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Philadelphia Eagles News

Head Coach Andy Reid

Opening Remarks: "Injury-wise, really it is (WR) Riley Cooper is the only one. He will not play in this game. Everyone else has an opportunity to play. I'd add (S) Colt (Anderson) to that also. Colt will not play this week. Everybody else has an opportunity and will prep themselves like they're getting ready to play. Look forward to the challenge of playing the Cleveland Browns. Neither team I think when we played one another (in the preseason) showed a whole lot. They've gotten themselves healthy. It looks like their corner will play so they should be fully loaded and ready to go. We're expecting a hostile crowd and we know that happens in Cleveland. They're loud and they're aggressive and again we'll prep for all of that and get ourselves ready to play."

On how the team prepares for two rookies on Cleveland's offense who will likely play a key role: "The quarterback we had a chance to play against. We know he is a very talented player. I had an opportunity to study him in college so I know the things he is capable of and you got a taste of that when we played them. Actually it was the first play of the game. Then with the running back there is enough out there to know that this guy is a great football player and will be a great football player at this level."

On why the team decided to keep CB Brandon Boykin over CB Joselio Hanson: "We just felt comfortable with him at that time. It is nothing against Jose. We have a lot of trust in Jose like we do Boykin. Boykin is a bit younger and possibly a little bit more athletic right now in his career. I'm happy for Jose that he got an opportunity to hook on with the Raiders. He'll do a great job for (Raiders general manager) Reggie (McKenzie) and the crew out there."

On his thoughts of an 8-8 record not being good enough to keep his job: "Well 8-8 itself isn't good enough. None of us are shooting for 8-8. Nobody in this building is shooting for 8-8 so I'm all in on that. That's how I feel and I'm not worried about all that. Right now my concerns go right to the Cleveland Browns and making sure we practice and get ourselves right so we can go play a good football game against a good football team."

On whether he is okay with only four wide receivers dressing for game day: "I am, yes."

On what QB Michael Vick's mindset is after not being able to play during the majority of the preseason: "Well he didn't have a whole lot of snaps during the preseason so that's what we are referring to. I'm okay with that. I mean that's what it is. Would I have liked to have a few more with him? Absolutely, but that's what it is and we go with it. He has enough experience where I expect him to go in and perform well. I think we got a good base game plan in today and we'll see how he does with it out there at practice."

On whether S Nate Allen is completely healthy after battling a hamstring injury during the preseason: "Yeah, he'll do everything at practice. Nate feels good. He worked out on Monday (and) felt good. I think he's over that. As far as we can see he's over it. He says he feels well."

On whether the season opener can tell a coach a lot about his team's future direction: "You hear everything about openers and that they're the most over exaggerated. It is the most important game that week for you and that's all I care about. I think if you take it one game at a time, one week at a time, (and) one play at a time, all that is very important. This is the most important game this week and so we're going to get ourselves ready to play."

On what the coaches like about S David Sims and if he will play on Sunday: "Well we liked what we saw in David. Not only playing against him but we also studied him. We felt he would add to the depth of our safety position. He is cranking right now trying to learn everything. It's a cram course but he's a smart kid and seems to be picking things up well and we'll just see. We'll see how that all works for him as this week goes on here."

On whether he is concerned with the depth at the safety position: "I thought (S Jaiquawn Jarrett) finished up the preseason well. He got a lot of snaps over the last couple of games. I thought he did a nice job with them. I thought he corrected his mistakes from the first game and we have trust that he can jump in and if something were to happen to jump in and play."

On whether Allen can be considered as having durability issues because of his injury history: "Listen, that will be said by people. Not by us necessarily but by people until he puts a string together. He knows people are looking at him like that and I understand the question but I would tell you that I have trust in him and think he can play well."

On whether Allen has demonstrated himself to be a tough player: "(Jokingly) Well he is not as tough as the Philadelphia media. You know how that goes but he is playing in the National Football League at a tough position and he knocks the heck out of people. I don't know how else to put it."

On what he has seen from WR DeSean Jackson to indicate a better season than 2011: "He's put together a good training camp. I think he is in the right frame of mind, number one. What that will do is (with) this game a lot of it is upstairs. I think his approach, all that stuff (and) everything that goes into it (like) working hard out on the practice field, timing with the quarterback, (and) all those things are better than what they were last year."

On whether the team can keep as many as six defensive ends active in a game: "We could do that. We'll have to see how that all works out."

On whether activating five defensive ends is more realistic: "Five would probably be more realistic."

On whether QB Nick Foles is the backup quarterback going into the first game: "Nick Foles is the backup, yes."

On what defensive ends will get the majority of playing time: "I haven't made any of those decisions. You can ask the question and I understand the question but I haven't narrowed that down. I'm letting (DE Jason) Babin get in and do his thing and make sure he is healthy and we'll go from there."

