Opening remarks: "I just want to start off by giving the Eagles credit. I thought they played hard the whole game and I give credit where credit is due. I though we started off the game really well defensively. I thought we took advantage of opportunities, got some pressure on the quarterback, made some things happen, [and] executed the game plan, but little things allowed big things to happen. I thought that we did a good job with that in the first half, especially defensively, and took advantage of some of those things on offense and then it just kind of flipped in the second half. The little things allowed big things to happen for them. I mentioned all week, I know to our media back in Jacksonville, that this is a precision game. That's what took place. We had a couple things, a couple miscommunications, a couple errors that led to big plays and in this game you can't do that. So I think that we played extremely hard. It felt like we played fast, but we missed some opportunities and those we have to capture."
On the Eagles WR Jeremy Maclin touchdown: "We just lost our middle third safety."
On his decision to go for it on 4th down: "We talked about situations in the game. Early in the game we felt like we needed to steal a possession somewhere. We talked about the situations that may come up and that situation came up in the second half. I think that right there was fourth-and-one and we had a chance to execute it and be bold. We felt like we had to steal the possession and we just missed it."
On whether he didn't trust his running backs or QB Chad Henne on that 4th down play: "I don't look back at the call and say, 'Oh shoot, we should have run it.' We just needed to execute it."
On whether it's difficult for a young team to come back: "I think it's tough for anybody, any team. But you're right, I think. I trust our guys in the locker room. I felt like they tasted it and they got a sense and it's going to be a good lesson for us to take a look at this game and see that it's a full 60 minutes that you have to play and we just missed some opportunities. And it's not just on the players. It's everybody in that locker room, we missed some opportunities. Coaches, we missed some opportunities. Players, they missed some opportunities. We just have to be more refined on that. We'll get there. I believe we have the guys in the locker room to do it and now we just have to come back and challenge them again and we'll be all right."
On whether the Eagles made any protection adjustments in the second half: "No not really, until we see it on tape."
On the Eagles losing starting offensive linemen and still being able to come back from a 17-point deficit: "Well they had some big plays. There was the 4th down and the short yardage play. We had some miscommunication with the defensive line and in the back end and bring in the play. Our front didn't match the back end and they got a 49-yard run. That's the precision I'm talking about. When we line up and play, we played very well. But we can't do that. I think some of those plays that they got in the second half, they executed in a time that we weren't ready. And then the other times – we lost the middle third player, but it's no excuse. I think there's some people that say, 'well some youth took place out there,' but that was by our choice. We want youth and the mix of veteran leadership like we do. We know we have the opportunity to play fast. I felt like for a lot of the game we did, there was just those three or four plays, but that's every game, right?"
On RB Toby Gerhart coming back in the game after getting hurt: "He did a great job. Great job coming back. I think it was more of his ankle and he felt like he could go on it. Great toughness."
On whether there was any way he could come away from this game feeling good at all: "No, well you know, because we weren't our best. We missed opportunities that were there for us. It's the same message for our guys – it's that we're on a journey to be our best and this is a great opportunity to do that. We expect each of our players' personal best. If it's not their personal best, then we challenge them on it. Same thing with us as a coaching staff. We'll go back, we'll look at the tape, we'll look at calls that we made and even the fourth-and-one when I decided to go for it. It's okay to be challenged and then we'll grow from it. But we do expect everybody's best and it doesn't matter if [S Johnathan] Cyp[rien] is gone and another guy steps up – we expect the same."
On whether he's lamenting missed opportunities rather than encouraged by the game: "No, just because I think right after the game you're like 'Ah, what took place?' And we'll go back. I told the team in the locker room we'll celebrate victories. Now there was great growth that took place. I think we raised the bar, the standard of what's acceptable and we just have to keep raising it. So there was a lot of good plays I thought against the run, except for that one long run – the 49-yarder. I thought we did a good job with our gameplan and executing. I thought we lined up and played hard and executed our assignments in the pass defense. There was a lot of good things. How about in the first half, getting some takeaways and scoring off of those? And then some sudden change opportunities and the defense came out and held them. So there's a whole list of really positive things, but when we're not at our best – and that's what we're after – we also have to look at those things as well."
On whether he thought his defensive line wore down at all: "I think we substituted quite a bit. They were tempo things. When you're playing up-tempo, that's when we knew we were going to use quite a few guys."
On whether he got what he expected out of WR Allen Hurns and WR Marqise Lee: "Yeah, I mean Hurns, he did a nice job of showing up early. And Marqise. You know, we'll take a look on tape. Our expectation is for them to give us their best. And so did we get that? We'll see. I know mentality and effort, I'm sure they'll look at plays that they could have had back. Hurns had one down the sideline off his fingertips. I'm sure he'll probably say that was one he could have got. Same with Marqise. To be honest, we don't look at them as rookies. We look at them as guys that have opportunities for us to make plays and that's what we expect."
On Henne's performance: "Good. There were some balls that we maybe could have done better for him with the receivers, but then there's some decisions he could have made. Without going and looking at the tape, I thought he executed fairly well and did a nice job. Some of the things – we wanted him to take some shots and get some explosive plays and he did that. I felt like he was efficient on that end."
On whether WR Cecil Shorts will be back next week: "We'll see. I know we're going to evaluate him when we get back."
On whether K Josh Scobee was 100 percent: "Yes, he said he was 100 percent. But that's a good question for him. Just in my conversations, he felt good."
On whether he thought the two missed field goals would come back to haunt him: "No."
On whether he thought they were playing well defensively to attempt the long field goal that was blocked: "No. I thought that was the time to kick a field goal. We kicked a field goal. We didn't get it, now let's move on. Let's go, we need a defensive stop."
On what he saw during the blocked field goal: "I think he came over through the B-gap between the tackle and the lane and he got his hand up. Whether it was a lower kick or if we didn't get them down, we'll see."
