Opening remarks: "(RB) Ronnie Brown signed with us yesterday and is on board. We welcome him into the mix. Again, I look forward to get all these free agents who've signed on to actually be able to practice with us. We'll continue to wrap them up. You saw what we did with (CB) Asante (Samuel) today and just kind of put him in here and there and eased him into the situation. It's really a different dynamic in camp this year, and we're working through it. We'll continue to see how things go."
On whether he thought the Eagles would sign so many big name free agents: "Obviously we had plenty of time to meet in the offseason, both on football and on personnel. (General Manager) Howie (Roseman) and (President) Joe (Banner) put together a phenomenal plan on the personnel side and targeted some people that we thought could help our football team knowing we a had good football team coming back, but to increase the competition level, we thought we could add some players. Obviously, with Joe's expertise in the cap, none of this was possible without that. These players are not free, right? So, you have to pay them. Then, Howie's ability to work to budget within the cap and still bringing in these quality players and doing the deals that he did, he's done a phenomenal job. With all that said and done, we have to get out there and play. You can have all the great players you want, but if they don't play as a football team, then there's a problem. We've got to get these guys incorporated into the offense, defense, and special teams, and then go and practice and come together as a football team. I know they're anxious. The one I notice about the great players that I've been around is, from a coach's standpoint, they want you to give them that one thing that even allows them to be greater and they love to win. I welcome that to this football team. Again, hard work is the key and coming together. There is no simple formula, and you're not going to do it without the hard work. Once they get in there, they'll jump in. We'll be as smart as they can ramping him up so we can keep them away from injury like we've done with the rest of the guys. We'll see how it all works out."
On how T Winston Justice is coming along and how T Ryan Harris fits into the equation: "Harris is a good football player and we welcome him into the mix. Winston is just going to continue to rehab until he can get back. You know as well as I do and you guys have been around me long enough where you know that I'll always take care of the offensive and defensive line. I think that's very important. If I see a good one out there that we can work into our cap situation, then we're going to bring him in and make him a part of it."
On the difference between Winston's injury and past offensive line leg injuries: "His schedule was a little bit crazy since he was a player rep and he was all over the place. I think it just set back his rehab a little bit. He did a good job with the player rep part of it, but the lockout, in his case, I don't think helped him get the rehab done on his leg that he needed to. We're doing that. He's a hard worker and very diligent. He's here, he's doing it, and he's attacking the situation and doing well with it."
On how scary the Mike Patterson situation was: "I have to give (Head Athletic Trainer) Rick (Burkholder) and our doctor (Dr. Peter DeLuca) the credit. During chaotic situations like that, they all remain calm. I'm not a doctor or a trainer, and the players aren't. That's one of your toughest guys right there going down. We were all on edge a little bit and Rick kind of calmed the situation down. One thing I thought he did a phenomenal job with was evaluating the situation in a calm way. Bringing the ER doctor (Dr. Jeremy Ng) in there and he was calm. I think in the long run, it eases the players down. We gathered around because the sun was beating down on Mike. They were able to see the procedure take place. Everybody wants something done immediately but you have to figure out what the problem is first, and that is Rick's expertise. He did a heck of a job with that. He and Dr. Ng were cool as cucumbers there."
On how it feels to have rookie G Danny Watkins in camp: "It's good to get him back in. He's a good kid and he's a hard worker. He wants to get in there and do his thing. We did with Danny what we did with Asante (Samuel) and just spotted him in. We understand he is playing catch-up here in a couple of different areas; not knowing the offense and also not being physically all-in right now. We'll ease him back in and see what he can do, and he has some work ahead of him. We'll see how it all works out."
On DT Trevor Laws' injury: "Trevor had a hip flexor. I probably should have had Rick comment on that while he was here. He has a bit of a strain there."