On whether defensive ends Darryl Tapp, Brandon Graham, and Phillip Hunt are rotating: "Yeah, you'll see all those guys. They'll be in there. Everybody will get practice snaps there."

On whether the replacement officials are under pressure to begin the season: "Listen, I think they'll be under the gun. People are asking about them and watching them probably more than any official has been in the past. The media is greater than the last time there was this situation so I'm sure they'll be under the cameras' eye. They'll do their thing. I think we're all asking and making sure all of us (including) coaches and players and their part of the game are doing their jobs to the best of their ability."

On why LB Jamar Chaney is now taking reps at the SAM linebacker position: "The good thing about Chaney is he knows all three (linebacker positions). You get reps and that's right now what he needs. He needs to get in there and it doesn't matter if he is a WILL or SAM. Let's get in and make sure we have all of the bases covered there and get yourself some snaps and in particular with the time you missed with the injury."

On whether he is factoring his familiarity with the Browns into the game plan this week: "I mean, you can go back and forth. (Browns defensive coordinator) Dick (Jauron) was here. There are a lot of things that are tied in. Bottom line is, you've got to go play. The playbook and knowing the plays, you don't know when they're going to dial them up. I don't know when (Browns head coach) Pat (Shurmur) is going to dial them up or Dick's going (to dial them up). They don't know when we're going to dial them up on our end. So, it comes down to, you call them, guys go execute and everybody does their job as good as they possibly can do."

On whether the Eagles and the Browns have similar systems, offensively and defensively: "Yeah, they're both similar."

On what the rookies have shown to him to prove their readiness: "I tell you, they built confidence and trust in us over the last bit that they've been here or we wouldn't have kept them on the football team. We would have gone a different direction. I think that speaks as loud as you can speak about them being here. So, they are going to contribute and is there going to be a mistake here and there? They're young guys; yeah, there's going to be a mistake here or there. But they're going to go a hundred miles an hour doing it and the majority of the time, they're going to do the right thing and do it well and then they'll continue to get better with time as the season goes on."

On what he has seen from DT Fletcher Cox and where he is in his development: "Fletcher's getting better every week. Every snap, and I would tell you that with all the young guys that we kept, it looked like they were making progress. He doesn't have the big step forward, one step forward, two steps back. He didn't have that. There were positive steps going forward, little wrench here or there, but then they'd move forward; learn from it and move forward. They weren't repeating the same thing over and over again."

On whether Cox will start on Sunday: "Listen, we've got eight of them; eight guys or ten guys that we comfortable starting. So, I don't really care. Whoever's in goes and they're all going to play. We're going to try to get them all equal playing time and let them go after it."

On whether there is a trend of younger teams league-wide: "I know at one point, we were the youngest. That's okay. We've got a good blend of veteran players with some young guys and we'll just see. We'll see how it all works out. I can't tell you about the rest of the league. Somebody's got to be the older, someone's got to be the younger and we're the younger. That doesn't mean you can't go out and win football games. That's not what that means."

On whether he is concerned about the left tackle position: "I'm not."

On why he is not concerned about the left tackle position: "I've got trust in (T) King (Dunlap) and he's been here a while. I know him. He's played well in the preseason here, and the opportunities that he had to play before, I thought, were quality starts for him and opportunities for him, when he came in when either (T) Jason (Peters) went down or one of the other people went down. I've got confidence in him."

On what positives he can take from QB Michael Vick not playing the last two weeks of the preseason: "Well, he's very healthy right now. He's coming in and he feels good. He's throwing the ball. You guys have been out here watching and he's humming it and he feels good. I would say that would be a positive."

On his confidence level with the team as a whole: "I like the energy they've got. That's a good foundation. Now, you've got to build on it every week, every day. You've got to keep that thing revving up and revving up and revving up. You're going to have challenges in the National Football League. You're going to have them during games; you're going to have them during weeks after games, so how you handle that is very important. But I think they're wired right to do it."

On whether he believes Browns head coach Pat Shurmur is in a difficult position because he has a rookie starting quarterback, injuries and an ownership change on the horizon: "I think some of the injuries, he's getting guys back, which I think is important from his standpoint. I'm not sure how much he really focuses in on all the other stuff. I don't think that's how you go as a coach. You're so busy trying to get your team right and ready to go that you normally don't focus in on the other stuff."

On whether he is concerned about the timing on offense with Vick having missed time in the preseason:"I'm not. I expect him to go out and play and play well."

On whether he was able to get a sense of personnel with the Browns in their preseason contest: "You have a good (idea). The guys that didn't play or haven't played in the preseason or played limited, limited snaps in the preseason, you know, you probably don't have as good a feel on those guys as you would have if they would have been in there. But I still think you have an idea. Yeah, you have an idea of the guys for the most part."

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