On message to the team after the loss
COACH KELLY: We just have to stick together as a group. We're 1-3 right now four games into a 16-game season. As a group we just need to stick together.
On the vibe he got from his players
COACH KELLY: I think they're down, obviously, when you lose like this. I have confidence that they will stick together this year.
On why he chose to punt on fourth down as opposed to go for fourth-and-6 at the Denver 37 yard line in the second quarter
COACH KELLY: I just didn't want to give them that field (position) if we didn't get (the field goal), and just make it that much shorter for them. I thought we had been good on plus-50 (yard) punts. I thought we could pin them and make them go the distance.
On if he considered kicking a field goal in that situation
COACH KELLY: Yeah we did. I talked to [Special Teams Coordinator Dave] Fipp and he said it wasn't what was covered in pregame, so he told me it was either going to be a punt or whatever. That was my decision not to go for it.
On if he expected to keep up with the Broncos offensively
COACH KELLY: Did we expect to? Yeah, that's what you have to do to beat these guys.
On if the Bronco's offense is as good as it looks
COACH KELLY: Yeah, their offense is pretty good.
On how he feels about whether to stay with the pre-determined course set for the Eagles prior to the season or to shake things up in regards to preparation and game-planning
COACH KELLY: No, it wasn't pretty. I think offensively we had too many drops and too many penalties that killed drives. I felt like we could move the ball on them, but when we get down (into Bronco territory) we settle for field goals and that's not going to win; you can't trade three for seven with [QB] Peyton [Manning]. That's obviously difficult. On special teams, we gave up 14 points: we had a kickoff returned for a touchdown and had a punt blocked. [ESPN reporter] Sal [Paolantonio] asked the question what we're going to tell the team; I said we're going to stick together as a group.
On if there was a breakdown on the kickoff returned for a touchdown by Denver WR Trindon Holliday in the first quarter
COACH KELLY: I didn't see the entire film. I know there was a pretty big hole.
On if he felt there was enough effort from the Eagles in the second half
COACH KELLY: Yeah, they did get down a little bit. I think offensively we didn't do a good enough job. If we can sustain, they went down and scored; if we get sustained and score [sic]. You trade some things with them and hope you can get a stop and keep yourself in the game. We didn't. I feel that that drive (opening drive of the game) offensively for us when we went on the field and didn't convert, you know, that was the biggest thing for us. So we had to get our defense back out there. When you're playing against such a good group with Peyton and you have the other guys and the weapons he's got around him. Obviously, that's not it. We really needed that. I thought that first drive of the first half was key for us offensively to keep us in this thing. We didn't do it offensively.
On if he felt the effort was there to come away with a win
COACH KELLY: Do I feel like it was there? Overall at the end, no. You get worn down in a game like this.
On if the Eagles can keep up with the Broncos by running the ball how they did
COACH KELLY: I think we threw it more than we ran it today.
On the Eagles running more than the Broncos
COACH KELLY: That's just your picking what you do best. If I had Peyton Manning, I would throw it a lot, too.
On having a high number of penalties
COACH KELLY: Yeah, and again, they're coming at critical times. Those are the things that really hurt you. Offensively we were pretty clean; we didn't have any false starts. Those are the administrative penalties that we talk about. That one where we're driving and have a huge gain [second quarter 19-yard completion to WR DeSean Jackson], not only do you have a penalty [offensive holding] that sets you back, but it nullifies a big yardage gain, and that's the stuff—those are drive killers. We've talked about it, but we've got to continue to emphasize it.
On what the coaching staff can do to minimize penalties
COACH KELLY: Yeah, we coach them in practice. If we see people holding or we see people not doing what they're not supposed to be doing, we correct them; that's where we're at right now. That's not what good teams do; good teams don't stop themselves and right now we're stopping ourselves at times, and we can't do that. When you're playing against a Peyton Manning team, you can't stop yourself. A couple critical drops and a couple of penalties handcuffed us offensively.
On if running back LeSean McCoy missed play due to altitude or his ankle
COACH KELLY: I really don't know. When they say he's out, I don't ask anybody. (The training staff) will tell me [LT] Jason Peters was out for a play and then [Assistant Athletic Trainer] Joe O'Pella comes back and says he's back. That happens all the time. I never get into the specifics of why are they out or how long or any of that. They just tell if he's out and I leave it up to the position coaches who are managing who is in. I make sure the special teams coach understands that because it could happen on a third down and we're getting ready to go into a kick situation, so we have to make some adjustments. Our protocol is when someone is out, he's out; I don't know and I didn't ask. I didn't get into any of that. I'll meet with the doctors after this.
