' So I can't say that I knew he would play as well as he did as consistently as he did. I don't know if he had a turnover the entire game. To not turn the ball over after last week, having some turnovers, just a great job by Joe and great for our organization to see him perform the way he performed."
On what happened the first time he tried to throw the challenge flag: "I reached in my pocket and my hands were so cold I couldn't pull it out. So, we ended up not getting that challenge. I don't know if it would have ended up working out for us or not. I tried to toss it and it actually, yeah, went backwards. So my baseball days are over I guess."
On what it means to him for this team to bounce back:"You know, I told them just a moment ago just how proud of every one of them. I know what they've experienced. It's been a tough year. And the last few weeks have been extremely tough. For those guys to keep their nose to the grindstone and come to work every day like they have. I mean they practice hard, there has not been a drop off in our effort or our attitude when we come to practice and when we sit in meetings. So to see them rewarded tonight just makes me feel so good for them, makes me feel so good for our fans back in Minnesota who have been so supportive of these guys, even in the midst of a very difficult situation, couldn't be prouder of our group of guys or of our organization for the fact that everybody has stayed together as opposed to splintering when things have been hard."
On if he feels this game demonstrates why he should be the permanent head coach: "You know, the one thing that I talked about when I was asked to take this role and one of the reasons I wanted to be in this role, I wanted to see our guys be successful because I just know that we have great people on this football team, great people with this organization and I felt like I could help them be more successful than we were. And to see them come out and play the way they played tonight, that's what makes me extremely proud of our guys. I'll be fine, I just wanted our guys to be able to feel the feeling they have right now. They deserve it."
