Injury report: "(DE Juqua Parker) will not practice today with the hip flexor strain. And (CB) Asante (Samuel) will not practice with the knee sprain. Everybody else will be out there practicing. (CB) Ellis Hobbs will be put on IR, herniated disk in the neck. Surgery is up in the air right now whether he'll have surgery or not. And then we picked up (CB) Brandon Hughes from the Giants practice squad."
Opening remarks: "We look forward to the challenge of playing the Chicago Bears in Chicago. There's not much better of an atmosphere than playing in Soldier Field, there against a good Bear team. So I know our players will be fired up and they're going through preparation and the process of getting ready to play the Bears, starting today."
On the seriousness of Samuel's knee injury: "I don't know. We'll take it day-by-day here and just see how he does. I can't tell you that he's not a little sore today, and gimpy, but we'll see how he does. I know he wanted to play in the game."
On when Samuel got injured: "You know, he's not really sure. He thinks it was possibly on the fumble recovery."
On QB Michael Vick calling him after the birthday party incident: "Yeah, listen, I'm obviously not going to get into what we talked about. But the one thing that I was proud of him for was that he made the call. I thought that was an important step and I appreciated the trust that he had there in doing that. And he didn't put me in a position where I was hearing it second hand or anything else. And the other thing was what he told me was exactly what the police said and those are things that build a trust between two people. And honesty is an important thing."
On the magnitude of the game against the Bears on Sunday to improve conference positioning in the standings: "Well listen, I think every game down the stretch here is important. We have so many teams clumped up right here with similar records and there's great parity. And no more exact records than what is taking place with us and the Bears, not only 7-3, but also both teams coming off three winning games. So every game becomes very, very important as you're working down the stretch here just because of the competition amongst the teams here, right now."
On the significance of the Bears giving up the fewest points in the league but only having 19 sacks on defense: "Well, I'll tell you that they're second in takeaways, and that turnover margin is huge in winning football games. They are playing so confident right now and so fast and aggressive and that's where they're getting these numbers from. This isn't a fluke, all the different categories that they lead in. So it's a great challenge for our guys. We have a good offense and they have a good defense. It should be an explosive matchup."
On whether Hughes can return punts or kicks: "No. That's not why we brought him in here."
On what he saw in Hughes and why the Eagles signed him: "Well, he can play both inside and outside (positions), so nickel and the corner spots. We just thought he was a good player. So we wanted to add him to our roster, there."
On who will take Samuel's snaps at cornerback in practice today: "(CB) Joselio (Hanson) will do that."
On whether Hanson will play if Samuel can't play because of injury: "Most likely, yeah."
On whether CB Trevard Lindley will get more reps in practice: "Trevard will probably get some reps in there too, yeah."
On whether CB Jorrick Calvin will return kicks: "Yeah, Calvin will be the (kick returner)."
On whether the Bears defensive line presents a similar challenge to the Giants defensive front: "Well, the Bears are playing as good as anybody right now, defensively. So they do present a big challenge, yes; not only their front, but their linebackers and their secondary. I think you're looking at a complete defense and there's continuity. I see things there that I saw when Tampa Bay was rolling there with (Bears head coach) Lovie (Smith) and (former Tampa Bay Buccaneers defensive line coach) Rod working together, Rod Marinelli. So you see the continuity, you see the aggressive play to the ball and the hustle and all those important things from a defensive team."
On what he sees from the Bears offense: "You see an explosive offense. So you're looking at receivers that can run fast and can catch the football. You're looking at a tight end that's big and explosive. You're looking at a running back that was off a little bit with injuries and that, but now he's back and he's playing at a very high level. He can also be flexed out and thrown the football. And a veteran offensive line, guys that have played together a little bit."
On how Vick is feeling and whether he will take less snaps in practice to get some rest: "He feels good right now. He feels healthy; the normal bumps and bruises that you have during the season. But he feels strong and good. That has nothing to do with not trusting (QB) Kevin (Kolb) being in there, but you asked me the question about Michael, and he's doing well right now."
