Injury Report: "The only injury to report is [G/T Todd] Herremans with a stress reaction and the surgery that he had on his foot. He ran in the pool and has been given the okay to run. He's out of the boot and into a shoe a walking around. He feels pretty good. The scan showed that it really healed nicely but again, we're taking it slow in getting him back. When he'll be back we're not sure. I know if you ask him he'll tell you tomorrow, but that's not the case. We've just go to hang with it. [QB Donovan McNabb] is back; he'll practice and feels good. [RB Brian] Westbrook is back and he'll practice and feels good."
Opening Remarks: "We look forward to the challenge of playing the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. We understand their record. We also understand how hungry they are for their first win and we know the emotion that they brought into the Washington game and played a heck of a game against the Redskins, who are also a good football team. Our guys are going to prepare themselves the right way. [QB] Josh [Johnson], looks like he's playing, he played quarterback this past week. I thought he did a nice job. He brings a couple different dimensions, being able to run the football and throw the football. I know that he is a smart kid. He played for [Ravens head coach] John Harbaugh's brother, [Standford head coach Jim Harbaugh], in college [at the University of San Diego] and I talked John about him before and he's a pretty sharp kid. I thought he did a good job for his first game in there. And then, defensively they also are talented. Offensively, Josh is not the only good player. Their receivers I think are tremendous, very, very big, very physical. Their offensive line likewise, they're big guys, strong guys. And [RB] Cadillac [Williams] is I think one of the better running backs in the league. He kind of went through that same process that [Denver Broncos RB Correll Buckhalter] did and now he's back and playing very good after his injuries. Defensively, the guys fly around. They had an All-Pro caliber safety [Tanard Jackson] back in off suspension this week, I'm sure he'll see some time. Again, good football players, special teams, they've done a nice job there. We know what we have ahead of us. Our guys are focusing on the film. We had a little bit of a jump start, we came in Monday and the guys were able to see the film then and today, they're focused in on Tampa Bay after having the day off yesterday."
On whether McNabb will wear extra padding Sunday to protect his ribs: "He might wear a jacket. We'll just see how that goes. Right now I'd probably tell you yes."
On whether LB Jeremiah Trotter will play Sunday: "We'll see how he does this week in practice. I don't think that you'll see him the whole game every down, that's not what we're looking at right now. We'll pick and choose where he plays and we'll see how he progresses through this week. He's getting back in the swing of things. He was able to spend last week with me and [defensive coordinator] Sean [McDermott] and [linebackers coach] Bill Shuey, trying to get him caught up on some things both schematically and physically. We kept a couple of the practice squad players around and he went in full gear the whole week. We'll see how he does and if he can help us in there, then he'll be in there and if he's not quite ready then we'll go in another direction."
On whether Westbrook is completely back physically: "Right now he'll rotate in there with [RB] LeSean [McCoy]. Physically he feels good and he's ready to go."
On whether Westbrook and McNabb will play Sunday: "Yes, they should play on Sunday."
On what about McNabb's health and mobility makes it seem like he is ready to play: "A lot of it is feel, but the other part is the x-rays that were taken to see if he was healing. He's healing up and it looks like it's calcified pretty well. We'll see how he does. He feels good right now and he looks good out there."
On WR Kevin Curtis playing this week: "I think he's getting there. I'm not sure he is 100% back, but he's good enough to be in there playing. He and [WR] Jeremy [Maclin] will be in there playing and cover that position."
On Curtis' injury being just knee soreness or structural: "No. It's calmed down quite a bit. We're just being cautious and seeing how he does here."
On what they think triggered the soreness in Curtis' knee: "I think it's just wear and tear is what it is. He had a little of inflammation in the knee. Everything has calmed down. There was no swelling by eye and that was a plus. We calmed it down over the week, but we just want to ease him in and see how he does here. We don't want it to act up again."
On what made him think Trotter was able to play again: "I go right to his knee. I wanted that looked at, observed by our doctors. He had it cleaned out and before he left here he had a lot of swelling. He couldn't straighten his leg and therefore his quads went, his glutes went and he wasn't able to explode like he had been in the past. He had told me that the swelling had gone down; he had been working on it and the swelling hadn't come back. But again, he wasn't doing football. I thought it was important to bring him in here and see where he was at. We hammered him pretty good and the swelling stayed out of the knee, his change of direction was better where he couldn't do that before, to where I thought he could help us. It looked like it was back and throughout the whole week the swelling stayed out of there and there were no signs of him not being able to fire his quad and extend his knee. We'll see. We'll take it week by week here and see how he does."
