On whether he approaches this game any differently because it is against the Patriots and could be his last tune-up before the regular season: "It doesn't affect anything for me. I take these preseason games pretty seriously, at least for the time we are in there. I think it's an important time for us on the offensive side to work on chemistry and gelling, which we obviously can feed off of going into the regular season, no matter who we are playing. It just so happens that we are playing New England. We had the same mindset going into the first game against Pittsburgh and followed with the second game (against Carolina). It doesn't matter, at this point, who we are playing. It just so happens we are playing New England. Nobody knows who is really going to play on their side of it. This is the last opportunity for us to kind of get some work in before the season starts."
On how frustrating it is to have players drop passes: "Coming off of a training camp where things seem to be going well for us, you don't want to fall into a setback. It's just one game and I know the guys will bounce back well in this particular game. I can't let it affect me and what I'm doing out there. I need to continue to do the same things I've been doing to continue to try to progress each week. We are all doing it together; things will work out well for us."
On whether he can put a finger on why there have been more drops over the last two years: "No. I've heard for 10 years now that I throw the ball too hard. I guess things haven't changed."
On whether he wants to play into the third quarter in this game: "I wouldn't mind playing a quarter and a half in this game, or a quarter, or just a couple series. But that has been the pattern and something I've been a part of for my years here. I think we can really benefit from the time we're out there. Continuing to sustain drives, move the clock, also move the chains and try to come away with points. I think it's important for us to do that in this particular game, because this is our last outing. We are all going to watch the film and be very critical of ourselves and get ready for St. Louis."
On whether he feels like he has shown enough of himself in this preseason to be ready for the regular season: "I feel great. I don't go into the whole aspect of, 'I have shown enough and that's it.' Coaches make the decision and when the decision is made, you go with it. I prepare myself to play the whole game and when the plug is pulled, that's when I'll go out. Any time you get into the mindset of, 'I'm only going to play a quarter and I'm just going to prepare for a quarter,' then bad things happen. I'm just going to go through my same method of looking at film and learning about the defense we'll see, even though it's pretty much vanilla in the preseason and (the Patriots) just played yesterday. They're not going to do that much, so we just have to go out and execute."
On whether WR DeSean Jackson looks like a player who can have an impact as a rookie: "I think he has done a great job right now. I have been here a while, so I've seen when they see rookies come in and catch a couple balls and everyone gets excited. All of a sudden, the question goes out of, 'What happened and why isn't he still playing or making a lot of plays?' We are in the preseason and this gives him an opportunity to learn the offense. We're not running the offense we will probably run as the season continues on, as much. But, I think it's good for him to get his feet wet and see exactly what we do, the tempo we play at, and just kind of sit back and watch to see what he can do. This is his third preseason game, I'm sure he wants to continue to improve. We are going to spend some time together making sure our timing is there. Hopefully, things will work out well."
On whether Jackson's performance in the preseason is not a fair indicator of what he will do in the regular season: "I don't think it's fair for people to look at it and say all of a sudden that he is going to be the next (Panthers WR) Steve Smith and compare him to some of the greats. You kind of have to give people an opportunity to get adjusted to this league. I think we also have to put him in a position to make plays. That's something this year that will be very important for us - to get guys involved and call plays for them. If we continue to do that, we take pressure off of guys like (RB Brian) Westbrook from doing so much, and involving (TE) L.J. Smith and (WRs) Reggie Brown and Kevin Curtis and spreading the ball around."
On whether he is surprised that other teams are giving Jackson a cushion when they cover him: "This is the preseason. Most teams that we have played play coverages sometimes where they are not pressed and up on (the receivers). Like I said, they are pretty much vanilla. We will see a lot of different things as this continues on, but this gives him an opportunity to work on his routes, get the right depth, work on the timing with all of us, be able to catch the ball and turn upfield to make plays."
On whether he is comfortable with the offensive line: "I am comfortable with the guys. I have had pretty much the same line for the last couple of years. Now, (G) Max (Jean-Gilles) has been rotating in there because (G) Shawn (Andrews) wasn't there, but we didn't miss a beat too much. I think Max did a great job in those two games and once Shawn gets his rhythm going with communication with (T Jon) Runyan as well as (C) Jamaal (Jackson), then we will be back on course. It's always good to have depth at each position. When guys get injured or banged up, you don't want to miss a beat. I thought Max did a great job all throughout camp, as well as the first two games."
On what his take is on what Jimmy Rollins is going through after calling the fans frontrunners: "When a question is asked, you answer it and you try to answer it correctly. That's the way he felt and he expressed that. Some people can't take it; some people don't understand what he's talking about. He has never backed down from what he said. People laughed at him when he said they would win the NL East and then as the season continued on, everybody started getting excited about it. Jimmy is a good friend of mine; it's sad that he has to go through something like this, but I'm sure he'll pull himself out of it and they will get that win streak and hopefully be in the World Series."
On WR Reggie Brown: "I think when he gets back, we'll just continue on with what we started. He has had a great camp. He probably had the best camp out of everybody up there. You hate to see a little minor setback, but I know that he's going to continue to work hard to get himself back. Once he gets back, he'll be the same guy who was making plays for us in camp."
On whether he and FS Brian Dawkins ever look at the big picture together: "The big picture of us being here for another five or six years? That's what I see. Dawkins has done wonderful things here throughout his career. I have done some pretty good things myself, but we've done it as a team. We look forward to hopefully putting things together this year and being able to hold that trophy up at the end. That's really our main focus. That's all we talk about together. It's not what happens next year or the year after. Our main focus is to do whatever we have to do together, as the nucleus of this team, to help us win."
On RB Tony Hunt playing fullback: "It's the preseason, so this gives him an opportunity to learn a new position. Same with DeSean Jackson and the rest of the guys who are stepping into their first NFL experience, games and things of that nature. I know it's a challenge for him to learn a new position with blocking schemes and stuff. It's going to be something to sit back and watch and hopefully he'll do well with it."
