Opening Comments: "Alright, with that last ballgame the guys played pretty well. They executed well in the run and in the pass. The o-line played at a high level which enabled the rest of the fellas to do their jobs well. With this ballgame, we have quite a challenge with 3-4 personnel again. Excellent personnel with (OLB DeMarcus) Ware and (DT Jay) Ratliff and the rest of the fellas up front. They sure have some excellent players up front. Their linebackers are excellent. The man from Penn State there, (LB Sean) Lee, sure adds to their defense a real smart, physical, and aggressive player who rarely makes a mistake. Their secondary plays aggressively and they have some really skilled players back there."
On whether he expects the Cowboys to take the same approach as they did for the last meeting: "Our players played really well that day, and I certainly think that they can play better. Every game is different and every game plan is different. They evolved just a little bit just like we have on offense, so it most likely will be a different type of game I suspect."
On whether teams are trying to stop RB LeSean McCoy more than before: "Oh yeah, there's no question about that and it started many weeks ago. Absolutely. Especially when we were down some receivers, absolutely. No question about that."
On whether he anticipates which offensive weapon the Cowboys defense will try and take away: "Yeah, sure you like to anticipate but you get into the games and our players are very good at making adjustments. That happens virtually every game where you think things are going well and then you have to make adjustments during the game. You have to make adjustments throughout the ballgame and our players are very good at that as far as how different teams have played us quite differently.
"However, when we get to this point, there is certain emphasis on LeSean McCoy. When we have (WRs) Jeremy (Maclin), Jason (Avant), DeSean (Jackson), and (QB) Mike (Vick), we hit it pretty good. When we miss one of those, we become just a little bit different offensively during some of those games. It's good to have all of those guys back with us and healthy. I'll say one thing about Jeremy Maclin, I think it's really close to 100 (percent), he gutted it out now. Him and (T) Todd Herremans and others like Michael Vick, they were hurting big time in the past several weeks and have gutted it out. Great sacrifices by many of the fellas there. Jeremy has been blocking like a mad man, and you kind of expect that, but he did a heck of a job in ways that sometimes you don't see or don't get credit for."
On Maclin's blocking last game: "Guts. The big, strong, physical guys are typically a little bit better and he's a pretty strong and physical guy. (WR coach) David Culley does a great job with all the receivers that way and you can look at him as an example there."
On whether the blocking from the skill players has been one of the reasons that McCoy has played so well: "There are many different reasons, but that certainly is one of them. The receivers can make a five to six-yard play or a 10-yard play to a 25, 30, or maybe even more. That's what we expect and the receivers expect of them. There are many reasons LeSean McCoy is having such a great year and the main reason is him, but it certainly takes everybody to get a running back started."
On whether he feels that this year has been a fluke with the turnovers: "Sometimes when I say cyclical, I mean it could be a two or three game episode, it could be a half-season, a full season, or sometimes a few seasons. Sometimes it happens that way. We had – we're not going to make the grade here with these ones. It really is a good thing that we had a pretty good day offensively, however, some things have to occur.
"Our defense really played a great game and gave us great field position and then they counteracted what we did with the football regarding the turnovers. It counteracted that. We were able to overcome that, and we've overcame a lot of things during ballgames and there have been some ballgames where we weren't couldn't quite overcome some things."
On whether he thinks the team would be unbeatable if they didn't turn the ball over: "We're getting closer to Christmas, but it's not Christmas every day. If it were Christmas every day, we'd be in a little bit better shape here."
On what steps Maclin has to take to reach his full potential: "You know what I think about Jeremy Maclin now. I think he's a valuable asset to our football team. He's been through a rough year, and we've talked about several guys. He had that offseason situation which was very serious now. We had him for just a very short period of time before we started playing. It took him some time, but then he got the shoulder and the hamstring. I'll tell you that the man is a tough, tough guy both mentally and physically. I think he's already there as long as he's healthy. I think he's one of the most outstanding players in this game. Now, he's had a rough year, I will say that, and he's looking forward to getting over the hump here physically so he can let all of his natural ability show."
On why TE Brent Celek has emerged as a solid option in the pass game in the second half: "Really, early in the season, it happens that way with the way we do things with DeSean, Jeremy, Jason, LeSean, and Michael. Brent will show up in certain games statistically but he always shows up on the field. He's a determined player and quite consistent in the run, the pass, run-blocking and pass-blocking. Early in the season, we had many plays where he was the number one but because of coverage, Mike's choice, or maybe Mike got flushed or something where the ball went elsewhere. He doesn't say a word, he just keeps working and he knows he'll have big games throughout the year."
On whether the injury of Cowboys LB Sean Lee was a factor in the last game: "(LB Keith) Brooking is a heck of a player now and has been for many years. I've admired him from afar and have played against him many times and he's a heck of a football player. That part was there. They have several linebackers inside there who can play at a high level and play tough. Sean Lee does that and he's a football player: great instincts, smart, physical, fast, tough, as good in coverage as he is in the run game. I just think he's a heck of a player."
