On whether he has confidence in the offensive line going into the first regular season game: "I'm confident that the guys will be able to get this thing going. I think those guys really work hard with (offensive line coach) Juan (Castillo). We've had (T) Jason (Peters) and we've had (G/T) Stacy (Andrews) – it's good for (T/G) Shawn (Andrews) having gotten out and moving around. We've all kind of watched him and just made sure that he's healthy first and foremost, and that he still kind of has that drive and we see that. I'm excited about it, (RB Brian) Westbrook's excited, I think the team is excited that we have all of our guys up front except (G/t) Todd Herremans. (C) Nick (Cole) and (G) Max (Jean-Gilles), hopefully, will fill the void like they did last year and play well. We look forward to those guys and what we can do with this offense with those guys."
On whether it's hard to have a feel for what the offense can do since they haven't played together as a whole very much: "It is tough. It's tough to try to visualize exactly everything we can do. That makes the whole thing exciting for us. We've made a lot of positive plays and created some big-time plays, as well as being able to move the ball downfield and drive with the guys we have filling in. We know that it's going to be a task ahead of us, playing against a front four that just continues to be relentless in trying to get to the quarterback, but we still feel like we can make some big plays. We can stay in the framework of our offense and be able to execute well and just be consistent."
On having two healthy tight ends, and how quickly he thinks TE Alex Smith can adjust:"We have that opportunity, which is obviously a positive. (TE) Brent Celek has just continued to improve all throughout the offseason as well as at this point. We have full trust that he'll be able to get the job done. When you add a guy like Alex Smith, who has played and has the experience, we know that you always need depth at each position, and he'll be able to fill in as well. We have our receivers and running backs that will do a great job for us in the passing game, but it's important that those guys up front, including the tight ends, open up holes for our running backs so that we'll be able to establish the run game as well."
On whether he thinks that WR DeSean Jackson can become a premier wide receiver this year: "You don't want to jump to conclusions so fast. I think it's important that he doesn't look past what he was able to do his first year. We've had a lot of rookies who have had great years in their rookie years, and their second year wasn't as good, (and people ask) what happened? It's important that we just take it slow. We have other guys who have been playing and really make a lot of plays for us. The (WR) Kevin Curtis', and he's healthy, the (WR) Reggie Browns, the (WR) Jason Avants, so you don't want to put so much pressure on DeSean to all of a sudden assume he's going to be an 80, 90, 100-catch kind of a guy. I believe he can do that, yes. But you don't want to just present that to him right now."
On how many new pieces they have in their offense and how much of a process it will be to get to peak efficiency: "It will be a process. There will be highs and there will be lows. We'll just make sure there are more highs than lows. I think, for us, just make sure the communication is very key and the chemistry just continues to get better and better every week. It's important that the offensive line continues to gel each day. It's important that our timing and chemistry is there at the wide receiver and tight end positions, the same goes for the running backs. When you fill in new guys in different positions, sometimes it's tough because you have to adjust now from preseason to games and there are going to be times throughout the game where we are going to look crisp and there are going to be times when we don't. We make sure that we capitalize on those mistakes and be able to change some negatives to positives."
On his battles with Panthers QB Jake Delhomme over the years: "Jake and I have talked on many occasions, and there have been a lot of battles between the both of us. Obviously, the one that kind of sticks in our mind, even past the game when T.O. (Bills WR Terrell Owens) was here, was the NFC Championship. We've laughed and joked about it and moved on. We've had different types of careers. For me, being the starter here and being here for now 11 years, and Jake being in New Orleans and going over to Carolina and being their starter there, pretty much their all-time leading passer in Carolina history. We've had similar but different careers, and we've laughed and joked about just our paths and just where they go, and he's just trying to do the same thing and that's lead his team to a Super Bowl."
On whether this is the deepest offensive group he's had to start a season since he's been here: "It's tough to say. On paper, yes, but we'll see when we step out on the field when the season begins of the exact things we can do. In practice, you see glimpses and you know the ability that we have but you have to put it together throughout the season, and that's going to be important in interchanging those guys where we want to fit those guys in and give them opportunities to make plays will be important as well."
