Opening Remarks: "The only injury we have thus far is (TE) Brent Celek. Brent had an MRI and he's got a slight sprain of his MCL. It is a day-to-day thing and we'll just see how he does. It was good to get everybody out here yesterday. I liked the energy that the guys brought. You could see it kind of carried over from the OTAs which I think is important especially when they are going to be presented here with a pretty tough camp. This afternoon we've got a practice similar to yesterday afternoon's but a little bit longer. We will go about two hours and forty minutes this afternoon and it will be in shells and helmets. Tomorrow we will start up the contact and they will be in full pads tomorrow afternoon. This is the schedule that you'll see here. You'll have the walkthroughs in the mornings and the practices in the afternoons."
On how this camp's intensity will compare to his first as Eagles head coach: "Probably not like that. Just by the rules (it will not be). The afternoon practice will be similar to the morning practices of those days but you don't have the same afternoon schedule. It is a walkthrough as opposed to the 10/10/10 special teams practices that we had in the afternoon. Our afternoon practice tomorrow will be equivalent to the morning practices that we had there."
On whether the CBA rules limit the amount of things he feels need to be worked on: "I think you can work with it. I don't think that is an issue. You can get something out of the walkthroughs. It is really another meeting on the field but it is important that the guys work in the afternoon and they come with a certain attitude to try to make themselves better every day. That energy that we felt yesterday has got to carry through to the dog days of this thing when those bodies and minds are a little bit tired."
On whether Celek's injury started on Thursday or was a re-aggravation of an existing injury: "He was fine coming (to camp). We ran what we call a naked boot and he pivoted out and just got his foot caught in the grass and he tweaked (his knee)."
On whether Celek's injury can be seen as an opportunity to get an extended look at the team's other tight ends: "You try to find positives in everything so I guess that would be it. Do I want Celek out there? Yeah, I would like him out there. You will get a good look at the young guys."
On whether he feels the need to bring in additional tight end help: "(Eagles GM Howie Roseman) and I are looking at that and we've got a couple fullbacks that can fill in that role in the meantime. We just have to weigh that out whether we need to bring someone else in. If you bring someone else in and they haven't been in a camp then they've got to take the three-day build up period. Really it is not going to help you tomorrow so you have to look at those things. Brent could be back in the next couple days, it could be a week, but he could be back in the next couple of days. We will see."
On whether FB Emil Igwenagu will see time at tight end: "Yeah, that's what he did in college so he is one (option). We have messed around a little bit with the fullback playing a slot-type position where the tight ends played even last year."
On whether the team has any more interest in free agent TE Jeremy Shockey: "Not right now, no."
On whether the CBA ramp-up period rule is for both rookies and veterans: "Yes, everybody has to have the ramp-up days."
On how important it is to have the players focused as the contact drills begin soon: "With the exception of the punter, kicker and quarterback in this camp, they all better be into that part of it. That's part of the sport and you can't get away from it. You've got to come out and you've got to endure it and work on it. You need to work on your blocking and tackling because it doesn't get more important than that in this sport. The receivers when it is full contact and the running backs in the secondary level need to make sure they get used to playing there and playing fast."
On how the heat will affect the afternoon practice sessions: "Well the positives are it allows players to get a lot of fluids in before that practice. It also gives them the opportunity to get two meals in before that practice which we think is important in that whole process."
On whether last year's afternoon sessions were not as productive due to fatigue: "I think if you talk to the players they would rather be moving in the afternoon when it is a little hotter. They would rather move as opposed to standing there getting beat up by the heat."
On the feeling of training camp once the entire team is present: "I thought the players finished on a positive (note) in the OTAs. I thought that was important that they brought that to the table for this camp. You hear them out here on the walkthrough when they are talking and communicating. We'll just have to see this afternoon when it is a little bit longer. Yesterday was an hour and forty minutes and today will be two hours and forty minutes. We will have to see how it carries over. That's a positive thing that this team has. There is a chemistry there and it is important that they continue to build on it and work hard. There is no question that you have to bear down and get ourselves better as a football team and do it every day."
On the competition between LBs Brian Rolle and Jamar Chaney: "I think they have gotten better. There is a lot of competition at the weak linebacker spot. They trained like crazy in the offseason. Chaney moved from the inside back to the outside. It may even be more of a natural position for him. In yesterday's practice you saw him make a nice interception so I think he has taken positive steps and I saw that in the OTAs."
On whether Chaney will work with the first team defense or if Rolle will remain the starter: "Well we have different personnel groups that we are doing. You saw that with the nickel yesterday. Yesterday we were messing around a little bit with (CB Curtis Marsh) in there. (CB Joselio Hanson) is our normal nickel but we have different packages that we can get bigger bodies in there for different packages that the offense presents. You're going to see us try to utilize the talent that we have here."