On whether he had doubts about Trotter's ability to come back: "I didn't. He's always shot me straight. But I haven't seen a lot of cases like this either, where the swelling stays out under the pressure that we put him in this past week so I was a little bit skeptical there. He hadn't done it. He was telling me the truth, but he hadn't actually been out there pounding it. I wanted to make sure I found that out. We pushed him to exhaustion and everything in a bent knee position, something that would make that thing swell up if it was going to swell up and it didn't. But, to tell you that this is a normal situation, no this isn't a normal situation. This is unusual. I'm taking it week by week and I think he is too. I think he's excited to be here and he brings the energy, not that we didn't have energy, but he brings additional energy. [LB] Omar [Gaither] is still going to be a big part of it and we'll work that thing in the way we decide."
On the most difficult thing for Trotter to adjust to given his time away from the game: "Trot has really been away a year because he finished up at Tampa and actually played at the end of the season. But still that's a tough thing to do. We have to just see how it goes. He hasn't been in a game. We were playing two-on-one football out there so, that's not eleven guys. I'm not expecting a Pro Bowl player if he has a chance to play on Sunday, that's not what I'm expecting. I know there's going to be some work that needs to be done to get his timing back and those kinds of things. We'll take it week by week and see how he does."
On whether G/T Stacy Andrews will be starting this week: "Yes he is. We rotated him the last game and I have three guys in there where I feel comfortable doing that. They'll do the same thing this week. [G] Max [Jean-Gilles] will probably get a little more time at both sides. Last time he and Stacy rotated, but we have a good little thing there where we can give those guys a blow if needed."
On something specific that Trotter brought to the team compared to other players: "The thing that intrigued me was he knows the defense so there wouldn't be that learning curve necessarily. Are there a couple things that are different? Yeah. But, for the most part we're speaking the same language. And then, his size and strength, that part is always welcomed. You're looking at Omar who bounces between 235 and 237 and you're looking at Trot who is 255. It brings just another look that offense needs to be concerned about."
On the team's reaction to McNabb's return: "I think everybody is excited to have Donovan back. I think they brought [QB] Kevin [Kolb] in, I thought Kevin handled himself great and I think the players really responded to him. It's always good to have all of your starters back in there and playing. You're talking about one of the all-time greats playing quarterback there. Somebody who has been here a long time and when it's all said and done will be one of all-time greatest to play that position, so it's always good to get that kind of a player back in there."
On Buccaneers' head coach Raheem Morris being a head coach at 32: "When I was 32 I probably thought that I could do that like Raheem. He's done a good job. I can't sit here, now that I'm old and gray, I can't sit here and tell you that I didn't feel like I could do it back then. I think he's going about it the right way. He brings great energy to that football team I think. He looks like he's very honest with his players which I think is very important and sometimes tough for a younger coach. But he shoots those guys straight and doesn't pull any punches with it. He's doing it his way and as things get going here for him I think good things are in store for him down the road."
On how QB Michael Vick's role will change as he progresses: "We'll see how it all works out. He'll be in there somewhere this week. We'll just see how the numbers go there. We don't have a set number, just have to play it by ear and see how things go."
On WR Jason Avant and TE Brent Celek taking advantage of the middle of the field more: "I think both of those players are good players and not necessarily on how teams are playing, we've always tried to utilize that area the best we possibly could. I think the quarterbacks have a lot of trust in both players and they work those spaces so well. We'll continue to do that. I think as people try to double the outside receivers it opens up some things inside and both quarterbacks have done a great job of reading that."
On Herremans' return and how it will affect Jean-Gilles and G/C Nick Cole and whether it will affect the continuity of the offensive line: "We'll be okay. We have guys that I know can play there and that have played. That's a close knit group. They all can play, I really don't care. They've all done really well and been quality starters. I look forward to getting Todd back when the time is right, I know the guys do and they'll welcome him in. It adds one more good player into the mix here."
On whether there is anything about Celek's play that has impressed him: "The one thing you hope transfers from college to the pros but you're not sure because of the speed of the game and the size of the players, but Brett always had great core strength. In college you would see guys come after him the way that they do here and he would drag them along like he is right now. He's been able to carry that over. I think at that position that's a big thing. The yards after the catch are a big thing in anybody at any receiving position, but particularly at that tight end spot for those tough yards. When you're catching in tight quarters and there are guys draped on you I think he does a nice job with it."
On whether he tells Celek to be wary about going to the ground when multiple guys are trying to tackle him: "You have to careful. Right when you tell him to start pulling off then they get hurt. I just let him play his game. That's part of him and so you don't want to have him ease off and then get beat up on the other hand."
