On injuries sustained during the game: "(RG) Max (Jean-Gilles) has a concussion. (FS) Nate (Allen) has a neck strain, and he'll have an MRI in the morning."
On the victory: "Congratulations to our team. They battled through four quarters. It wasn't always pretty, but (the Colts) are an explosive football team with one of the best quarterbacks in the history of the game. (Peyton Manning) really makes that thing happen. I'm proud of (defensive coordinator) Sean McDermott and the job that the defensive coaches did, the defensive players – the DBs, the defensive line, and linebackers all played well. (S) Kurt Coleman coming in and replacing (S) Nate (Allen), I'm proud of him for the job he did.
"With (CB) Dimitri Patterson, we asked a lot of him today and he was able to rise to the occasion and also (CB) Asante (Samuel) with the two interceptions. The pressure that we were able to generate really makes everyone play better. Offensively, it was good to get (QB) Michael (Vick) and (WR) DeSean (Jackson) back in there in the mix. Michael had some big third downs, especially in the fourth quarter with throws and with his legs throughout the day. DeSean did some nice things there at the end. We still have to clean up a few things obviously, but we'll keep working. All in all, I thought special teams did a good job. (K) David (Akers) was kicking them well and backing them up so that they had long fields to drive. (P) Sav (Rocca) had a nice punt at the end there."
On what he said to his team at halftime after relinquishing the lead prior to the break: "They've heard it all. They know what's happened in the past, and one of the things that we looked at during the bye week was just that. I think everybody challenged themselves. The players and coaches challenged themselves as individuals to make sure that we maintained the intensity through four quarters, and I thought we did that. This is coaches and players. This is not just the coaches sitting there doing this, it was coaches and players challenging each other to step up and to make a play, and the guys did that. Down the stretch, we knew that against a good, explosive football team like (Indianapolis), you have to maintain your intensity for the four quarters. We knew somebody would have to step up and make plays throughout, and guys did that."
On rebounding from the loss to Tennessee: "Those are tough losses. I'm proud of the guys for putting their hearts and souls into this one, along with the coaches. You see it throughout the league how those type of losses can rip your heart out and stifle you a little bit, and that didn't happen. As far as signature win or whatever, I'm not sure about that. That's deep stuff. We have a lot of games left, and we're sitting at the halfway point. Next Monday will be an important game too. They're all important as we go into the second half."
On how the team handled the first half frustration during halftime: "We just kept talking about playing four quarters of football, maintaining your intensity and energy through four quarters, and trusting the schemes. I'm talking about coaches and players – this is a joint thing. I thought everybody did that."
On the return of WR DeSean Jackson: "I don't want to take anything away from the other guys. You love to have all of your good players there. If they're not, then other guys have to step up. DeSean has been a very good player for us, both in the punt return game and on the field as a receiver. He's an important part of our football team."
On the unnecessary roughness penalty assessed on the play in which Colts receiver Austin Collie was injured: "I'm torn, because that is one of my ex-teammate's (Scott Collie at Brigham Young University) sons. I've known that kid for a long time. On the other hand, I have to evaluate exactly what took place. I saw the replay board, and it was a close deal."
On how you coach defensive players to play aggressively when the game is being officiated in a different manner: "The way the game is today, close things are going to be called in the safe direction. When you're in the heat of it, do you like it? No. But maybe for the longevity of the player down the road and for life after football, it's a good thing. The bottom line is that things like that are going to be called against you, and you have to stay strong, regenerate your energy level, battle through, and don't think the whole world is against you. You go into the tank when that happens, and you can't produce. Our guys rallied around it and ended up coming back at the end."
On whether a penalty should have been assessed on the play in which Austin Collie was injured: "It looked like a bang-bang play. I can't get into it. (WIP radio personality) Howard (Eskin), do you have some money? We can sell your fur coat, and then we can pay for (my answer). It is what it is, and that's it."
On whether the unnecessary roughness penalty assessed on play in which Collie was injured psychologically effected how the defense played following the call: "Maybe it did, but it's hard to evaluate that. I know it didn't in the long haul. That's what I care about."
On whether the team learned things during the loss to Tennessee that helped rally them to the win today: "You hope that's it. The thing I know about professional football players and coaches is that when they put their mind to something and try to right a wrong, they can do that. Both groups have tremendous focus, particularly when you have a good locker room like we do. You also have to get a few breaks and create a few breaks, and we did that."
On the play of the offensive line in the fourth quarter: "I thought they did a nice job in the fourth quarter. I wish we didn't have the illegal procedure (on third-and-2) at the end, because we could have iced that thing right there. I thought we'd be able to get that done. I'm not taking anything away from the o-line, because I think they did a nice job."
On the effectiveness of defensive coordinator Sean McDermott's game plan: "I think he changed things up well. When you play Peyton (Manning), you're literally talking about a guy who is going to go down as maybe the best quarterback to ever play the game. You have to be like a catcher and dial up the right pitches. I think Sean did that, and then the guys executed and made some plays in there. On some of the other plays, when we went into halftime, we noted that we were an inch away. That's how good Peyton is. At the same time, that inch is going to narrow itself to a point where we're going to make a play. You just have to keep battling and not get down. That's what Sean was able to maintain with the defense, keeping them emotionally in tune and the guys trusting what he was dialing up. He was dialing up curve balls when they were expecting fastballs, and so on."
On whether it is difficult to get QB Michael Vick to play more cautiously: "It's going to be hard holding him back. I've talked to him, and he's one of the more competitive guys that I've been around. He loves to play the game. It's hard, because you don't want to take anything away from his game. You know he did run out of bounds one time. I was really fired up about that. He's making a little progress."
