Opening remarks: "It's good to get back on the field and have the opportunity to see the guys run around a little bit. We had one-on-ones with the offensive and defensive lineman which we weren't able to do during the mini-camps, so we're able to see the guys actually pass protect live and it looks like there are some positive things coming out of that. (S) Nate Allen obviously signed. You saw him out here today. Good to have him out. (DE) Brandon (Graham)—we're working on that, again, not a lot of first round picks signed right now, so there's a little stall going on. (Eagles President) Joe (Banner) and (Eagles GM) Howie (Roseman) are working on that, and that will get done here somewhere, I'm not sure exactly where."
On what the thought process behind releasing LB/DE Alex Hall was: "Well, you obviously go through the roster and see the guys that you feel don't quite fit in to what you are doing schematically. I think Alex Hall will be a very good outside linebacker in a 3-4 front. We worked him as a linebacker, and also worked him as a defensive end. After the evaluation we just felt like his best thing would probably be a 3-4, and I think Alex can definitely play in this league and be very successful, he's just got to get into the right situation."
On whether he is happy that S Nate Allen has signed and is not too worried about signing DE Brandon Graham: "No. I wouldn't say that. I would say that I want them all here. So, it's good to have Nate here, but I want Brandon here, too."
On why some players like WR Jeremy Maclin and DT Corey Simon can miss time during their first training camp and still be successful as a rookie: "Obviously, some of it is opportunity, and those two guys had an opportunity. With Corey's situation, we had an immediate need for that position. With Maclin, and I'm not saying this is different than Corey, Maclin was very intelligent and was able to pick things up very fast offensively, and ended being able to work in and have a positive rookie year."
On whether Allen will be the starting free safety when the veterans report to camp: "Yes."
On what separates Allen from other rookies he has had and what he sees in him to be able to start as a rookie: "I'd probably say a little bit of what I just said about Maclin. I think Nate's very intelligent. I think he has very good ball skills. I know somehow he got labeled as not being a physical guy, I think he is a very physical player off of what he did in college. I'll be curious to see again how he sustains once the veterans get in here and we start cranking it up, but I would expect him to do very well there."
On whether there were any early observations on Allen after his first practice: "Well, he didn't look like he had lost much from the mental standpoint. We threw a few different formations at him and he seemed to make all the adjustments well. He's making most of the calls back there."
On how tough it is for a rookie to start at free safety: "I think it's tough from the standpoint that you're making a lot of calls. You've got to get people lined up, and you can't be shy. And then you've got to be able to recognize what's going on in front of you. You can tell how the players respect him, at least in the mini-camps, where they knew that he knew how to make the adjustments, so they had some trust there and that's an important part of that position. The rest of it becomes a physical thing, and I think he has the skill to do it."
On whether any players impressed him during the offensive and defensive line drills: "I'd say over the last couple of days, from a defensive standpoint, (DE) Daniel Te'o-Neshiem looked good, although they all had their spots. (OT Austin) Howard, (C Dallas) Reynolds, they looked well, (T) Fenuki (Tupou) looked like he was moving around pretty good. He was coming off an injury so I was curious to see how he would do, and he looked like he's done fairly well there. But they've all had their spots, they've all had spots on both sides of the ball where they have been productive."
On whether there has been any progress on Graham's contract: "Nothing's taken place so far, and he needs to be here."
On the team's young offensive lineman providing depth at the position: "I think (T) King Dunlap did a nice job of stepping up this offseason, I think he had a very good offseason. We'll see how the others do here. I think we have a little talent there. I thought Reynolds had a good offseason. Some of the young guys, the first-year guys, look like they stand a chance."
On whether there is concern about the offensive line because of the injuries to starting offensive lineman and the inexperience of backups: "I'm pretty comfortable with (G) Stacy (Andrews) right now; I think he'll be fine. I think he's healthy and strong and understands what we're asking. I'm not too worried about Stacy."
On why he is so confident in Andrews: "I thought it was just a matter of getting confidence in his leg. He's a big guy and the big guys, they've got to make sure, especially at the guard spot, that they can get down there low. You're talking about a guy who is 6-foot-7, so you want to make sure that they can bend, and that's kind of the last part of that thing that takes place. You're just talking about a couple of inches off there and people can get under your pads and drive you back, so I think he's back into that position where he'll be very successful, I think, this year."
