On getting reps with the ones: "It felt great. That's the first time in a long time I've gotten to do that. I did it once last year, but just the thought of coming back tomorrow and getting more comfortable with everybody, it's a good feeling. You get to run the huddle the way you want to and, all of those things that have been running through my head for two years, trying not to change too much because you want the same continuity, but you want put your own little twist on things. We're looking forward to it. It was a great feeling."
On adding his own twists to the offense: "Just tempo and using the cadence a certain way, the guys getting used to the way that you call plays—maybe it's faster or slower—everything is different. The guys did a great job of receiving it today as far as it probably being a little bit different and that's just a tribute to the type of guys we have and the type of guys (head coach) Andy (Reid) always brings in."
On whether cadence will be the biggest factor in regard to the offensive line adjusting to him as a quarterback: "Yeah, I mean obviously as you guy know it's an issue already because we've had so many false starts in the preseason and this last game. So without me being thrown in the fire it was still an issue and obviously it increases whenever I come in there. That's a point of emphasis this week. We'll get it hashed out though, it won't be a problem and we'll be at home so noise probably won't be a problem, and we can get rolling and keep those drives going."
On getting his game sharp this week: "You try to duplicate it in the scout team but it's hard because you aren't getting a chance to set your feet a lot of the times with the defensive line rush. But you'd be surprised at how fast it comes back. It's just like second nature. Luckily this happened when it wasn't too far away from training camp so it was still fresh in my mind. If this comes in week ten, week eleven it might be midway through Thursday till I feel comfortable. But today I felt really comfortable, never thought about my feet, didn't have to give it an extra thought, that's what you want. You want to just focus on the defense and obviously reading it out and making the play."
On whether he is worried that this game will define his career up to this point: "No not at all. That's just the situation I'm dealt. I've gotten opportunities and haven't done the best job with them. No excuses. If I'd come out and had five touchdowns and zero interceptions and zero fumbles this wouldn't be an issue. But, because I haven't had much success it's totally fair and I look forward to the challenge."
On whether he thinks their defense will blitz a lot: "I would assume that. They've done that to us in the past and they did that last week against (Lions QB) Matthew Stafford. I'm sure they'll treat me pretty much the same as him because I haven't had a lot of experience. We assume I'll get a lot of pressure and get the ball out quick. We have plenty of playmakers out there that can make plays one on one, so we look forward to that challenge."
On whether the talent on this team makes him more comfortable in feeling that he doesn't have to do it all by himself: "Absolutely, I think I told you guys before that that was one of the problems with Baltimore last year, not to bring it up again. I just pressed too much, tried to show everybody right now, hey I'm ready. You just press and you can't press as a quarterback. In the forefront of my mind is just relax, play smooth, let the guys that are out there make the plays and like you said we have plenty of athletes to do it."
On the off the field part of his job being different for him this week: "Somewhat. Film study, we do a lot anyways so it's not that much different. This media part is obviously increased a little bit. Besides that, when I go home I do my best to block it out, same routine. Since I've been here I've heard (head coach) Andy (Reid) talk about it and some other guys (say) going to the Super Bowl and when things get rough, watch how guys start to change things. So, I've really thought about that and I said 'okay if I ever get in that situation I'm just going to keep everything the same, never change anything' because that's what your body is used to, that's what your guys are used to. That's what I'm going to try to do this week. Just keep it the same, make sure I prepare plenty, which I have and I will, and we'll be ready to rock."
On whether he is leaning on QB Jeff Garcia and QB Michael Vick leading up to this game: "I've leaned on them a lot already. Jeff and I have talked just in the short time that he has been here quite a bit. That's amazing really. (Quarterbacks Coach) James (Urban) and I were talking about that last night, the 12 Pro Bowls with those three guys (including McNabb) and you just never think you're going to be in the same room with all three of them. So, that's a blessing and I'm glad I'm the guy that's in there."
