**
** On whether the team is where he wants it to be at this point: "I don't look at things like that, whether to be at this point or that point. We have improved every day, the (Organized Team Activities) were good for us, this is similar to the OTAs, the difference is that the day is longer so they will go in and lift, and now we get a chance to meet with them in the afternoon. Before when we finished with OTAs, they were off the field and we didn't see them until the next day. I think part of how we practice is that these guys really have to learn how we want to practice, and now we can get in and get a chance to watch film, show it to them, make some corrections and come back tomorrow."
On whether G Evan Mathis and C Jason Kelce are ahead of where he thought they would be: "I was told when I got here that they were going to try and get them ready for the mini camps. And those guys have done a great job from the rehab standpoint, so it's good to get them back."
On whether it is nice to have a projected starting offensive and defensive line on the field: "It's great to have anyone injured back in. (DE/LB) Chris McCoy was back out today so everybody that's healthy is going right now in at least a part of practice and really you get a chance to show them on film. Kelce has been great since he has been out, he has been at every meeting and he's here all the time. He's awesome. But now he gets to see himself on film instead of seeing someone else on film."
On how far T Jason Peters is away from being up to speed: "I don't know. I'll watch the film. He has been in touch, we talked to him while he was away. He really has just missed the last two weeks. He was here for the voluntary minicamp, part of the OTAs. Really sharp kid when it comes to football knowledge. He has been in contact with (offensive line coach Jeff Stoutland), they text back and forth. I don't think he is that far behind. We will get a chance to look at the film. I am sure he made a couple of mistakes today, but they are correctable mistakes."
On how the joint practices with the New England Patriots came about: "(Patriots head coach Bill Belichick) called me, I didn't call him. I have known Bill for a while, I used to go visit the Patriots while I was in college. I have a ton of respect for him. He presented it, it makes sense. You have to prepare for your first preseason game, and instead of us trying to get looks to our defense of what our Patriots offense is going to look like, the Patriots offense is going to give us a look. We will cooperate and spend some time in terms of how we are going to practice together. He presented the idea to me, he has done it before with the Buccaneers and the Saints. It sounded like a good idea to us and they were coming here so it really doesn't upset our schedule whatsoever. I think it's a positive thing and look forward to getting out there and getting a chance to compete with them."
On what he would say to the general public who won't have the opportunity to come out on a daily basis like they did at Lehigh for practice now that the training camp schedule is out: "That is unfortunate, there is a rule on how many people we can have in this place. I don't have any juice, (Howard Eskin) has more juice in the city than me so maybe he can figure it out."
On whether S Kenny Phillips did everything a guy would normally do if he was healthy: "I didn't watch the film. I know he was in everything so it wasn't as if he was limited or they were holding him out. I will watch film, talk to (defensive backs coach John Lovett) and (assistant defensive backs coach Todd Lyght) in terms of exactly what he did. I wasn't over there a ton with the (defensive backs), he wasn't missing any reps from the rotations."
On whether he has a plan for Phillips in terms of working him into the rotation: "We have talked about what we are going to do for the next three days here. We will look at assessments and sit down—with everybody on our team, you know the 90 guys—we'll sit down after we get through this, see where they are. Again, for all those guys they have a ton of time, there are six weeks between when we finish minicamp and then we get back here in the end of July. I would anticipate he should be good then, but you never know. It's when he gets back here we will see how it goes."
On the difficulty of evaluating the team without contact on the field right now: "I think it's difficult, but we are not going to make any rash decisions now because we don't have pads on so it would be kind of silly to say this guy is our starting this because he did a great job in OTAs with no pads on. You put the big boy pads on, some guys really step up and other guys you thought were really good and all of a sudden, 'Where has he been' and so it's tough to really evaluate. One of the biggest positions that's really been difficult for us is (cornerback) because we can't play press man from the CBA rules. How good are they in man coverage? I don't know because we can't play it. Normally when you go to camp and see them in preseason they are doing one on ones every day. You are getting the chance to see (CB Cary Williams) and (CB Bradley Fletcher) and those guys compete against (wide receiver DeSean Jackson) and (WR Jeremy Maclin). We haven't been able to do that. We knew the rules going in, so instead of complaining about it, what can we get accomplished? A lot of scheme stuff, lot of assignment things, learning how to tempo, learning how to practice. You got to practice without pads on a lot, I think you are only allowed 11 or 14 during the regular season anyways. You got to learn how to get a lot of good work out of this. To make any decisions on who someone is from wearing shorts and t-shirts, doesn't make sense to us."
On whether there is going to be two a days at training camp or just one practice: "The way it's structured is you have to have like a walkthrough and then a big practice is looking like the way it's going to go."
On whether Cary Williams and QB Dennis Dixon approached you about going to the White House: "No."
On whether it was a good thing that T Lane Johnson was with the first team: "I kind of want to make this the last time I have to say this, I do not care who is in, so ask coach Stoutland. It really doesn't matter to me. I looked up once and Dennis was the quarterback, (LeSean) McCoy was the running back and the first o-line was there. Does that mean Dennis is the number one? No, just rotating in. I saw Kelce take some snaps with the ones but then Kelce is out so now Barbre and the other guys are in. Again the rotation means nothing."
On whether he taught QB Mike Vick how to carry the football: "I didn't teach Mike to carry the football, he was just swinging it loose one day and I told him to keep it tight. He has been playing football a long time and has played for a lot of really good coaches. Dan Reeves may have said something to him in Atlanta, it was just kind of reiterating fundamentals, and it's like that with everybody. If I see someone carrying the ball loose, I am going to make sure they carry it tight. That's our job, I did not teach him anything."
On whether DeSean had a heart-to-heart with him because he was confused with where his reps were and to clear the air: "We talked the first day about open lines of communication between everybody. If you want to talk about things you can come into my office. I have had a lot of players come and sit down to understand where they are, how we are doing things, why we do things. Any organization is going to be really good at communication, we stressed that since we have gotten in here. If a player wants to come in and talk to me or another coach wants to come talk to me, or someone wants to come in and talk, we are always open for that stuff. I think making sure that everybody is on the same page and knows what's going on I think is beneficial to everybody."
On whether he suggested there was a message because he didn't know everyone's role on offense yet: "I do not really recall the conversation. I know we talked but I have spoken to a lot of guys in my office. It is just a matter of making sure we are all on the same page."
