Andy Reid held his day after press conference today. He updated the injury situation and confirmed that Jamaal Jackson will have surgery tomorrow to fix torn triceps. The injury will cost him the rest of the season. He also termed Leonard Weaver's injury as a "very severe" ACL tear. Below is part of his opening statement and after the jump are some excerpts from the rest of the press conference.
Obviously [it was] a tough loss against a good football team. There are some good things that we can take out of this and the players were in today going over the film. It's very important that again they take care of those things that we can get better at. As coaches, and specifically myself, I did the same thing early this morning, got in and hammered some things out. We can do a better job coaching, starting with me. And then, obviously we were able to relay some things to the players that we can do better.
Defensively, I thought we played aggressive football. We were flying around, making plays. I thought our defensive line, for the most part, played exceptional. There was normally pressure on the quarterback, constant pressure on the quarterback. I thought [DE Juqua Parker] and [DE] Trent [Cole], from the outside put a tremendous amount of pressure on the quarterback and they had sacks to back that up.
Offensively, again that starts with me right there. We have to do a better job of putting the guys in a better position to make plays. We had way too many mistakes and if it wasn't a wrong play for that coverage, or it was a wrong read by the quarterback, or a penalty, or a missed blocking assignment, there were just too many holes to fill there that took place, which should be a very good offensive unit.
On whether Weaver's torn ACL is career threatening:
"Well, they're going to have to get in there and see exactly [what is wrong with it]. That's why I just labeled it as I did. I think we all saw it, it wasn't a pretty picture. So, from ACL standpoints it was severe. They won't know the further damage, if any, until they get in there. But obviously, just from the look of things, it was severe."
On whether coaches and trainers can make sure players with concussions don't return to the game:
"Well, obviously, we look at everything. I mean, we go back, training staff on through the coaches and everybody else in every situation, and so you bring up that. Listen, I know I have full confidence in [Head Athletic Trainer] Rick [Burkholder], and most of you guys know him and know how good he is, and the players surely know that on how he takes care of them. We've been issued certain criteria, obviously, and Rick's gone over that with you before the league submitted it and we stuck to the criteria there, and then followed up on it. So, I think as we look at this, that's the most important thing. We didn't just stick him out there without having followed the protocol. We also made sure that we stayed on top of it when they came back off the field and made the decision when symptoms were there. And so, I have full trust in the trainers and the doctors and the procedure they admit through. But again, we evaluate everything."
On whether the injury and the possibility of having to miss some time is disappointing for Kolb:
"Well, listen, I would tell you it's very disappointing. I would tell you the same thing for a Jamaal Jackson, who battled his tail back. I mean, there's nobody who worked harder than what Jamaal did and Leonard Weaver who's coming off a Pro Bowl season. So, any time you get banged up and you can't finish, one of the things that you want to start is, this is their profession. This is what they do, obviously for a living and they take a lot of pride in it. So Kevin, did he want to play the second half? Yeah, he would have loved to play the second half, but that's all part of it. So, he'll be fine down the road here."
On whether he had a chance to speak to Kolb about the game:
"Yeah, we looked at it. And there were a couple throws that he'd like to have back, sure. There were some things he can learn from and he will, that's how he is and he's been in, and we've talked about it. So, he knows exactly what he needs to do to improve his game and I've mentioned it before, it wasn't just him. There were some other issues there. I will start it with me. You have a young quarterback. You put him in a better situation than what I put him into. And so, I'll go back and fix that."
On whether there was a problem trying to contain Green Bay Packer LB Clay Matthews:
"Well, he's a good player. And I think you saw both offensive lines for both teams at times not do as well as they would like to. I'm not speaking for the Packers, but I'm speaking in behalf of our defensive line. And our offensive line, there are some plays that we'd like to have back, that we could have done better and we will. I think this was an important game for him. I think that kid's a heck of a player and he's going to make a play here or there, but we need to make sure that we slow him down there a little bit, too."
On whether it is unfair and premature to say QB Michael Vick is the starter going forward because of the game:
"Well, I'm just going to tell you that's not what's happening. But listen, I don't want to slight Michael Vick one bit because I'm very proud of the things that he did in there. He did a heck of a job and he did a lot of it with his feet. He had over one hundred yards rushing the football and he was able to get away from some of the pressure and make things happen. I think Michael will tell you that he would like to have a couple throws back, too, but I have no problem with what he did. He's come a long way from where he was when he first got here. But again, Kevin's the guy."