Opening Comments: "Alright, as far as the injuries go, everybody will practice today. We'll just see how [DE] Brandon [Graham]'s doing; he's probably the primary one. He has 21 days, as of this past Monday, to prepare to play before we have to make any type of roster move. He did practice on Monday, as did the other guys, [DE] Trent [Cole] and [T] Jason Peters, so everybody was out there Monday working. We look forward to the challenge of playing the Cowboys. It's always a knock-down, drag-out NFC East game. It should be a great atmosphere, Lincoln Financial Field, as it always is. They've a good football team, we realize that, and we've got to make sure we go through the process and have a good week of practice."
On why RB Ronnie Brown was traded in the first place and what his role will be moving forward: "Well really, it gave Ronnie an opportunity to play a significant role and actually start because of the injuries that they had up there. I thought that was obviously a fair thing to do as long as we got running back compensation in return. It didn't work out, and again, wishing the best for [RB Jerome] Harrison, that everything works out for him."
On whether he thought there would be an expanded role for Brown when he was signed: "He understands that. He's been a complete pleasure and he's a good football player. I've done this with other players, I mean, as long as we have another player that can come in. In this case Jerome knew our system and was a good player, so as long as we could do that it gives him an opportunity to further his career in a positive way with being a starter."
On whether he thinks it will take Graham time to get back into "football shape": "You know what, he did pretty well on Monday. I'm not going to tell you he's all the way back, but we'll see today. We have the pads on today so we'll see how he does with his first opportunity to bang around a little bit."
On whether there are any questions about whether the injury is fully repaired or is it just a matter of him getting into shape: "He's been working out like crazy, so it's a matter of getting into football shape, and banging around a little bit, and catching up with that part of it."
On whether it is safe to say that Graham will not play Sunday: "We'll see how it goes. I kind of have an open agenda with this one. We'll see how he does and we'll kind of progress from this point."
On whether Cole is good to go: "Trent is good to go. Jason Peters is good to go."
On when a decision would have to be made on Graham: "You can do it anywhere within this 21-day period."
On whether it can be done up to game time: "Yes. Remember, you have to make a roster move if you do this."
On what his expectations are for the offensive line now that they are all healthy and in their projected positions and how good he thinks they can be: "Listen, I think they have a chance to be a good offensive line. I think it's just a matter of continuing to work together, and putting out the effort that they put out. This has nothing to do, I thought [T] Winston [Justice] did a nice job the last game, but again, I made the decision to go with [G/T] Todd [Herremans] at the right tackle spot. I think they have a chance to be a very good offensive line."
On whether it is fair to say that the Eagles are blitzed a lot, and if so, what can be done to get teams to stop blitzing: "We've actually had pretty good success versus the blitz. You know you're not going to hit every one of them, no quarterback does that, no offense does that. But again, we've had some pretty good plays against the blitz."
On what the key is to limiting turnovers against the Dallas defense: "Well, we did a little bit better this past game. We still had two interceptions that we need to take care of, and they're not all the quarterback's responsibility, you can kind of pass them on starting with me and play calls, putting the guys in the right position, at the right particular time, against the right defense. But you need to keep working, and you need to keep working fast in practice and making sure that you're getting good looks out there."
On whether this game is more meaningful because the late Jim Johnson is being inducted into the Eagles Honor Roll: "That's very important. I appreciate the organization doing that for Jim, he's well deserving obviously, and I know it means a ton to his family. I think you separate the two. Obviously the game's very important, but so is that. I always said that I thought he was the best in the business at what he did. It was the right thing for the organization to do. I'm proud of the organization for doing that as early as they did it. It's a great tribute to him and his family."
On how seriously the trade talks are bothering CB Asante Samuel: "You have to understand, everybody calls everybody. We're sitting here with a few good corners, so people call. That wasn't the case."
On whether he has talked to Samuel since his radio comments: "Asante and I talk, Asante and I talk. I'm not worried about that at all. He loves to play the game and we're going to move forward. I don't have any comments past this, and I know he doesn't so we're moving on here."