On whether there was a particular moment when he knew Andrews progressed and felt confidence in his knee: "Well he kind of went through highs and lows last year, no pun intended, but he went through periods where it looked like he was strong and can stay down and it was a matter of sustaining it week-in and week-out, I didn't think he had that. I thought he would get himself up, and then he would get into trouble, and then we would back off a little bit, and he would get himself down, and it wasn't until the offseason when he got his full strength and everything back."
On (G/T) Todd Herremans' foot: "He had the soreness in it, and so it's important that we just gradually feed him back in there and see how he does. He missed all of camp last year, I just want to slow this thing down and make sure we bring him back gradually and we don't do something to affect the foot. We've seen plenty of that with basketball players, they rush back in there and end up with career-threatening injuries. It's soreness in the foot. Right now, it's good. It's calmed down, and again, we're just going to take it day by day and see how he does."
On whether the soreness is related to the surgery he had last year: "It's in that area, yeah, it's in that area."
On C Jamaal Jackson's progress: "Jamaal, I think, is a little bit ahead of schedule, but again, we'll just see how he does. They can work with the trainers and strength coaches, so that's what they've been doing, so we'll just see how they progress. As coaches, we stay out of that and just kind of go off what those two groups tell us. So, we'll see how they do."
On the recovery period of Jackson, and how the latest technology helps speed up the process: "I think they're all different. You've seen guys be able to come back really quick, and then you've seen guys that can come back, a little bit of what I said with Stacy, where it was up and down. Then you've seen guys that can't come back at all within that time period. We think that Jamaal is on track of getting back, but we'll just have to see how he does here, but the technology is incredible. It gets better and better and better, with the technology and the doctors."
On his assessment of QB Kevin Kolb's play after the team's first three practices: "He's looked good in these three practices. Again, you want to see it with the rush and you want to see it with the first group, both offensively and defensively, and see how he does there. I'm expecting he'll do fine. He's looked good so far."
On whether the Eagles drafted WR Riley Cooper because he was the best athlete available: "We liked Riley coming into the draft. I think what you're saying is true, not that we were in great need of a wide receiver, but he was there and he was there, where we didn't think he would be there, so we said 'hey listen, he's the best guy on the board, so let's take him.' (Jokingly) It didn't hurt that he went to Howie's alma mater."
On whether Cooper's size was a major factor in why the Eagles selected him: "He's big and he plays big. Very physical, very strong. He's got good hands and he can run, which I'm not sure people believed. Although you can see it on tape, I'm not sure that they believe that, but he plays very fast."
On whether he thinks offensive quality control coach Doug Pederson can help Kolb get acclimated just as he helped QB Donovan McNabb in 1999: "First of all, I think Doug has a great future ahead of him as a coach, and you saw that, even when he left here and went back to Green Bay. He went to Cleveland, then Green Bay. But when he was at Green Bay, you saw he and Brett (Favre) talking between every series, and Brett had a tremendous amount of trust in Doug, and Doug's opinion on things. And that's not taking anything away from (Eagles QB Coach) James (Urban) and (Offensive Coordinator) Marty (Mornhinweg), but he can definitely help them in certain areas."
On the one-year anniversary of Jim Johnson's death: "Listen, I think we all miss him. I think all of us here in the tent miss him. But I guess there are a couple of lessons you can learn. Time moves on. It's a crazy thing. Life's a crazy thing. We all need to live each day to the fullest, and I think we've all learned that from him, if we didn't know it before, we learned it from him. We all would love to have him here and coaching."
On why teams only honor deceased members of the organization for one season: "Well, I don't know that. I can't answer that. You've obviously put in a lot more thought into that than I have. We all remember him and I think everybody respects him. There are more of us here that knew him than even our football team, because we have so many new people here. They just know the legacy that he left. I can't answer that question."
On whether QB Michael Vick will still be involved in the Wildcat offense: "Yeah, we'll get him in the mix here. We'll have a couple of things with him."
On how Vick is playing: "I think he's doing good. Michael will be fine. He's been doing this for a couple of years, so he'll be alright."
On his trip to Afghanistan changing his perspective: "The number one thing is that is makes you appreciate everything you have. And you get to see the time and effort and lives that are being sacrificed, so that we can have what we have. It's pretty impressive. It's hard for all of us, unless we've been there, for words to be able to explain exactly what takes place over there, but it's quite an amazing thing."
On whether he expects everybody to be in camp tomorrow: "Well, we'll see with the first-round draft pick. But I expect everybody to be there."
