QB Nick Foles
On what he sees on film from the Bengals defense: "They're a good defense. There are a lot of good defenses in the NFL and once again we're going to have to go out there and see what they're doing to us. I'm going to have to do a great job with blitz pickup and we need to execute our offense. We need to run effectively and throw effectively. The big thing is [just to] run our offense well and execute well."
On whether the Bengals defense will be his toughest test as a starting quarterback so far: "Yeah, they are a very tough defense on [stopping the run] and [stopping the pass]. All we have is really today and tomorrow [to prepare] and then the day of the game to keep watching film and getting in the playbook. It's going to be a tough task for us but we have to stick together, play well on all sides of the ball and play together as a team."
On what adjustments he expects to have to make with the Bengals pass rush: "You just have to look at it like we already have. We look at last week's film and see what would happen and just improve on that. Then we go into this game just understanding what they're going to try to do up front. I know it's a great task for our offensive linemen and I know they're going to be ready to go, so blitz pickup and just one on one is going to be big. We just have to win the battles."
On whether the team is playing spoiler for other teams with playoff hopes: "We're going out there one game at a time. We want to win every game. The first game is this week and it was great to get the win last week. There's a lot of things to improve on from last week so we need to go out there this week, play together as a team, keep improving, keep pushing each other, keep playing for each other, and just get the win."
On what the atmosphere has been like in the locker room after finally getting a win: "It's a short week [so] it was exciting on the plane ride [back home] and then we got back into Philly and it was time to work. It was time to get ready for Cincinnati. It's a short week so the plane ride was time to enjoy it. Then we got here and [got] back to work on a short week."
On the feeling of having QB Michael Vick and RB LeSean McCoy back on the practice field: "It's great having them out there. We love both of those guys so just having them out there on the field, just as a presence to be out there with us young guys, is great for the team. It's a great vibe for the team so it's just great to have them out there."
On whether it was awkward to have Vick back on the practice field: "No, there's no awkwardness. As I've said before, Mike and [my] relationship has stayed the same. I'll always support Mike and I know he'll always support me no matter what. Our relationship will stay the same."
On what he has done to prepare for this Thursday's game: "Everything is really compacted so it's a short week to study a lot of film. I think the big thing is to study efficiently. Eventually you've got to rest too. That's really important, to get the body ready and the mind ready for the game. A lot of studying. Right now we're going to keep studying, look over our practice tape of what we're going to do, and keep studying. That's all I can say [since] it's a short week."
On whether he is more confident in his abilities after his performance on Sunday: "It's definitely an improvement. I think our team is showing improvement. We stuck together [and] I think that's the big thing. To stick together through a hard-fought game is a battle. Tampa Bay is a good team, a great defensive line and a solid defense. We stuck together on all sides of the ball. The defense came up with a huge stop. They were playing well all game. It was a huge stop and gave us an opportunity [to win]. Then guys made big plays at the end of the game [and] the O-line did a great job so we can improve on that. A lot of stuff on the film I saw that I could have done better. I missed some throws, I missed some reads. There's always stuff to improve on even in wins. We just have to keep moving forward and playing together as a team."
On what changes in his mind when trying to put together a winning streak as opposed to getting one win: "I think just [not changing] anything. I think just keep moving forward. Don't try to do too much and trust the offense. Trust the reads. When the big throws are there [then] take advantage of them but if not just go through the read progression, trust it, see what the defense is doing, get us in the right play if I have to, and just play at a great tempo."
On whether Vick or QB Trent Edwards have given him advice about being a rookie in the NFL: "Both of them played as rookies so I always ask them what it was like for them and how they went about their business. That's been huge for me just to pick their brains because I want to know. I'm a rookie [and] I have a lot to learn from these veterans. They've been there [and] done it and the more I can learn from them the more I can put myself in a situation where I can understand what they went through and hopefully I'll go about it the right way."
On what role Edwards has played in his development: "I think the big thing is to be who you are. I'm going to tell you how I feel and I think just to stay true to who you are as a person. That's what I've talked to him about."
DE Trent Cole
On whether there is any added meaning for him to play Cincinnati, his hometown team: "Yeah, it is the homeland coming to Philly. Like I said, I've got a lot of folks coming to town and it's a game that I look forward to playing every year because I've got everybody back at home, all the Bengals fans back at home and they always talk. I get phone calls here and there and you hear all the jokes coming from everywhere. It's always fun to play Cincinnati because they're from home."
On whether he grew up a Bengals fan: "I grew up a Bengals fan. I'm a Philly fan now, so let's get that right. I'm Philly all the way until I die. But like I said, it's great. The Bengals are coming here from the homeland."
On whether the defense was able to show more of its personality on Sunday: "It was a change. When I first came in, [defensive line coach] Tommy [Brasher] was my coach. Like I said, I thought I was a pass-rusher when I came in and he made me into a pass-rusher, a real pass-rusher. I knew a lot of changes were going [to be made and] that it was going to be different when he first came in. I tried to forewarn all the other guys about how Tommy coaches and it's more, like I said, we're doing read-attack and also we're playing ball."
On how much the team is emphasizing finishing the season strong: "With the fans you've got around here, there's a sense a pride and we've got to go win games. That's what it is. As players, we love to play this game and we're all here to win and that's what we're going to do. That's our mentality from here on out, to finish off this season strong."
