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Opening Remarks: "Little review of that last ballgame really quick. Great effort by our players. Offensively, we did some great things. We did some poor things. We simply have to get it done at certain times in the game. We've done some things very well throughout the year. The biggest thing certainly is the turnovers, and we've talked about that from week to week. We just have to hold onto the ball. That's the biggest statistic that correlates to winning and losing is the turnover ratio.
"Now, we'll get onto this ballgame. It's a great opportunity for our players that are young and have an opportunity here to play. It's certainly a rivalry type of game down there in the New Meadowlands."
On how he evaluates the play of QB Nick Foles: "I'll get more in-depth Monday and go back through all of the film. Now, I do know this – you have to give him great credit. He threw for 188 yards with a broken hand. You know he's tough now, and if you've ever tried to throw a ball with a broken hand, you know what that feels like. He's a tough man and he has some great, great strengths. He got some great experience this past year which is invaluable. All of those things are positive. He has an excellent future in this league with all of the strengths that he has."
On what degree he holds a quarterback's record in an evaluation: "It is very important. There is no question that it is important. However, you do have to go look at what was happening at the time. There are some quarterbacks that are coming out of college in that situation, and you really have to dig deep."
On Foles being on a team that struggled in college: "Yeah, that's right. He gutted it out and carried that ballclub. You certainly have to dig deep there. For a quarterback to be rocking and rolling, you do need everything in place around you typically. There are a select few who can carry a team nicked up."
On what makes Mornhinweg think that QB Michael Vick has a future in the NFL: "No question. Realistically, it hasn't shown, but he has progressed. It did show early, and he kept progressing. It didn't show in the win/loss record particularly, but it certainly showed play-by-play during league games. There is no question that Mike is going to be a heck of a quarterback for several more years."
On what RB Bryce Brown needs to do better: "The two games right after those games that he had excellent games, we didn't get our jobs done to give him some air. Then, this past game, (RB) LeSean McCoy played quite a few more plays than I thought he would be able to, and he was feeling so good that we stayed with him. You know what I think about Bryce. He's a heck of a ballplayer. Experience, experience, experience (is needed) for him. He got an awful lot of that this year because he just hasn't played much football there at Tennessee and Kansas State. He's a young, young man, and has done an outstanding job up to date. He's an excellent football player."
On whether Vick is back to the same sharpness as before his concussion: "I think so. I think you're right there. We'll see in this ballgame. I suspect that he'll play at a high level."
On whether having Vick in there changes his play calling: "Sure. Whenever you make a change, and many of them are due to injury, it certainly does affect the game plan and what you're going to do on the field. It's been quite seamless this week."
On what happened after the last Giants game to get to this point: "I don't want to go back and rehash too much, but we were 3-1 and had beaten Baltimore and the Giants. At the time, I thought they were two of the best teams in this league, and I think that was true back then and a little bit true now. So, we were a pretty good football team and at that point I didn't think we were playing our very best football offensively yet, either. There was certainly room to improve and we were in pretty good shape. Then, just several things, and it's never one thing, that come to my mind. We lost a couple there right at the end of the game. Up to that point, we had had three late fourth quarter comebacks. We were accustomed to winning those types of games, and we didn't.
"Then, we got so nicked up that there was that line that you cross. Our right guard (Jake Scott) comes in during the first week and plays. (TE) Evan Moore last week came in and that week, he missed a day of practice, but played. My thing is I have to do a better job of getting those second and third team players coming in, and they played at a really high level sometimes individually, but as a unit and as a group we were just off a little bit. You saw we took a few steps backward on offense and then, as of late, we've been taking some steps forward because of the experience of playing together. I don't think there is a question about that. There are other things involved, but those would be the two that popped right into my mind."
On whether there were warning signs when the team was 3-1 that this could happen: "There is no question about that. Absolutely no question. We put ourselves in a spot because of turnovers where we have to come back and win the game late in the game. Absolutely. Certainly day-to-day here, there is nothing that is emphasized more than ball security. Then, certainly put a bigger emphasis on it, yeah."
On this possibly being head coach Andy Reid's last game: "It looks to me like he is thinking about nothing else other than this next ballgame. I'm saying he's a rock. He pretty much motors through anything. You've seen that in the past many years we've had some great ups. That's the great thing about athletics – there are some great things that happen in athletics and some things you can't get anywhere else. Then, there are some rotten things that happen on occasion and this is one of those years that it looked like we were a pretty good football team, and then several things happened.
"We backed up a little bit and had to almost revamp. Then, there have been some times where we have played pretty well, and then it was one or two plays that many of our players on offense where if they get five more reps at practice at that play, we're going to get that thing done. That's where we're at."
On whether both the good and the bad is what you sign up for being a coach: "Yeah. Playing and coaching."
On whether you realize as a coach that it could always end tomorrow: "I haven't gone there. Sometimes, the end is the beginning of something new. However, I don't think any of us have gone there. We are trying to get – my responsibility is these players and making sure that we're getting better every day. That is our whole focus here. This is what we do for a living and one of the only things I have ever done except for working at the gas station there in South San Jose in high school.
"This is what we do. It's not very hard, I think, to keep our focus on this next ballgame and the game plan, making sure that we get better every day. This is an important time for many of our players, some veterans and some young guys. Very, very important for them this week. I take that part very, very seriously there."
On what he meant by having five more reps for each player at practice: "You can only get so many reps during the season. I'm talking about together playing. When the line got rocked pretty good with all of those injuries, that's a hard thing. Any time you change a center, and Dallas (Reynolds) did a heck of a job, but those five guys sometimes including a tight end or a fullback, it's more important to play together as a unit there. It's the same with the receivers.
"We lost our most dangerous one, anyway, along with the timing aspect. The precision is so important. All of those things together, there have been a few plays here and there that with a little bit more experience, we expect to make those plays better nevermind turning the ball over, gaining zero yards on a run, or having a ball drop incomplete."
On whether he ever considers working them extra: "We do. We don't ever break any rules, but I will tell you that many of these players work diligently pre-practice. Some of them are out before special teams even starts. Pre-practice and post-practice, even the veterans because they know it's so important working with Nick, or Bryce Brown on his ball security. I want to make sure I'm clear – our players put the hard work in."
On how important it was to have G Evan Mathis be able to start every game: "Evan is a heck of a player. He has certainly turned into a leader. He was the last man standing on the offensive line, and he took that role and ran with it. He helped many people up front there, absolutely. Dallas is really sharp. I'm proud of our guys on the o-line now. I'm proud of these guys because they got rocked a little bit and the last several games, they have played, in certain aspects, very well to give us a chance to score and win."