On if receivers and tight ends had trouble against man coverage
COACH KELLY: At times I did, but at other times I felt like they created some really good separation. We had some big plays. You're not going to be open every single play, but I think our guys did get off at times, and I think [QB] Mike [Vick] put the ball on them and we got the ball boom, boom, boom—we're going. We hit [WR] DeSean [Jackson], we have a huge play, but then all of a sudden we have a holding penalty and now we're backed up again. It just kind of seemed like one of those days when, at times, I think we put together some good drives, but again, like I said, when you're playing against a team like this, you can't hurt yourself and I think we hurt ourselves offensively.
On if teams can lose their spirit at the NFL level
COACH KELLY: I think it can happen at any level.
On why special teams mistakes continue to be a recurring issue for the Eagles
COACH KELLY: I think there's differences. We hadn't had a punt block (before Sunday). We always look at the specifics and what it is, what happened on that one play. I know the guy, watching the replay (of the punt block), came through the A-gap, but I don't know what the call was up front, so we need to get that matched up, go to the film and make some corrections. We'll do the same thing on the kickoff return. I know where [Broncos WR Trindon Holliday] ran and what hole he hit, but I don't know what we were in at that point to say, 'Hey, we need to make that adjustment and go from there.'
On how disconcerting it is to not hold the Broncos offense to very many punts or third downs
COACH KELLY: I think it is disconcerting, but you're also playing against an offense that four teams have tried to stop them and they haven't yet. I don't have an answer. Is it disconcerting? Yeah, it is disconcerting to not be able to get teams to third down.
On if he has coached against a team more difficult than this year's Broncos team
COACH KELLY: In my NFL career? No.
* *
On what the plan was going in defensively
COACH KELLY: The plan was to stop them and the plan was to give them a couple different looks, but I think you also have to make them drive the field; you don't want to give one over the top. The one at the end of the first half [52 yards to WR Eric Decker], luckily it didn't come back to hurt us, but we're in a three-deep coverage. You hope you don't get a post route thrown on you in three-deep coverage. But the plan was to see if we could generate some rush difficulty, but with Peyton [Manning], he gets the ball out so quickly and he knows where it's coming from. It's a hard deal; you've got to wrap up, you've got to tackle and you've got to stop them. We didn't do that enough times.
On what kind of appreciation he has for Peyton Manning as an offensive-minded coach
COACH KELLY: I think you have an appreciation, but I wasn't sitting there saying, 'Hey, that was a really cool play by Peyton.' He frustrates you. Maybe at the end of the season we'll go back and break down the Broncos tape and kind of look at what he does. But when you talk about the great quarterbacks in the history of the game— there's been a lot of them— but I think he's right up there with the best that have ever played, and he's proving that right now. I know he's setting records for the start of a season. He's a great football player.
On if a loss like this is a setback or if there can be progress made
COACH KELLY: I think that's a great question, and I'll really be able to answer that question on Tuesday when we come back out onto the practice field. If we come out and we're hanging our heads feeling sorry for ourselves, then I'll say we didn't have any progress or growth. I think we've got to understand that this is a tough-ass league and you're playing against some really good teams. If you feel sorry for yourself—as I tell people all the time, 'Ninety percent of the people don't care about your problems and 10 percent are glad you have them.' We've got to go back to work and that's the only thing we know to do. We're going to go to work and figure this thing out. If you are feeling sorry for yourself, then we haven't made progress. They come back to work on Tuesday, then I'll be excited about this group as we move forward. I really believe they will.
On if he feels the team is close to making a turnaround given the number of yards produced offensively each week
COACH KELLY: Yeah, I don't think, 'Holy smokes, this season's over.' I think every week is a season. We knew this challenge was going to be very difficult coming in just because of how the Broncos played in their first three games. We've got to go play. We've got to go home, watch film on playing and go in and put a game plan together tomorrow as a coaching staff and then get on the field on Tuesday and get ready to play the Giants.
* *
On thinking about changing quarterbacks moving forward
COACH KELLY: Not at all.
On if he felt having a good game today would have furthered his team's buying into his coaching process
COACH KELLY: I don't think that way. Every game is a season; it's a one-week season. We put everything we've got into the Broncos game and then whether you win, you lose, whatever you do, you come out the next day, you go to work and you get ready to go play the Giants. That's the process and I do believe our players will do that.
On if teams are adapting to his offense or if scoring fewer points is self-inflicted
COACH KELLY: I think right now it's a lot of self-inflicted. I think they did a good job up front, got a good push and generated a pass rush against us. But they're not making us drop the ball and they're not making us get penalties. Those are things, we call them S.I.W.'s—self-inflicted wounds—I think we're responsible for those.
On QB Michael Vick's performance
COACH KELLY: I think Mike played well. I thought he threw the ball very accurately and I do know this, and we've got to address it: we have to protect him better. We've got times where he is at the top of his drop and he is sticking his foot into the ground and there's pressure on him. That's not on Mike. I thought he put the ball in really good places, I thought he kept drives alive with his legs and I thought Mike played really well.
