Injury Report: "(DE) Victor (Abiamiri) and (WR) Kevin Curtis are still listed as out for this week. Then, (G) Shawn Andrews with the lower back spasms is listed as questionable. (FB) Tony Hunt and (DT) Trevor (Laws) went through a walk through this morning, and we'll just see how they do here, as we will with Shawn over the next couple of days. All of them are listed as questionable. Then, (C) Jamaal Jackson will not be at practice because of a personal situation."
Opening Remarks: "We look forward to playing the Pittsburgh Steelers this weekend. We understand that it's a short turn around and all that bit. Our guys are back in here, ready to work, and are going to have a normal Wednesday practice today. And again, we understand all the challenges that the Steelers will present us. They are a good football team. Again, we're going to prepare ourselves, just as aggressively as we did last week, for a good football team coming in here this week. The last thing is, it's always good to play your in-state rival. You don't get that very often in the National Football League, and I know our fans will welcome the Steelers here with open arms and hearts."
On what he's looking for from the team after coming off a big game and having a short turn around: "First of all, you have to be mentally tough to do that, and I think that this football team has a mental toughness. I'm just kind of looking around today and keeping my ears open and eyes open, I see guys that want to get back out on the field and practice. They weren't happy about what happened in Dallas. They are putting it behind them, and they look like they are eager to get back out there today and get going."
On what the biggest thing was that he learned about the Eagles Monday night: "You never know how your team is going to handle the big stage until you are on the big stage. I thought the guys competed. Do we need to do better and do we have a lot of things to work on? Absolutely, but I didn't see one guy let up. The guys that were nicked up a little bit kept playing and tried to play harder, and as things got tighter, I saw score wise and time left on the clock, I saw guys that wanted to be out there competing and wanted the football. So I think that's a positive that can take you a long way this season. Then, it's a must have if you're going to win football games in this league."
On how he would assess QB Donovan McNabb's play: "Donovan did some real good things. He played very well if you look at that game from a whole."
On how he felt FS Brian Dawkins played: "Brian, just like all of us and I'm putting myself right in that mix, I thought Brian did a nice job. There were a couple of plays that he would like to have back. He came out and he told you that. I think that's the way that we all feel; that we all wish we had a couple of plays back that we could do a little bit different, but we're going to learn from those and get better at them."
On whether there is any concern about Dawkins' age and speed: "No. He'll be alright."
On whether DE Victor Abiamiri has seen a doctor this week: "He hasn't yet. They're working on that right now, but we'll see what the result is."
On whether Abiamiri will see a doctor today: "No."
On whether Andrews' back is as tight as it was during the game: "Not quite as tight. Not as tight as he was during the game. The thing locked up on him, but it's starting to loosen up a little bit."
On whether C Nick Cole will practice at center today: "Nick, yes."
On how he would compare the Eagles' defensive performance between the two games: "We just have to eliminate the big play there and that's what we did against the Rams. If we take care of that, we're going to be fine, and we will. We'll be fine there."
On the performance of the defensive ends: "We have to do a better job there. We're getting chipped and all that, but there's no excuse for that. I mean, they can't chip everybody. The guys that aren't being chipped, they need to make plays."
On whether he would consider activating DE Bryan Smith: "We'll see how that goes. I'm not doing that today, but we'll see as the week goes on."
On whether he thinks DE Trent Cole is getting frustrated with all the double teaming on him: "He anticipated that. He got that last year, and he'll work through it. That's all part of it. When you are a good player at that position, you are going to get chipped. You just have to find a way to get there."
On whether he sat down with WR DeSean Jackson after the game: "I'm not going to get into all that."
On whether DE Chris Clemons is getting closer to playing more of a major role: "He got in there a little bit. You saw him in there the other night. He'll keep working in there."
On what his expectations are this week for WR Reggie Brown: "Reggie is going to work in. He practiced this morning, and he'll work in there. We'll take it slow with him and see how he does. We gave him a little bit last week. We'll increase it more this week and we'll see how he does, (see) if he's ready to play in the game."
On whether Brown will start if he's ready to go: "I don't know about starting, but if he's ready to go, he'll be in there."
On whether he's optimistic that DE Victor Abiamiri will be back soon: "I don't know that. It's all up to the doctor there."
On whether he relies on his veteran players to speak with rookies after an incident like DeSean's Monday night: "They took care of it. He'll be fine."
On whether Dallas did anything schematically to try and take TE L.J. Smith out of the game: "Yeah, the routes that he had and the coverages that they played took him out. They were obviously aware of him, in particular in the red zone, but again, we had a couple of shots early there and it didn't work for him. He'll catch enough balls as we go here."
On how Steelers QB Ben Roethlisberger looks despite reports of his injury: "You really couldn't tell much on film there. He's a tough kid, and he's playing very well right now. He's throwing the ball very well."
On whether he is concerned with the Eagles secondary after Cowboys TE Jason Witten's performance the other night: "He's a good player. We have to do a better job there. It wasn't one guy. There were times that he was doubled and he still made the play. As a group, we have to do better when we're put in positions to do that. But again, good players are going to make good players. You want to make sure that you limit them. Also, how much yardage they are gaining. You'd rather take the short ones than the long ones, obviously."
On what the tone in the locker room was after the game Monday: "The main thing is, everyone expected to win, and that's what I look for. I'm not into these things where you lose the football game and people are happy or saying, "You should have doneā¦" That's not what this football team is all about. They are into winning the football game. But can you take some positive things out of it? Absolutely. Do you need to point to some positives? Yeah, you do. There are going to be a lot of negative things pointed out and most of these guys know what the negative things are. Then, you have to work on those and get them corrected and move on, but I don't think anyone was happy that we lost the game. That's the bottom line. When it's all said and done, we didn't come out on top, and we all expect to come out on top."
On whether he thought G Max Jean-Gilles had difficulty protecting the pass: "Really there was one play in particular, but it was a run play, so it wasn't as much about the protection as it was the one play in the run game. I thought he did okay. I don't think that he was the primary reason there why there was penetration."
On whether the loss to Dallas has increased the hunger of the team: "When you're a mentally tough football team it increases the hunger because you don't like to lose. You want to make sure that you maintain that each week and prepare yourselves like you did last week, and if you need to add a little bit to it, then you add a little bit to it. There's no way you hang your head about it or get down about it, you make sure that you keep pushing forward and stay hungry and aggressive."
On WR Kevin Curtis and his injury: "We'll see. We're just kind of taking it week by week here. He's making progress. He's doing well. He is running. He's probably a little bit ahead of schedule, more so than what we thought. We just have to keep him going."
On whether he is concerned that other teams in the league will use the Dallas game film to help prepare them for the Eagles: "I mean, they are going to use the film, yeah. They are going to look at the game. They can do whatever they have to do. I'm sure they'll try to copy some of the things there, that's okay, too. We're going to work on correcting them."