On whether he is confident that WR Jeremy Maclin will be able to play with what illness he has: "We'll see. He's not done with his tests, so the doctors are still looking at a couple things. He's up here and he's in good spirits, he looks good. He's able to do some conditioning things, but the doctors will reconvene today and continue to talk about it. We'll go from there. Looks like he's in good shape and ready to go."
On what kind of illness Maclin has: "I can't. I'll get to you, but I can't do that until everything is in. I can't tell you that right now."
On whether the Eagles are light now at defensive tackle with Trevor Laws and Mike Patterson being injured: "That's why I canceled the period before Mike got hurt and I cut down the goal line in half. I try to be very aware of that. Then, we just went into individual rather than team. Do I have a concern about the shortage of (defensive) tackles? Yes, I do. Realistically, we're short."
On whether he feels better about Maclin's condition after he has reported and Reid has more information: "I do because we've seen him here, he looks good, and he's upbeat. The doctors have some of the results back but not all of them. They seem to be upbeat, but I don't want to say anything until everything is done and I can give you the whole sha-bang there."
On how difficult it is with the free agent practice rules to get everything together in a short time: "I would tell you we have a pretty good plan with it. We've thought it through. The one thing we'd normally do is we're well into the live periods and the tackling. Really, these guys aren't going to have an opportunity to do that really until we get into the game. Because of the influx of guys coming in tomorrow, it's going to take them a while to ramp up so you have to gradually ease them in and get them ready for the ballpark. That's the way it is all around the league. The important thing is, and this is where the key is, is that the players have not been here. Before, in mini-camps, you can teach them goal line, short yardage, nickel, and they'd at least have an understanding. Once they got to camp, you can crank up and go live. They can do that and they wouldn't be doing all thinking and not being able to play. In this case, I backed off on that and let them catch up mentally and still get their work in at least banging it a little bit."
On whether he has concerns about his players being physically and mentally ready for the first preseason game: "I think every team is in the same position and that's what it is. We'll see how it all works out. Look, most teams don't go live. Most teams do what we're doing, and the preseason still works out okay. My concern right now is that we make sure the guys learn, and get everything down."
On how much he worries about the offense with WR DeSean Jackson not in training camp: "We'll get it. We'll be alright. Could we use the work? Yeah, we can use the work. They'll get the work when we come in, and by the time we get going in the regular season games, they'll be ready to go."
On whether T King Dunlap's and G Austin Howard's promotion to first-team is a testament to offseason condition: "Yeah, Austin has done some good things. We're just trying to get the right five and mixing and matching people as we go here. We'll come up with the five by the time we get out of camp that we want going into the season."
On whether he has an update on DeSean Jackson's holdout: "I do not have an update for you."
On what he saw from RB Ronnie Brown that he liked: "He's a smart kid. He's a good ball carrier. He does everything well, and he gives you a little bit of versatility that you can throw the ball. He understands that (RB) LeSean (McCoy) is the number one guy and he's not coming in here to disrupt that. He understands the role he'll be brought in to do. He's a smart guy who has good size and has been a productive back in this league. Good runner, good catcher, good blocker, all of those things. He's done those."
On Brown coming in as a backup: "He'll get an opportunity to get in there and play. He wanted to be here, and there's a want that the player has to have, too. As much as you're doing the selling, they also want to be a part of it. So he did."
On backup running backs not getting a lot of work: "You have to pick the year, right? Every year is a little bit different."
On how much Danny Watkins wanted to help with the Mike Patterson medical situation: "He wanted to jump right there when Rick was stabilizing him. I kind of held him back a little bit, but his first reaction was to dive in, said 'I've been trained.' Then he came back in when we were trying to get him on the spine board and helped in that process."
On how much he is looking forward to see how the free agents do in their first practice tomorrow: "I'm looking forward to it. You want as many guys in who can help your team, and you want to get them in to practice and do what you do. They're not doing much being out there and not practicing. They feel it, they're very antsy right now and it's killing them to sit there and watch. I look forward to getting them in and making them feel a part of this thing and get to know their teammates on the field and the other guys, not just in the classroom."
