On when his hand hit C Jason Kelce's helmet: "When I first hit it, I heard some pop and I didn't know if it was from my finger or just from the collision. But I lost feeling in it for a second. Once I got to the sideline, after about thirty minutes I started getting the feeling back in my finger."
On what was going through his mind when he didn't have feeling in his thumb: "I was just hoping that it wasn't anything severe and I was just praying that the season didn't get off to a horrible start. So I'm thankful that I got my feeling back. It just swelled up a little bit, but it feels a lot better now. "
On whether he can grip a ball now: "Yes. Towards the end of the game I was gripping the ball on the sideline and I was pleased to see that. So I should be able to get back to practice on Saturday."
On the play of rookie WR Damaris Johnson: "Well I seen a kid who goes out and works extremely hard. He wants to make this football team. He's very bright. He puts himself in the right positions and he does everything the coaches ask him to do and that's all you can ask for out of a young player. I'm pleased to see him playing as well as he is and it was great to see him get into the end zone."
On how he hurt his finger: "I was hitching up in the pocket and I was waiting for a guy to come open and when he finally came open, I let the ball go and my hand just hit the back of my center's helmet."
On whether he thought the injury might be serious: "When it first happened, I thought, because I heard a pop, I thought it was broken. And you react differently when you don't know exactly what happened. I tried to get to the sideline as fast as I could. I did the same type of thing last year against Dallas, but I was able to come back the next week and play. But this time I heard a pop and thankfully it was because of the collision and not because of a broken bone."
On the one area the offense needs to improve the most: "I think we just need to be consistent in moving the ball. I think last year we did a great job of that. Obviously this year is a new year and we want to make sure that we're all in-tune, we're all on the same page and we'll get better from week to week."
On why he felt it was important to stand with Head Coach Andy Reid during the pregame ceremonies: "Well, I always stand next to Coach during pregame. You probably don't notice and you're noticing now. Just to be close to him, to feel that connection. He's always whispering things in my ear throughout pregame and I just want to be there for him."
On what that moment was like: "It was a great, surreal feeling. We all know that Garrett (Reid) was out there in the stadium tonight with us and he will be with us for the rest of the season and as long as this organization exists so we're pleased to have another angel in the sky who can look over this team."
On whether this has been an emotional week, especially with tonight's injury: "Yeah, it's been a tough week. When I came over to the sideline and I was sitting there wondering if it was something severe with my finger, I could only reflect on what this past week has been like and just praying that my finger wasn't as bad as I thought. I was pleased to see that the x-rays were negative. It was a mild sprain, nothing bad. By the end of the game, I gripped the ball. I think that was the high power just giving me another opportunity."
On what he takes away from a game that did not go well for him: "Get ready for next week. I've been involved in preseason games, I had the same kind of game last year against the Steelers and things just didn't work out. The good thing is we've got them in the regular season and I'll have the chance to play against them for four quarters so we'll see how that works out."
On whether he was anxious to get more playing time in the first quarter: "Absolutely. At the start of a preseason game, especially the first one, you're ready to go out there and play. You want to get the juices flowing, get out there and throw the ball a little bit. We had to sit for a while but that's football. That's just something that we have to deal with. If it were a regular season game, we'd have to get going and get reenergized and get out there and make it happen. There's no excuses. We could have done a better job. The ones, the offense and the defense, could have done a better job in moving the ball and stopping the Steelers offense and we didn't do it but we'll go back and watch the film and correct it. That's why we're professionals."
On whether this week was harder to get ready for: "Yeah, it was tough. We're human and we have to deal with reality and what is going on in our lives at the time but I give a lot of credit to Coach Reid. I give a lot of credit to Coach (Marty) Morninwheg and (Defensive Coordinator) Juan Castillo. Our entire coaching staff did a great job of keeping the guys focused and keeping us in tuned in practice and running the team as Coach would have wanted them to. They did an awesome job in just helping the guys stay on the course and finish strong and we did that tonight."