S Colt Anderson
On whether the coaches put him in position to play to his strengths on Sunday: "[Defensive coordinator Todd] Bowles did a great job of preparing the game plan. He put a lot of players in the right position and we took advantage of it."
On what the fewer big plays for the opposition means for the defense: "Just guys being able to communicate, guys being in the right place, guys trusting the other guys out there. Our main thing was just having guys do their job; not trying to do too much. Just trying the person next to them."
On the comparison between running to make a tackle on special teams and running to make a tackle on defense: "I treat it the same. I try to get the guy down no matter what. If I need to go low, I'm going to go low. If I'm going to have to wrap up, I'm going to wrap up. I have the same mentality, whether it's kickoff, special teams tackle or defensive tackle; just to get him down."
On whether he has any doubt that he can be an every-down safety in the NFL or that he is big enough to withstand the grind of starting: "I've always had confidence in my ability to play. It was the same thing coming out of high school. I was a walk-on and guys thought I was too small or not fast enough. So, my back's always been against the wall. You can't worry about what other people think. You've just got to go out there and perform the best you can."
On what starting on Sunday meant for him, around a year following his ACL surgery: "It was amazing. A year flew by and credit to our training staff for getting me back. It just felt really good just being out there and not having to worry about making the wrong cut or anything like that. I was able to play loose and I was able to have confidence in my knee."
G Evan Mathis
On the mental challenge of preparing for a game during a short week: "You have to mentally clear your mind immediately after Sunday's game. You get a good night's rest and then you're right back at it Monday, preparing for the next game. It's a very quick turnaround. You don't have the time off that you typically have, you don't have the time to prepare that you typically have and it really takes a sense of urgency and focus to get it done."
On how difficult it is to tighten up the line on a short week after allowing six sacks on Sunday: "I wouldn't say difficult. It will be a challenge for us to step up to and we're looking forward to that. There's a lot of things that we can learn from the tape of this past game and in the past weeks. We've been trying to learn as much as we can from all of that. But, definitely, they'll be a good challenge for us."
On what makes Cincinnati DT Geno Atkins so good: "Geno is one of the most productive defensive tackles in football right now. He is a very smart player, incredibly gifted physically. He has tremendous strength and when you combine all that with someone who plays lights out, just physically non-stop, then you have someone who can be dangerous."
On whether he will be matched up with Atkins on Thursday: "Yeah, I'll see him a lot. They switch sides. Their one and their three techniques switch sides so I'll see him a good bit."
On where the Cincinnati front four ranks among teams they have seen this season in terms of different looks defensively: "It's up there. They show a good amount of looks, but we've seen a lot this year. We've had some good meetings and seen a lot of the film already, so we're getting accustomed to that pretty quickly."
On whether he has a seen a difference in the attitude of the team since the win on Sunday: "That losing streak we were on was terrible. But you do see it. We have that taste in our mouth again, for what a win tastes like, what it feels like and it's something that we don't want to be fleeting like it was last time. We want to hold onto it and play for that every single week."
On whether there is a difference between the Tampa Bay front four and the Cincinnati front four, defensively: "For sure. Tampa did a lot of stunting. Cincinnati does a little bit, but not nearly as much as Tampa's. They do an incredible job of rushing the passer."
On the pocket presence of QB Nick Foles: "I think he's evolving each week in every aspect of the game and he's doing a very good job of feeling pressure."
LB DeMeco Ryans
On how gratifying it is to see a change in the attitude of the locker room following the win on Sunday: "It's good. Winning cures a lot, so it's good to finally get a win. Winning puts smiles on everyone's face. Everybody's in a better mood. It's just better morale around when you get a win. We're just looking forward to doing that again this Thursday.
On why the defense played better and finished better on Sunday than it had in previous weeks: "I think we got them in third-and-long situations and we made plays to get off the field. We didn't let drives just linger and we didn't give up a lot of big plays. That was one thing that stood out to me where there weren't a lot of big plays for touchdowns with guys just running open and running free. Guys competed, guys made plays when there was time to make plays."
On why he believes there were fewer big plays on Sunday than there had been in previous weeks: "Guys stepped up and made the play. When it was their time to make the play, we made it. You were seeing balls getting tipped and we were able to get sacks. Things were just going on our way on Sunday."
On how difficult it is to prepare for a Thursday night game: "It's always tough but the best part about it is it's tough on both teams. It's not like we're at a disadvantage or one team has an advantage over the other. So, you know going into a short week, there's only so much you can do. The biggest thing is just making sure that you rest up and get your body ready to go for a game on Thursday."
WR Jeremy Maclin
On the challenge of playing on a short week: "It's a little bit of a challenge obviously. Not getting any days off for your body to regroup. It is what it is, so you have to double the preparation, try and get as much rest as possible, but understand that you have a game to play on Thursday."
On whether you can take the sentiments after Sunday's win into a short week: "One thing about the short week is that the teams who have played at home have a little bit of an advantage. We're going to try to use that and just go in there and play hard. That's all we can do."
On whether they relish the chance of being a spoiler at this point: "Yeah, of course. That's what you kind of have to do. More importantly than that, play for yourself and play for the organization. Those are the things that we're trying to do right now and we need to do that on Thursday."
On whether it is nice to have RB LeSean McCoy and QB Michael Vick back at practice: "You never want to see anybody go through that. The head is nothing that you want to play with. For our guys to be able to get back out there and do some things, that's cool."