On what he attributes his 12-0 record after the bye week to: "You know, I get asked that every year, and I don't think there's any secret. You just do what you do. We're going to practice just like we did last week and the week before that, and so on. So I don't know if there's any secret to it."
On what Dallas did right running the ball last week and whether RB DeMarco Murray reminds his of anyone: "Well, he reminds me of a good running back. He's a little different cut than a lot of guys who were as tall, and kind of high-cut, long legs, but he sure did a nice job. He did a nice job at Oklahoma. Probably the only reason he didn't shatter all of the records there was he was banged up a little bit. Now he's healthy and playing very well. Did it surprise me? No, it didn't surprise me. I think he's a good football player."
On how much more difficult Dallas' running game makes them: "Well they've always been pretty good running the football, power run game, and they've got a new fullback that they brought in who's a very good blocker. Their offensive line is doing a nice job. Any time a team can mix it, that puts pressure on the defense, and that's how it works. On the other hand of that is it's a great challenge for a defense, and that's the way you approach it from a defensive standpoint."
On whether he sees RB LeSean McCoy as a running back that could be a workhorse-type back: "He's shown that he can do that, yeah. Again, this is another guy that loves to play the game. He does not like coming out of the game. He wants to be in there on passes and runs, at all times. We try to monitor and give him a break here or there, but he loves to play the game. He's very good at everything, he's developed into a fine blocker in the pass game, very dependable there, and really has the complete package."
On whether there has been a common theme in the team's last five losses in a row at home: "We just need to play better. Whether we were up or behind or whatever, you've got to finish the game. I'll tell you the same thing on the road; we've just got to do a better job of finishing things. That's what we're working on. It shouldn't matter whether you're on the road or at home."
On whether it is especially surprising that the Eagles have lost five in a row at home: "We have to do a better job. We get to the problem, we're problem solvers, so that's what we do. We get to the problem and we try to make sure that we eliminate mistakes by coaches and by players, and that's how we go."
On whether Cole is full go or being worked in: "Well you know how they rotate. First line goes, second line."
On whether he gets the sense that the defensive players believe a corner has been turned in the last game in a half or whether he encourages them not to look at it like that: "I want them to play confident football, obviously, so there's that element. But you really want to take all of your energy and you put it into bettering yourself fundamentally and then also making sure that you understand, in this case, the Cowboys, and if you do that then you don't worry about all that other stuff. The confidence level, I think that it helps. I want them to focus in on that other part and then go play with confidence."
On whether he feels that the adjustment period is over: "Well, we'll see here in the next few weeks, you know, around the league. I think probably more so on defense, throughout the league, that it's been a bit of an adjustment. It seems like offenses, their numbers are up throwing the football, and I'm talking in general. I'm not just talking about our football team. I think over the next few weeks you'll see how all that works out."
On whether he is surprised that defenses are so far behind the curve in the first part of the season: "No, not at all. I mentioned that before, with the lockout that took place, I really came in feeling like the defenses would probably need time to catch up while the offenses could go out, pick up a ball, and go run routes and do things that offenses do. But it's tough to do that defensively, yeah; go out and run different coverages and so on and so forth. So it's just a different practice when it's not in an organized setting."
On whether he thinks that applies to his defense: "Yeah, I think in general."
On whether he feels like he can wipe the slate clean after the bye week and make a push for the playoffs: "I don't get caught up in that part of it. I make sure that we're getting ourselves ready for one game at a time; one play at a time, one game at a time. I try not to get too far ahead - I'm not a philosopher by any means. I'm a teacher and a coach and that's where I try to hone in and I expect the players and my assistant coaches to do the same thing."
On why the team brought in RB Ronnie Brown in the first place if they were going to trade him down the road: "Listen, I think you need to have three good running backs in this league [and] I think we know that. And he's a good running back so that's why we brought him here."