On whether he thinks they'll see more blitzing from Carolina this week: "I'm sure everyone will blitz somehow. Anything out of the ordinary? Maybe. We've played this coach (Panthers head coach John Fox) for a while with the Giants and then Carolina, so we know that he has an extensive blitz package. He comes up with different schemes to try and create pressure to the quarterback or stop the run. We are prepared for it and we know what we'll face, but we'll just have to have the answer to their questions and be able to execute."
On how QB Michael Vick feels about being placed on the exempt list: "There is nothing he can really do about it. Right now, just work out and get himself in great shape so when he does come back that's not a notch on the belt. He'll just be ready to move on. He's doing some stuff right now."
On whether Vick's disappointed: "I'm sure he's disappointed. We're disappointed for him. I think he deserves the opportunity to play the first game, but (Commissioner) Roger Goodell made that statement and that's the one he's going to go with."
On whether there is still a Wildcat offense without Vick: "Absolutely. (Jokingly) I was once Michael Vick."
On how this is his 10th straight opening day start with one team: "It is a lot. I try not to focus on it because there are a lot more to go. You look at some of the great quarterbacks that have played, and I'm not putting myself in that class by any means, you talk about the John Elways and Dan Marinos, Brett Favre, but not too many people can say that they've done that on a consistent basis with one team. I've been blessed to be able to do that, but again, there is one thing that I want and I'm searching to get and willing to do whatever it takes, and that's winning a Super Bowl and bringing it back here to Philly."
On how there are a lot of new faces going into the regular season, and how much of it falls on his shoulders to be the stabilizing part of the offense: "Everything falls on my shoulders, so that's nothing different. It's very important that I make sure I'm prepared going into games like this, to make sure that those other guys have the utmost confidence that I'm going to get them into the right position and we'll be able to execute. If it's the run game, if it's the pass game, if it's communicating at the line of scrimmage – myself and (C) Jamaal Jackson have to, first and foremost, be on the same page to make sure that we communicate with the guys up front, and I communicate with the guys behind. I think in certain situations, again, it goes back to when you replace different guys, they have to have that confidence that they'll be able to get the job done as well. It all starts with them first; then everyone else will begin to follow."
On whether he has any feeling for whether Westbrook will have his normal 20-25 carries each game: "I don't know. I'm sure if he has to carry the ball 20 times and has seven or eight catches, I'm sure he's willing to do it and looking forward to the challenge. That's kind of always the positive when you have another guy behind you that can make some big plays for you as well. Brian is a guy that when the ball is in his hands, defenses have to try to stop. We're happy to have him and it's a bonus for us, but you don't want to just sit there and keep having him run 30 times a game and hope for the best."
On why he thinks Vick deserves to play in week one: "I think he's served his time. He's served his time and he's going through the right channels of doing the right things, that's why."
On the process a quarterback goes through of gaining the trust of other players on the field: "In order for you to gain trust from anyone else you have to trust yourself. You have to have the confidence in yourself that you'll be able to get the job done. It's not about being cocky or arrogant, just showing your work ethic, showing how you're preparing yourself to do the right things, and know what you're doing and being able to do it. That's how you gain the respect and the confidence of others. You have to have the utmost confidence in yourself first before you can gain the respect of others."
On ESPN analyst Trent Dilfer ranking him as the number six quarterback in the league, and whether he thinks he should have been ranked higher: "I personally don't care where people rank me. Trent Dilfer, I'm sure, he has a great list. I'm sure a lot of you have taken the names from that list and said, 'yeah.' But I personally don't care where I'm ranked. The only thing I care about is winning and holding up that trophy at the end and winning the Super Bowl. That's the only thing that matters."
On Panthers DE Julius Peppers: "He creates so many problems for teams. (He's) a guy that's very athletic. (He has the) size of a defensive tackle, the speed of a linebacker, and he's very strong. (He's) a guy, of all defensive ends that have played the position, he probably has the most interceptions. He creates so many mismatches. You don't want to put a tight end on him one on one. You never want to get a back to block him one on one, so you have to put a tackle on him and possibly add a running back, that would help. We all know where Julius is going to be. You always have to focus on where number 90 is and try to stop him first."
On slow starts: "We're not focusing on that."
On what they are doing differently: "We're going to go out and win. We're going to focus on winning. Let's focus on winning."
