On who will start at the defensive tackle position: "Well you know what, it's nice to have (DT) Mike Patterson back. You know, Mike is really the heart and soul of that defense. I mean, he doesn't get a lot of (credit) but all the guys like him because he works hard and he's a good football player. It was just exciting. It was an exciting moment for us (when) we looked at the tape the other day in front of all of the guys (and) he made that sack, because you go from possibly not playing, or really nobody knew, to man he's back and he made a sack. And that's very emotional. I mean, we watched it in the morning meeting and it was emotional for us."
On the reaction of the players when they saw the Patterson sack on film: "You know what, the thing was, I went over there and gave him a high-five and all of the guys were like it was nice to have him back. But the point that we were trying to make was that what we're trying to do is when we go to practice, we want to practice fast, we want to be physical, we want to be fundamentally sound like the way we want to play the games. And it was just a point that I was trying to make about you never know when it's your last day or you never know when it happens, so every day go out and practice your hardest and play physical and be fundamentally sound and let's have some fun in practice. I think we all were able to watch this practice and I think you see that we're doing that and to be successful we have to do that."
On his thoughts about LB Brian Rolle: "You know what, he's athletic, even though, well he's not small he's about 230 pounds. You know, he's explosive, he can change direction and we feel that he has the ability to be a shutdown linebacker meaning that he can cover backs and do a good job covering backs. Now (LB coach) Mike Caldwell is working with him (and) fundamentally he still needs that work but he has the ability."
On his thoughts about LB Jamar Chaney and his performance thus far in the preseason: "What we want to do with the linebackers this year is for them to use their hands, you know really you become a better player. And Jamar's getting really good at that and you know he's a very good athlete. Jamar can play any position. I mean, he's a very good athlete and I think he showed that the other night. He got put in those positions. I have to do a better job with the linebackers putting them in position so they can be successful."
On his thoughts about the safety position and whether S Nate Allen will be ready for the season opener: "Well you know what, (S Jarrad) Page is playing well. He's tough, he's smart, he has experience and we know Nate has been a good player for us too. So we feel good about that position and we'll see – we still have a couple of weeks before we play – how everything kind of pans out. But we're happy. We have a few good players at that position."
On whether Page is still penciled in with the first team: "Right now he is, yes."
On whether his ability to use DT Derek Landri on the outside influences the roster at all: "Well, right now there's a lot of competition like the way (head) coach (Andy) Reid likes it and there's some competition inside. I mean, Derek, he's got a big heart and he plays with a big heart. I mean, he's really had a good camp."
On his thoughts about the play of Patterson: "He had a sack the other night so he did well. And then just getting back to practicing and being on the field the whole practice and it's just a matter of time but he should be ready to go."
On whether he envisions any starters playing in the preseason finale: "I think you have to talk to coach Reid about that and he'll let us know what he thinks and what he's going to do."
On whether he thinks LB Casey Matthews is looking more comfortable on the field: "I think, what's important to understand about really any of our young guys is there were no OTAs, there were no minicamps, there were no anythings. And so really, every day, starting today, it's very important for them to get better fundamentally and just to get comfortable with our system. I think every day they'll get better; they're all tough kids, smart kids, athletic, and so we feel good about all of our young kids."
On how difficult it is to teach undersized linebackers just to use their hands: "Well let's put it this way, if you use your shoulders it's worse. So I mean, I think that tells you that the reason you're doing that is to help them be better players because when you use your shoulders, and you're small, it just makes it a tougher deal."
On whether he is more comfortable finding out what players can do in different packages: "Well, we've gone with a lot of different packages and we're just putting it together. And I think, we talked earlier that this is a matchup game, the National Football League is all about matchups. So there's probably some things that we're still going to do that we haven't shown. It just depends on the people that we play. Who their best players are? Who we have to take out of the game? What we have to do? So we'll see during the season."