On whether he thought he would get his chance to play in Philadelphia: "I'm the kind of guy that doesn't really think too far into the future, think too far in the past, I try to live in the here and now. I didn't set those plans because if you set those plans, especially in this league, they are going to change on you. I'm just rolling with the punches. I'm glad if it happens. I'm glad if I get to start, I'm glad to be there and I look forward to leading our team to victory. If it would have been my rookie year, if it's this year, whatever, I'm just glad it's finally here and I'm getting a shot."
On what he thinks about the team signing QB (Jeff) Garcia: "We had to have a backup. We had to have a guy that was experienced in this offense. (QB) A.J. (Feeley) went to Carolina, Jeff (was) still out there, so they brought Jeff in. That's the way I looked at it."
On the advice that he has received from the veteran quarterbacks: "Jeff, he's good about, like I talked about before, tempo, how to run a huddle. Jeff has all the intangibles and when you are stepping in behind a guy like (QB) Donovan (McNabb) you have to have all of those intangibles. Donovan has always helped me out with you guys and helped me out with the team and just the way he sees it. He never forces his opinion on anybody. He just kind of says, 'hey look, this is the way I look at it. Do what you feel comfortable (doing).' And (QB Michael) Vick is kind of a laid back guy. He just kind of says, 'hey don't let it get to you, just keep rolling with it.' They all have their own little piece of advice."
On what New Orleans does defensively: "Well they run a lot of Cover 2, when they bring a blitz they leave their corners on islands and some other guys in some man situations, which we like, but they do a good job of – their stuff isn't extremely difficult or extremely complex it's just what they do, they do great. They play fast and I'm going to have to get the ball out quick. Like I said, they are going to bring some blitzes on us. I'm sure they are going to bring some we haven't seen, we'll just adjust and let our guys go make some plays and hopefully put a lot of points on the board because we know we're going to have to."
On whether he has prepared himself for the impatient Philly fans: "Yeah definitely, and I think Andy said it best the other day. 'You'd be surprised how much you don't hear when you are on the field.' The preseason game I got booed and I didn't even know it. My dad told me after the game and I was like, 'wow.' That's just the way it goes and you do have to prepare yourself for that some but I've done that and hopefully I'll (start) 2-for-2 (completing passes) and they'll be the other way."
On what running the huddle entails: "(You) definitely (have to) inject your personality. Everybody does it a little bit differently. Some guys want the relaxed mode. They want everybody to feel calm. I'm the kind of guy who – I want to get the play in and boom get the huddle sharp, get it called and let's run it to the line and let's get set because I want the defense thinking and not reacting. That's why I like shifts and motions and those style of things because I want them out of their comfort zone. Like I said before, the Saints are very good at staying in their comfort zone and playing fast. You get those guys thinking and not reacting and all of a sudden things slow down a little bit on their side of the ball and we get a big play."
On what has caused the number of sacks that he's taken in the past: "Probably the one against Detroit was me not just having that clock in my head and I can't really remember those too well. The other day when (Carolina DE) Julius (Peppers) got me, I should have just kept running and gotten out (of bounds). I tried to turn back and make a play in the ball and didn't feel him. Hopefully the more comfortable you get the more you'll feel guys like that in your peripherals. (It was) just a bad play on my part. The other one they kind of gloved us a little bit. They had it covered pretty well and (in a) fourth down situation you just have to get the ball out. Both of them were my fault, no doubt about it, but I'll fix that and we are working on that right now. We'll take the least amount of sacks as possible because we know how that kills a drive."
On how this compares to his first college start: "It's funny you say that because I think back to that. To be honest, I was a lot more nervous in that college start because I came in there right away and I was a freshman. But, you can learn off of things like that. I remember when I came in I did the same thing, I didn't try to make a big play and we had a lot of athletes then, and I got a couple of completions and all of a sudden the game started to slow down for me. So, I'll look to that as comfort when I get out there, just like a golf shot, you don't go out there and hit your driver the first time, you hit the pitching wedge and get comfortable and then work your way through the bag."
On whom his first college start was against: "Rice."
