Head Coach Andy Reid Press Conference 1/14/07 Injuries
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Head Coach Andy Reid Press Conference 1/14/07 Injuries/opening remarks: “Really the only injuries that we’ve got here, we’ve got a couple of them is [RG] Shawn Andrews had a contusion in his neck. He’s not sure exactly when it happened, but he had a tremendous amount of swelling there at halftime. He actually was having a tough time seeing. So, they rushed him to the emergency room and had him checked out and tried to get some of the swelling down in his neck. You saw him around today; you probably saw that he had a pretty good lump there. [LB] Shawn Barber has an ankle sprain. It happened on the last play of the first half and he was not able to return.” “I thought the effort yesterday was good. It was a heck of a game, back and forth. We give a tremendous amount of credit to [Saints head coach] Sean Payton and the Saints. They played very good football and their staff put together a nice plan, offensively, defensively, and special teams. We wish them the best down the road. They sure have a good football team, so I think they are going to do very well. On the other hand, I was proud of our football team for the way they handled the last few weeks here. They showed a lot of grit. When it wasn’t looking too good, when [QB] Donovan [McNabb] went down they were able to bounce back and take their game up a notch, coaches and players included. They really took their game up a notch and really did a nice job down the stretch. It was too bad we came up short yesterday. We, on the other hand, thought we had a good plan going in and things just didn’t quite bounce the way that we needed them to bounce. Also, I would like to thank the fans. They have supported us down the stretch. I thought they were phenomenal and their support sure helps the guys out.” On whether the finality of losing in the playoffs, like last night, is the hardest part: “It’s a little bit like running into a wall. You’ve got this routine, just like you guys [the media] have, for the last six months and then all of a sudden it’s over. From the players’ standpoint or the coaches’ standpoint, you never think you are going to lose, so when reality sets in it’s a big letdown. That’s how the guys feel and I talked to them about it today in a team meeting. You do feel low and that’s what happens when you sell out, you give it your all and you have to expect it. But, on the other hand, don’t forget where you came from and what you’ve done.” On whether there is a play or plays in last night’s game that he is beating himself up over: “There are always plays that you come out, and I’ve said this before – whether you win or lose, there are always plays that you come out with that you wish you could have done over, but I’m not going to get into all of those. But, I was obviously asked last night about the last offensive play, 4th and 15. That is one in hindsight that you probably should have gone for since the other way didn’t work. You could probably make an argument out of either.” On whether the 5 yards added to that play from the penalty made it that much longer for him and affected his decision: “That’s part of it. You don’t have a lot of 4th and 15 plays that you draw up in the game plan. The other thing that I thought of was that you get the ball back, possibly with a minute and three seconds. And you know that they are probably going to run the football at the end and I thought we could shut them down on that. It would have taken a little bit of the guessing game out, if it was going to be pass or run. We weren’t able to do that. They did a great job of blocking us and getting that first down and running the time out. It worked out well for them.” On whether he thinks that the team is back on track and where the team is heading: “I do, I like the mental make up of this football team and I know every year it’s different. But, I think the atmosphere is ready for success, if there is such a thing in the National Football League. So, I think people realize, on the team or in the building here, realize that we’ll play together and we’ll work together.” On whether he will change his game planning next year after seeing what RB Brian Westbrook has been able to establish in the running game: “We’re going to do what’s best to try and win a football game. We’re going to run, we’ve done that over the years. I think things got a little bit blown out of perspective from last year. I think that the run and pass game is working well and that’s where this offense is headed. And listen, I don’t want to take anything away from Brian Westbrook when I’m saying this. This guy is as fine a football player as there is in the National Football League. He catches the ball well and he runs the football well and he’s very valuable to this football team and I have a lot of trust in him doing either one.” On whether Westbrook eliminated any doubts that he may have had about his durability: “I didn’t have a lot of questions on that. It’s just a matter of him staying as healthy as he could obviously, and he was able to do that this year. I would say that about any running back. That’s a tough position to play in this league.” On how tough it will be to retain the chemistry they have for next year: “You’re going to keep most of your guys. Most of them are going to be here. There is probably an average between 5-10 guys that won’t be here, somewhere in that range, so you have to bring in the right people, draft the right people, and so on, and re-sign the right people.” On how important it is to bring back QB Jeff Garcia next year: “We’ll see how that works. But, he sure did a fine job for us.” On who stepped up down the stretch and showed him something that was maybe unexpected: “You have to remember in the first half of the season, the first few games were pretty good. There was just a lull in the action after sort of the fourth or fifth game there. But the beginning was pretty good. I would say collectively that guys stepped up. Now obviously, [QB] Jeff [Garcia] was the new one into the mix. He had a lot of pressure on him, coming in and filling in for [QB] Donovan [McNabb] who was on a record pace for his career. It was a matter of him stepping up and keeping that energy level up and giving the offense that hope that good things can happen. He did that and I think he probably had the most pressure doing that. But everybody stepped up. Everybody stepped their game up. I’m talking about coaches and players.” On whether he learned more this year than in any other year as a coach: “Well, the fun part about this job is every day is different and you’re learning something new every day. I learned things this year that I hadn’t seen in years past. They were refreshing, they were good. There were some good times and there were some bad times mixed in there that made the good times feel even a little better down the stretch. I was proud of the guys and how they handled everything.” On how far away he thinks they are from having the defensive front seven to where he would want it to be: “We’ll get [DE] Jevon [Kearse] back into the mix in there. The fellas, they did a pretty good job when you look at the overall picture there, without one of the best defensive ends in the game. As much as we talk about Donovan, you also take away a pretty big part of your defense out when you lose a defensive end like that. The guys stepped up around him and did a nice job.” On where ranks strengthening the run defense on his list of offseason priorities: “We’ll see. We are always going to try to make sure that we are strong on both fronts. That includes the front seven and we can do some better things there and we can put them in better position and so on. It’s going to be a joint effort to get the thing done.” On whether he expects any coaching changes and whether special teams coordinator John Harbaugh has any years remaining on his contract: “He has another year, yeah.” On where this loss ranks among other playoffs losses: “You get this far and you want to keep going. You want to get to that Super Bowl and win that thing.