Opening Remarks: "With the last ball game, sometimes strange things happen in the first ball games. We tried to anticipate some of the strange things but some strange things still happened and that bothers me. There were some great plays, great execution, and then there was some bad football. We have to get several things corrected, and we're right in the middle of doing that. We have another great challenge going to another dome against a heck of a football team, especially when they're playing at home. They have excellent pass rushers, very good linebackers, and a good secondary. We have a great challenge and a great opportunity as well."
On whether WR Steve Smith is going to be a bigger part of the offense this week: "Yes, he's right in the middle of that. In fact, he looked better yesterday than he has since he's been here. So he's continuing to improve with the injury situation and certainly well enough to play at a high level. So we've been giving him a little bit more this week, little bit more, then a little bit more. Now, whether that shows up in the actual game or not, that's how we're approaching that."
On whether WR Jeremy Maclin is closer to being 100% than he was last week: "He's getting there. Again, he's right in the middle of that. Going into the last ball game really was wide open for him and we paid special attention to his conditioning situation. Really, we had three that were only with us a certain amount of time out wide, so we paid special attention to that. We should get better every week up until that first third of the season and then we're rocking and rolling, I would suspect."
On Maclin's previous performances against Atlanta: "Two years ago, he had a huge catch for us right at the right time. Jeremy is a heck of a football player, as you know. He had 10 touchdowns last year and he's a playmaker. He makes plays right at the right time."
On whether he is capable of having a breakout game in his condition: "Sure, yes. I would think so, yes."
On how the offensive line played in last week's game against St. Louis: "The o-line played pretty well with the exception of a few plays. We'll get better there. As you know, with the protection part everyone is responsible. There was a problem here and problem there, sometimes they needed to get the ball out a little quicker. They did a nice job though, and I have to give them credit. They rushed to cover a couple of times, we rushed it a couple of times, and (QB) Mike (Vick) moved a couple of times. I thought we would be better there, and I suspected that we'd have to use some other situational things and we did. The biggest two things in that ballgame going backwards were big plays and third-downs. We did okay there. In fact, I believe we had 11 plays of 18-or-more yards and that was a good thing. I thought we needed that to get ourselves over the hump there."
On how well the offense executed during the game: "Well it was certainly a big factor. Going back to last week, there were some great plays with great execution and there were other plays that we gained yards on but we didn't do it the right way. The players want to do it the right way. We were off a little bit on a handful of plays, and to be great, you have to be more consistent than that. We're going to work hard to prepare and we'll try to get better every day, and then every week we'll see it on gameday."
On how TE Brent Celek is evolving as a blocker: "Brent has always been an excellent and high-level player in all aspects of the game. He really is a fine in-line blocker. He's a very good out at space-blocking and he's very good in the pass game. He's become so good at that, his numbers aren't quite there. Now, that's a little bit cyclical because there will be certain games where I hope that will occur and his numbers will be up a little bit."
On whether RB LeSean McCoy is reaching the point where his game is comparable to Brian Westbrook: "A little unfair to do that with Brian Westbrook because you know what I think about Brian. He was one of the great ones all around. LeSean is there, and now he has several things that he can get better at. He's a dynamic player and can do it all as well as block. Now, he has to do it consistently for a period of time. That's what I'm looking for."
On the number one thing that McCoy has to get better at: "There are several things in practice and in the games as far as the detail part. I don't get into too many details, and you understand why as well, but there are several things he can get better at. I think he's one of the outstanding players in this game at that spot."
On when McCoy got much better at blocking and blitz recognition: "He became very good at it last year, and I think he's even better at it this year."
On how QB Michael Vick has improved his game since he first got here: "Because he is such a determined, hard working man and he's willing to do whatever it takes, he made great strides early playing the quarterback position. As you know, he came in and he was one of the great, dynamic players in the game right away. He's been playing the quarterback position at a high level for some time now here, and that's because he has a certain mentality. His preparation and hard work paid off, and that's where he's at. There are certain things that he wants to get better at, and in turn, that will help him."
On Vick's performance against the Rams as far as blitz recognition and getting the ball out: "He made 10 or 11 big plays so that part was good. But as far as doing it the right way, and everyone is involved in that, I want to do it the right way because it can come back to bite you if you don't get those things done the right way. I don't want to go into too many details about how we do things. You can understand that."
On whether Celek will be asked to block less and instead be a passing target: "Depends on the game. Whatever it takes for the next game. He'll be fine and he's very good in the pass game. He understands that we have LeSean, (WR) DeSean (Jackson), Jeremy, (WR) Jason (Avant) and Steve Smith now. You have a lot of guys, including Brent, and I think that (TE) Clay (Harbor) is coming on strong and is going to help us. So, we have a lot of guys and one guy's numbers might be up for one game and another guy's might be up for the next. We're not concerned about that. The players aren't concerned about that, it's whatever it takes."
On whether he will work with Vick to try make sure he doesn't try to do too much against Atlanta: "He went back in '09 and threw and ran for a touchdown. I think that's out of his system. We talked very briefly about the hoopla and all that stuff. That's for the offseason. I think he'll do an excellent job focusing on the task at hand. He's played each practice and in the ballgame, and we hope he just deals with that stuff afterwards. We hope that would be how handles it, and we expect that is how he will focus in on this ball game. Getting back though, I'm sure he will understand that he will have certain feelings there going in. He's already been back once and that was my point there, but I'm sure those emotions will be there. He's got to deal with that, but he has great experience dealing with things so I would expect him to do that."
On how many of Vick's runs were scripted as opposed to broken plays or him missing something: "They were all different. Some of them were just beautiful. Some others there, I would have liked to have something else occur up front, with him, or with receivers. I tried to explain that but I must not have done that very well because I don't want to get into too many details. The players want to do it the right way, so we have to train more than a handful of those plays up."
On whether it will take a few games for Vick to trust the offensive line: "That's a good point, and now this is a hard thing, but it has to be done at some point. It doesn't matter what has occurred on the last play or the last three plays or the last five plays, you have to come back and trust yourself first and then trust the offensive line, the tight ends, the backs. Really, I was proud of our offensive linemen and they did very many good things. I would expect Mike to have a great trust in them already. Whatever happens, you have to have 100% trust in the players around you and that's what should occur. You see that even the greatest ones who have ever played the game, it affects them. Defensively, you would try to get to the quarterback there. So that's where we are there."