On Vick balancing football and his image right now: "Image covers a lot of things. I mean, that can be taken two different ways. I think he's learned from mistakes and he's a better person for it. That's the most important thing. There can be an acting part to an image and I don't think you're seeing any acting here. This is what he's decided to do. He's been doing things in the community just about every Tuesday, his day off. And any other time that he can get off to do charity work, he's been doing so. He understands that he made a huge mistake and the only way that you can write that wrong is by giving it back now and changing and helping others not make the same mistakes. That's where he's at mentally and he's very humble about it. He's seen the highs and he's seen the lows, so he's very humble about this whole thing."
On whether he has addressed Vick's contract situation with him: "No. I haven't talked contract with him."
On Samuel's contribution to the defense this season and whether he sometimes gets a bad rap for not tackling: "Well, listen, Asante was a heck of a tackler in college. You saw it this year where he hit the kid's knee and got a bit of a dinger there and then he's had a couple stingers and that. He understands that covering – that's his deal. When he needs to put a lick on somebody, he'll do it. In this offseason, he trained very hard to get stronger so he wouldn't have the shoulder problem and he's been doing very well with that. I think you see him as a complete player this year where he's covering well and he's making plays on the ball and, at the same time, he's playing physical. It's unfortunate that whole thing happened on Sunday where he was flagged because I really think that was a pretty good hit right there."
On whether he feels he has to talk to Vick about the organization's plans and how he fits in given the current CBA: "There will be a time and place when that needs to be addressed and we'll address it. It's a crazy deal with the Collective Bargaining Agreement and so on. We really haven't done anything with anybody. It's just a different year."
On whether it's tough to plan ahead because of the current CBA: "That's the reason. It's not because of Michael's situation or his past. He's making pretty good money this year. It's not like he's not making good money right now. It's about the way the league is going right now and so it's hard to make those types of plans for the future."
On the importance of putting pressure on Bears QB Jay Cutler: "Well, listen, I'll tell you about any quarterback, you've got to find a way to pressure these quarterbacks in the National Football League. Cutler is an explosive, explosive quarterback. You saw that the other night against the Dolphins. When he's on, man, he's unbelievable and he can make every throw on the field. He's got an absolute gun. He's got the guys to throw it to who can make the plays. You've got to find a way to disrupt his rhythm a little bit. He made some throws the other night where he was out of position and off balanced and still made great throws. I think it's just a matter of Jay getting used to (offensive coordinator) Mike (Martz's) offense and I think that's the process you're seeing taking place right now."
On the Hughes signing and what he saw in him: "(General manager) Howie (Roseman) has been studying all along and he's talked to me about him over the last little bit. When it came time here to do this, he felt very strong about it, so we did that."
On Hughes playing in a similar defensive system with the Giants: "He's a good football player. That's what he is. It's more of that than necessarily the system, although you do get to see certain things."
On being able to handle the pressure and spotlight at this time of the year, given all the young players on the team: "They seem to be doing okay. Again, it's a game-to-game situation and that's how we approach it and, as a player, that's how the players approach it. It's hard to look back and it's hard to look ahead. You've got to really focus in on the job at hand here and put all your energy, in this case, into the Bears. If you go back and look at things and pat yourself on the back, then the Bears are going to get you. If you look ahead and try to plan on what's going to happen in the future, you're making a big mistake."
On G/C Mike McGlynn's development at center: "(Offensive line coach) Juan (Castillo) has done a great job there and Mike has worked very hard. It helped that he got those reps during training camp when (G/C) Nick (Cole's) knee was bothering him. I think it allowed the quarterbacks to have trust in him and, obviously, the rest of the linemen have trust in him. Listen, he's getting better every week. He's not a finished product right now. He knows there's a lot of work ahead and, so, that's the way he approaches it."