On the performance of CB Joselio Hanson during OTAs coming into camp: "Joselio is very intelligent. I thought physically he was in great shape. I wasn't sure he came back in great shape last year. I felt like in the OTAs there was a concerted effort to get himself into good shape. We had the whole issue where we released him last year and he came back. I just think he is in a good place this year, mentally and physically. That showed in the OTAs."
On the progress of QB Mike Kafka early in training camp: "Every rep Mike gets in camp is an important rep and not only in practice but in the preseason games. One thing you don't worry about Mike is his work ethic. He's always going to be prepared and is always going to come out and give you his best on each snap. He is a timing thrower so it is important with these veteran players that he gets his timing down with them. It is a little different when you talk about timing and rhythm for a quarterback when you have young guys that are inexperienced in the offense at the receiver and tight end position as opposed to guys that understand the offense. There are certain spots when a quarter back says (to a young player), 'you need to get yourself in that position right there.' There is an anticipation that takes place with the timing and rhythm. It is crucial that Mike is good at that."
On whether he has been impressed by rookie LB Mychal Kendricks: "I think he has done a pretty good job. He seems to be picking everything up mentally and physically. He is quick and looks instinctive. I look forward to seeing him in pads and seeing how he is doing. It looks like he enjoys playing the game and he plays it well. He just needs to get a little experience under his belt."
On what he wants to see from S Jaiquawn Jarrett: "The one thing you know about Jaiquawn coming out is that he's a tremendous hitter. He had very good instincts. I want to see those things. I want to see now that he understands the defense, and normally when you understand something, it slow things down a little bit and then your strengths show. He's a guy who really pushed through the offseason and I thought he was very aggressive with himself both mentally and physically to get himself right for this. Now it's time for all of that to show."
On what RB Bryce Brown and RB Chris Polk can bring to the offense: "They are fast. Polk has quick feet and that's what you notice about him. He's very instinctive. Bryce is very fast and very big. He's a big kid now, and he's smooth. He can take one cut and hit a guy. Polk has more experience than what Bryce does, but Bryce has a lot of talent. It's just going to be a matter of time and rest for these guys to get themselves back in there and pick it all up."
On how big of a factor past off-the-field issues were with some of the incoming rookies: "If you don't have a good locker room, you probably don't make those choices, right? So we did our homework on them and we thought they were willing to change and they wanted to do that and get themselves straightened out. We gave them a shot. There's a line there though, and I don't want to see any repeats. They need to tow the line and do the right things."
On whether QB Michael Vick has shared his experience with them: "Yeah, Michael does that. He understands that now."
On whether RB Dion Lewis' discipline will be handled internally: "I've addressed that with Dion, so I'm just going to keep that there."
On whether WR DeSean Jackson will be weaned off of punt returns this year: "I want him to concentrate on the receiving end of it. We think we have guys who can contribute there and be effective, and be explosive players. We just have to see. DeSean's making sure those guys do well, right? He's making sure they play well. That's not to say we won't use DeSean in certain situations, but right now I want those other kids to step up and see what they can do."
On the leaders right now in the kick and punt return competition: "Obviously we brought (CB Brandon) Boykin in to do that, so he's right there at both kick and punt. We know he can do both. He does have more kickoff than he does punt. (WR Damaris) Johnson has done it, so we're kind of leaving him in there right now as the primary punt guy. (WR) Chad Hall's done it."
On whether CB Cliff Harris is in that mix at punt return also: "Cliff has done a little bit, so we're going to test it out. He was a little bit inconsistent initially when we did it with him at the rookie camp. We'll see how he does because he sure has good talent."
On how hard it is to evaluate return specialists in the offseason program and then with limited reps in the preseason: "We'll get them going. DeSean and (WR Jeremy) Maclin, they're not going to get the reps and I'm not going to worry about that. I'm going to worry about the young guys get their shots at it."
On how much he will look at their punt and kick returns in college to evaluate the rookies now: "You just have to make a judgment on that. That's why they're back there now is because of their college deals and how well they did there. It's a numbers deal, and we'll see how the numbers go. Hopefully you never have to punt."
On the difficult nature of being a slot cornerback and whether it is hard for a rookie like CB Brandon Boykin to win that job outright in his first preseason: "I expect him to try and do that, yeah. I'll tell you that with his strengths, (CB) Joselio (Hanson) really knows what he's doing. Boykin is going to put his nose to the grinder and really challenge him, and I think he'll do that."
On whether Boykin does need to beat out Hanson: "I'll tell you that Joselio is ahead of him right now. Boykin has to beat him out."
