Injuries: "The guys who will not practice today are [G] Shawn Andrews, [WR] Kevin Curtis, with a concussion—he's getting better, however—[TE] L.J. Smith has a knee contusion, and then [RB] Brian Westbrook, with just a sore knee."
Opening Remarks: "We look forward to the challenge of playing the Cleveland Browns. We've got an opportunity here to have an extra day to study them and we can see the talent that they have on their football team. I know they've got a good coach in Romeo [Crennel]. We competed against him when he was a defensive coordinator for the Patriots. He has a feel for us and I think we have a little bit of a feel for him. It should lend to being a very good game. They've had four wins and three out of those four wins have been on the road; I mentioned that to you on Monday. They've had two Monday night games in which they've won both of those games. One of those teams was the Giants and the Giants have, obviously, two losses; one against the Browns and one against us. We understand how explosive they can be and our players had a chance today to start looking at the film. Like the coaches feel, as they study it, they'll see the talent that they have to play against this week."
* On whether holding Brian Westbrook out of practice is precautionary:*
"Yeah. We're going inside and he had a couple carries the other day."
On whether he thinks Westbrook is capable of handling a workload like he had against the Giants: "Yeah. As long as we manage it right, he'll be fine."
On what he means by "manage it right": "We listen to what his situation is. [Head athletic trainer] Rick [Burkholder] does a great job with him in the rehab part of it, keeping things under control and letting me know what's going on with it."
* On whether he has any idea why his teams often finish the season strong:*
"No, (jokingly) but I know there's an Ivy-leaguer out there somewhere that will figure it out."
On RB Correll Buckhalter's rehab from a knee sprain: "He feels pretty good. He'll practice today and we'll see how he does. We'll kind of ease him back in, but he says he feels pretty good."
On QB Donovan McNabb's better play after some mid-season struggles: "Those things happen sometimes. He's a great player. Like I said, sometimes you just need to take a step back and things kind of clear up for you. He's playing great football right now."
On whether WR Reggie Brown will play with Kevin Curtis' concussion keeping him out of practice: "We'll see how it goes this week. We'll see how it works out this week."
* On McNabb "managing" the game at New York with short, high-percentage passes:*
"The conditions were a little crazy. I joked with him during the week that he probably hadn't seen that since high school, a windy situation like that. I didn't see him forcing the football, which you can do in that kind of situation. He just took what was given to him and kept it in front of him. He didn't force anything down the field if a gust came up and all the things that a pro quarterback does."
On McNabb's interception total being higher than normal: "That's unusual for him. I don't see that being a problem down the road here."
* On CB Lito Sheppard's role in the upcoming game:*
"We'll see, as far as how the different packages go."
On whether he wants to continue the offensive balance that the team has had lately: "We always feel that way."
On whether he hopes to use Correll Buckhalter more to keep Brian Westbrook fresh: "We'll see how it works out this week. He'll have a chance to play, for sure."
On whether he's seen any benefits from the "30-plus days" he implemented in training camp to keep the veterans on the team healthy: "I think they're doing alright. I'd like to tell you that at the end of the year when I've had a chance to sit back and look at it. The older guys seem to be hanging in there pretty well right now. I don't know if it's due to that or note, but they seem to be hanging in there with good energy."
* On Cleveland's wide receivers struggling with dropped passes and whether that's corrected by simply continuing to throw the football:*
"That's normally it, just what you said there. The more balls you catch, the better you get at catching them."
On whether dropped passes is the reason Cleveland's offense has struggled this year: "They've had a couple injuries there the last few weeks. That's tough. [QB Ken] Dorsey's in there and he's had a chance now to play in a game and he's got a little experience. But, just to throw guys in like that, that's tough, due to the injuries. That's a tough thing to do."
On the 2006 season when his team won the final five games to make the postseason: "I remember that, yeah. That's a great feeling. I'll tell you, that's what makes this city such a great sports city is they're going to live and die with their teams. That's fun to coach in and play in."
On the recent comments made by Washington RB Clinton Portis and head coach Jim Zorn and how important character is on a football team: "I won't comment on that. That's a twisted question there. I will say that I'm very fortunate here to have a good locker room. I can't worry about—I don't even know what happened there. I'm not going to comment on something with another team. I'm very fortunate to have the players that we have here."
