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Opening Remarks: "Giants game last week was a typical Eagles-Giants type of game: tough, physical, down to the end. I'm proud of our players. We're nowhere near where we need to be to be a well-oiled machine. We're not there. We've got a lot of hard work to do. Many of our players played outstanding. There were some excellent individual plays as well. Certainly, (I) am proud of the offensive players; three late, fourth quarter, come from behind victories, that part is outstanding.
"Now, getting to the Pittsburgh Steelers, they were 7-1 last year at home; they're 1-0 this year at home. They're getting two excellent defensive players back; two of the best in the game, ex-defensive NFL MVPs. They're a tough, physical football team that is quite disruptive so we've got a great opportunity along with a great challenge."
On how much of what they saw against Arizona's defense resembles Pittsburgh's defense: "Oh, very similar I would think. There are many differences, but within the big scheme of things, they're very similar, yeah."
On how this game will be different than the Arizona game: "Well, we'll see. We'll see. Both of these defenses are excellent and quite disruptive."
On the issue on the goal line and getting into the end zone: "Well, look, we've got to execute just a little bit better. You've got to give the opponent a little bit of credit. I think that's the first time in my life ever, playing or coaching, we've called three runs in a row. Man alive. Wow. Anyway, we'll just execute it just a little bit better. Really, we thought we had a good thought there and it didn't work out."
On whether he is happy with what RB Bryce Brown has done and whether other backs will be in the mix next week: "Sure. They're all working hard. Bryce Brown has done an excellent job, both with his preparation and his hard work and what he's done on the field in games. So, certainly have a high level of confidence in Bryce and then our other two are excellent as well. They've been working hard. (RB) Dion (Lewis) is a little bit more healthy than he was earlier and (RB) Chris Polk is a big, physical guy. So, they both may very well have opportunities coming up."
On why QB Michael Vick was able to bounce back so well after a hard game against Arizona: "He bounced back from more than just that. I've got great confidence in Mike. It doesn't waver. The fellas on the team, the players on the team, the confidence doesn't waver in Mike because of the way that he goes about his business. He's done just a great job, certainly towards the end of the games, all of them, and then took care of the ball last week which is the most important thing."
On whether this is the highest level he has seen WR DeSean Jackson play in his career: "Yeah. Shoot, he's playing well. He's playing at a high level. That's what I expect. Our receiver, yeah. Yeah, he's playing at a high level."
On Jackson not having dropped a pass thrown in his direction this season: "Well, that's good. That's what we expect. That's what he expects."
On the play of RB LeSean McCoy: "Yeah, he's doing well. Shoot, he had a good game. LeSean; I don't do the nickname thing. Really, I don't just because, you know, some guys with nicknames, they got it when they were nine and they might not really even like it, you know? So, I'm pretty careful with the nicknames. But our runner, LeSean, the one thing I was going to say, getting back on point here, and the one thing I was going to say about him, is many of the games haven't started out well running the football and he just kept after it. Kept after it and really the whole offensive team, we've talked about this many times throughout many years, just hang in there, hang in there, hang in there and then things will start to pop, typically, if you get off to a rough start. That game last week did not start out the way that our players and coaches had planned, so the players just hung in there and hung in there and then we started generating some pretty good stuff."
On whether it is his experience with McCoy that he will grind out several carries and then break a long run: "Yeah, all good backs are like that. All of them are like that to some extent."
On why Pittsburgh has, statistically, been less effective against the run this year than they have in the past: "Well, the first thing that comes to mind (is) they've had some players in and out there these first three ball games that they've played. We already talked about (that) they're getting two great players back. That's first. Secondly, they've played two road games. Disruptive type defenses typically are a little bit better at home with the crowd noise and those sort of things. Those would be the two things that come to mind."
On what things you have to account for when facing Pittsburgh S Troy Polamalu: "Every play. He's just a fantastic player, best in the game."
On the performance of C Dallas Reynolds through his first two complete games: "Proud of Dallas. You go way back and he's really put the hard work and preparation and hours and hours and hours (in and is) evolving into a fine football player in the NFL. So, a great credit to him. He's a very bright guy. He's a natural football player. He's added strength and size and he's handled this thing really well."
On how tough it is to become a starter in the NFL after never having played a snap in a game like Reynolds: "Any time you make a change at the center position, whether it's due to injury or any other (problem), the injury problem happened to us, that is most of the time an extremely difficult thing because of communication first. A simple center-quarterback exchange, gun exchanges. The timing; every center's just a little bit different in his timing of these type of things and, the communication, I'm talking about calls. He's just done really a high level of work up to date. Now, we've got a lot of work to do as an offense. We talked about that and each individual has a lot of hard work ahead of us to get to where we want to be."
On how impressed he has been by FB Stanley Havili's play: "Stanley's a good football player. We knew that right off the bat last year when he was here. Certainly, had some plans for him and he's a natural football player. He can run with the football, he can block, he can catch and then he's got the, like I said, the natural instincts to go along with it."
On how important Havili was to the Eagles success in the I-formation against New York: "Oh, yeah, he was important. That wasn't the main reason, but that was one of the reasons. I don't want to get too detailed here, but having Stanley in is a good thing in some situations."
On what Pittsburgh tries to do coverage-wise: "They mix it pretty good. A lot of single safety middle and then they've got a lot of mixes. Look, they're a disruptive team. They'll bring '43' (Polamalu) and they'll bring all of their linebackers at different times and in combinations. They've got some excellent pass rushers. It hasn't quite shown yet, but they're very good that way. They've very aggressive. They're very physical in the secondary; one of the more physical teams I've seen in the secondary, including the corners. They're highly-physical men, so it's going to be a fist fight out there."
On how he is working with the offensive line this week to prepare them for disruptive defenses like Arizona's and Pittsburgh's: "Well, you have to give Arizona credit. They did a heck of a job. Now, much of that was us as well. We've talked about that, been through it; communication and so forth. You've got to be right on. In fact, after that game, I think I said we were just a little bit off. We still are. We're still a little bit off. But if you're off just a touch against a defense like this at their place, you allow them to be disruptive. You've got to be right on."
On whether G Danny Watkins' chest injury occurred in practice: "No, it did not. No. And you know I don't talk injuries, but the only thing I can say there is I believe him to be fine and he did go through the walk-through."
On whether there is a possibility T King Dunlap could work in Watkins' place should he be unable to go: "There's a possibility of King. We're working King back into the mix and he's got some hard work to do after missing a couple of weeks here. So we're working him back into the mix and we'll put the five best guys on the field."
On whether Dunlap will have to work harder because of the way T Demetess Bell has been playing: "Oh, Demetress played well and he's coming. Demetress is coming very fast and he played very well. It's not really that; big King, we've got to work him in, get him going again coming off of that hamstring (injury)."
