On mixing up the game plan versus the Vikings:
"We were able to do that just because the Vikings cooperated on what they played. They played the packages that allowed us to play a couple of new packages, but it is the same old stuff. I thought our defensive line and our linebackers and our safeties did a really good job on not giving a chance to get their running game started. We didn't allow the space that they wanted to have those great backs cut back on us, to be able to juke us in the open field. We attacked the line of scrimmage very well and made their young quarterback have to beat us. He played better in the second half. I thought we played pretty solid in the run game."
On how different Dallas is without Terrell Owens (WR, #81):
"There will somebody to play that position. There will be somebody that plays within that system. He is just an extremely explosive playmaker when he can catch a five yard hitch or catch a crossing route and turn it into an awful big play. There will be somebody that fits in there but I would not say that they are going to not do the same things that they normally did, they will just have a different guy doing it."
On how much better is the secondary now than when Reed Doughty (S, #37) and LaRon Landry (S, #30) first started playing together:
"A lot, a lot more comfortable. As you watch that film- and we have studied that film in depth- just the experience things, both those guys being young, their feel for the game. Young Reed really, really, really played well last week against the Vikings. I really thought that he has made some giant strides from that first Dallas start. They have come a long ways but again, proof is in the production this week. Every week you have to go out and earn it. Every week you have to go out and produce."
On the possibility of Dallas not having their regular guys in there:
"What we have to do is we have to be able to prepare for what they are going to do offensively. Jason Garrett (Dallas Offensive Coordinator) has an offensive system- you take a look at all the year's plays, we look at every single game from pre-season all the way down through the regular season games- so you have to be able to handle the play structure, the concept structure, the packages and then what we have to do is we have to concentrate on us. I think Buddy Ryan did this very well. I learned this at a young age at coaching in the League when you coach for him. He was much more worried about what we were doing as opposed to what the opponent was doing. I think I probably put more emphasis- and I told you he tells me all the time I screwed his defense up- is that we worry an awful lot about what the opponents do for match-ups also, but we have to focus on our responsibilities and our call within our calls. That is what we have tried to do and we will do that. No matter who they place out there, they are an outstanding football team. They have more Pro Bowler's than anybody in the National Football League. They can't sit them all down. Somebody has to dress out and play. We are going to play against a really, really good football team."
On how confident he is that Randall Godfrey (LB, #57) could adjust to a back up role:
"There was no doubt in my mind that he could adjust. The doubt was would he come. The doubt was could we convince him to come here. Obviously Phillip Daniels (DE, #93) played a very important part in that and I think his comfort level with me. He is one of my favorite players I have had a chance to coach throughout all the years. He played very well too [versus the Vikings]. He got our game ball, the parking spot and everything this past week. The only run that popped out of there of any significance, he knocked that guard's head back and everything, and didn't get off the block well enough on that one particular play, but I think you saw his explosiveness and why we want him here because of how dominant he is in the run game."
On if they had to manage Randall Godfrey's (LB, #57) snaps since he had not played in a couple of weeks:
"What we have tried to do is we have tried to manage the snaps he has taken all year long and the wear and tear in training camp. All of a sudden you bring a guy back that is thinking about retiring and you bring him back and you have to get his body and his mind back in shape. We have tried to take the pounding off of him and monitor his snaps that we put him in games, in special teams, in practices and try to hopefully we are going to be in a position to make a big push coming down the stretch right now and it has come out that way. I think Kirk Olivadotti (Linebackers Coach) has managed the wear and tear on Randall's body, because he has a lot of wear and tear from all the years in the League. He doesn't need to come out here and knock guys head's back in practice. He has done it enough in real game situations. We just have to make sure he knows where we want to point him and once we point him there he is always going to play stout."
On if he has used the similarities between this team and the team that made a playoff run in December 2005 as a motivational tool:
"Joe (Gibbs, Head Coach) has. Joe has said that a couple of times to them. I mentioned it maybe a week or so ago once. We have to go out and play our best this week before we can say it is very similar because we have to get there like we did a couple of years ago. Coach has done that, yes. We reference the fact that we have done it before, we can do it again. I really do believe that the confidence levels that you have with these young guys, knowing that now they are stepping in the roles of guys that were here last time. They see themselves filling those same spots on the defense, the same spots on the special teams, the same spots on the offensive side of the ball that contribute to give us a chance to be where we were when we went to Philadelphia two years ago. We were in the same spot and had to go up there and win. We had five takeaways that afternoon I think and were able to win in the second half of the ball game and put us on the march to get a chance to play in the playoffs. We have to play our best in December. We have played well in December so far, we have to play our best game in December this week."
On Todd Collins (QB, #15):
"[I am] very, very appreciative and very, very respectful of him as a pro. I can use him as an example to our side of the ball on look what this guy does to prepare. It is not by accident that he was able to step out there and do it. He didn't just flip the light switch on that day and say okay I have to go out there the very next play. At any given time you may be called upon to do your job as a professional football player, but are you prepared to do your job. I think that was the biggest example that I am able to use with our young guys on this side of the ball is this man prepares every day because he knows he is one heart beat away from playing. You are one heart beat away from going in for an injured guy that plays in front of you. Again, you guys laugh at me a little bit, we don't refer to anybody as starters. If you are dressed out, you are a starter for the Washington Redskins so you are going to have to get ready to play. You just may play more than you were playing if somebody in front of you gets hurt because the package has changed a little bit. He has been an inspiration to some of our young guys too because they see what a pro he is on how he is prepared to play as well as he has played so far."
On Dallas quarterback Brad Johnson (#14):
"Brad has won Super Bowls. Brad has played well for a long time in this League. I don't need to do anything to motivate our guys for Brad Johnson because they have seen him play. We played against him since I have been here, on a couple different teams, so our guys know him- at least the veteran guys know him. He has a good resume about him. He is a very good veteran quarterback."
On Dallas guard Leonard Davis (#70) moving to guard and being in the Pro Bowl:
"He played some guard at Arizona and we played against him on other teams that I have been on when he has played that position. I think that speaks for his versatility. He is a really good athlete. He may have found his most natural position because he is a very powerful man."
On what he heard on the headsets during the 12 men on the field situation versus the Vikings:
"A lot of it I get is from overflow. Our guys have their mics on upstairs on the defensive side, I'm not on the offensive headsets or anything, but I can hear the stuff that is going on there. Once I could hear that they were talking about that, trying to get people's attention down there then what I was doing was assisting and helping on getting the people's attention down there and also standing on the field and stopping play and giving us some more time to make the decision and having the officials take a little bit more time to clean the field, so all of those things are going on. That was very well done. I thought Billy Khayat (Offensive Quality Control Coach) did a great job knowing the rule and then Todd (Davis, Assistant Video Director) confirming it. That is working at an emergency time too. You have to do all those things very fast. When I speak across the country in the off-season I talk about my life operating on a 25 second clock, 25, 24, 23, 22, 21, 20 and you have to be able to make decisions very, very, very fast. I think that is a really good young coach there in Billy Khayat making decisions and knowing that and Todd Davis being able to help to do that. That was, I think, the most important play of the ball game. I think that is why Coach (Gibbs, Head Coach) gave them game balls."
On carrying a coin of Sean Taylor around:
"I don't carry it in practice because I don't want to lose it on the field. What I do is in practices I always write his number on my practice script. During games, he will always be with me. During inside, I just don't want to lose it on the field. It was just a way for all of us on the defensive side of the ball, I just did it with the defensive coaches and the defensive players, to be able to symbolize he will always be with us if you want him to be with us."
