*Head Coach Andy Reid, as well as General Manager and Owner Zac Berwick walk in, with a somewhat concerned look on their face. Head Coach Andy Reid approaches the microphone, looking to address a media room full of questions.
"Alright, well lets get the news out of the way. Brian (Westbrook) went down during the game, but it appears he'll be okay for now. McNabb went down during the 2nd quarter, but returned a couple of plays later to finish the drive off. Domonique Foxworth and Matt Schobel also left the game during the first quarter, Foxworth returned, Schobel will be further examined sometime later during this week.
As far as the game goes, this was just a precautionary, meaningless, preseason game. Yes, we beat the Browns, and it is a win, but nothing to get too hyped up over. Performance wise we were looking at certain situations, seeing what we had in place for us.
We thought McNabb looked good out there. Outside of his one errant throw, he completed 14 of 24 for 190 yards including a 74 yard bomb to Donte Stallworth. He looked good out there, scrambling around on various passes, we liked what we saw. We also feel very confident with Jeff as our backup quarterback. And you always hate to say something like this, but if Donovan goes down, we feel Jeff will be a perfectly fine and capable replacement.
Westbrook had a good game on the ground, and it looks like Correll is going to be that pound the ball back that we've been hoping he'd turn out to be, barring another injury of course.
Our receivers did a good job at getting open today, Stallworth's speed was definately a presence as he caught the long pass as I stated earlier. We liked what we saw from everyone that we lined up out there. We really feel that outside of our first two wide receivers, everybody is going to get mixed in on those 3, 4, 5 wide receiver sets.
The offensive line did allow 6 sacks, which is one area we need to address this week of practice. There will be a couple of adjustments for this upcoming preseason game, just to further evaluate our offensive line.
The defense did an awesome job out there today, seeming to come up big and make the necessary stops. Other then a deep pass to Braylon Edwards early on, the defense was marvelous. Quintin Mikell and Domonique both picked off passes, and we registered three sacks (Jevon, Patterson, and McDougle). It was really nice to see Jerome back out there on that field, considering he's really been hampered by the injuries thus far in his career. We're looking for him to be a big time help to anchor our line this year, and will be mixing him in when we can. If I would have to say to improve something on our defense, it would have to be the run game. The few times they did run, it seemed like they were getting almost 5 yards a carry, if we can cut that to 3-4 yards a carry, I think we'll contend for the top defense in the league.
Special teams.. David missed an early field goal, but bounced back to nail 3 of 4. Dirk Johnson averaged 47 yards a punt and nailed 3 inside the 20. Returning kicks is something else we need to address this upcoming week. Some changes will be made there as well, we're just not sure what changes yet.
For precautionary reasons, Donovan McNabb will not participate in this upcoming preseason game. Garcia will get the start and Feeley will play in the second half. The same will go for Brian Westbrook, We will start Ryan Moats, and let Correll work in some plays back there as well.
At this time feel free to ask any questions you may have."
Are the excessive sacks part of the reason you are holding McNabb out next week? Do you feel you need to get that corrected before you put him back out there and risk his health?
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"Anyone who is not shocked by quantum theory has not understood it." - Niels Bohr
"many-worlds interpretation" (MWI) which postulates that at the quantum level, everything that can happen does happen, and that each possible outcome branches the universe into another
Are the excessive sacks part of the reason you are holding McNabb out next week? Do you feel you need to get that corrected before you put him back out there and risk his health?
Yes, that's definately a reason, we're still trying to get some kinks hammered out before the season on our offensive line. In fact, I've decided that Max Jean-Gilles will get the start at Left Guard this game over Todd Herremans as well. Plus the fact that we would hate to lose Donovan over a game that doens't mean anything in the record books.
With Westbrook's injury concerns are you planning on limiting his touches not only in the preseason, but possibly in the regular season as well? Do you think he can hold up to the amount of touches you would like to give him?
With Westbrook's injury concerns are you planning on limiting his touches not only in the preseason, but possibly in the regular season as well? Do you think he can hold up to the amount of touches you would like to give him?
Well, we obviously are going to give Brian the ball a lot more in the regular season, but we did plan to work Correll in there with him from the get go.But we aren't willing to take any types of chances on losing Brian, as he is obviously a playmaker on the offense. He won't have a limited number, but if the games out of reach or put away, then you won't be seeing him as much.
Well, we see Reggie Brown as the number two receiver on the depth chart, and are hoping that he progresses nicely into a future number one receiver down the road. This year we're hoping he can learn some things from Donte, and we'll take it from there.
We've come to terms with Peter Warrick on a one year deal to see what he can bring to the table. He'll be competing for a job at returning kicks and punts, as well as making the depth chart at wide receiver.
Jason Avant and Hank Baskett are two young guys who impressed us with what they showed in their first preseason game. We feel that they both have the ability to get open whenever they want, and they'll be battling with Warrick as well as Greg Lewis to make our wide receiver depth chart.