Eagles head coach Andy Reid talked about injuries to a few of his players, whether Michael Vick will play this weekend and how impressed he has been with the Falcons' defense during Wednesday's conference call with the Atlanta media
On Michael Vick's injury:
"Vick will not practice today. He's actually starting to lift light weight, but he hasn't thrown. We're just taking it day-by-day, but he won't practice today."
On Trent Cole:
"Well, you know Trent. He's playing out of his mind right now. He's playing very aggressive and doing a nice job. The defense has done a pretty good job this past week. We can get better at a few things and were working on that."
On DeSean Jackson:
"You know how that goes. Some games are bigger than other games production-wise. That's how it goes with receivers. That's how it works. He'll be fine."
On playing the Falcons last season:
"They were missing a lot of people last year. Mike (Vick) went in there with a team that was wounded. From the quarterback, O-line and some defensive players. It's a different team. The running back, (Michael) Turner, didn't play last year, so it's a completely different team. They went into overtime with Pittsburgh in the first game and since then they've been flawless. Realistically, they could be undefeated had things worked out better in the overtime against Pittsburgh. You have to look at them as a top NFC team right now by the way they're playing. Not just by their record, but by their production."
On Falcons' D-Line:
"They're explosive now. (John) Abraham has been in this league a long time and I think he's playing at a very, very high level. I can go right down the list with it. Kroy (Biermann), well, that play first of all, that he made last week was phenomenal, but that's the way he's playing. He's playing fast and aggressive. Jonathan (Babineaux) is a Pro Bowl player. There are very few tackles that are playing at the level that he's playing at. They're getting great production out of Corey (Peters). If you can follow up a Corey with (Peria) Jerry, then that's pretty deep right there. That's a good group. Jamaal (Anderson) I think is playing phenomenal football. They're all playing very well. I think you've got eight guys there that you better come in and say, 'You better strap it on again.' I don't see any weaknesses. They're flying around, they're stunting and they're playing good, aggressive football."
On LeSean McCoy:
"He's a tough kid. He wants to be considered a good football player. He's young, by a number of years, but he studied very hard. He had a great teacher, Brian Wsestbrook, and then obviously the position coaches are phenomenal. He's got that desire to be considered one of the good backs in the league. So he's working very hard at that."
On preparing two quarterbacks:
"Well we try to keep them in the same notebook. They are basically the same plays. We don't like to switch up a lot. Michael (Vick) is going to create stuff with his speed and ability to run on his own. We don't have a bunch of new things in there, just because he's in there. That's not what we do, now that he's a starter."
On the Falcons' secondary:
"I've always been a big fan of Dunta (Robinson), and William (Moore) is a good football player. I think that's a strong group right there. William is a smart guy that will knock you out. Brent Grimes is a solid player. He's a local kid here to. He's a solid player. Christopher Owens is doing a nice job. For a second year player, he's doing a nice job."
On the Eagle's O-Line:
"The inside three didn't really have a chance to practice and then we lost our center. I'm fortunate to have enough guys that have played in games. We've got a few injuries, it happens, and you move on. You kind of keep rolling. We've given up a few sacks. I don't always attribute sacks to the offensive line, but they're definitely a piece of that pie. We could do a better job there, and we sure have a big challenge on Sunday. This is a great test for us with this group coming in. They're as good of a defensive line as there is."
On Brent Celek:
"He's done a good job. He's a good solid football player for us, and he's somebody that the quarterbacks really trust."
On Michael Vick playing against the Falcons:
"You guys know him. He wants to play. He is a competitive guy. He wants to be out there playing. Then you add the Falcon part. He wanted to play last week and he couldn't, but he and Mr. (Arthur) Blank are very close, and he's got friends on that team that he played with and so he would love to play against them. I don't think any of the emotion is gone from him and desire to be out there."
On injury rules:
"I told our guys the same thing. If he doesn't practice this week then they are probably not going to start. That's kind of the reality of it. I'm not going to put them out there if he sore and all that. I just wouldn't do that with any player, let alone Michael (Vick)."
