On the productivity of mini-camp:
"I have never been a part of a 98 percent attendance record like this. I talked to Coach (Gregg) Williams (Assistant Head Coach Defense), he's been around a lot and he's never had a team that did that, so I think that's a good indication. We had a lot of good work, now, we didn't have pads on but we'll see when we get back how everybody performs when we start hitting people. I thought it was productive and I think we got a lot done.
On the benefit of having great participation:
"One of the good things about our offseason and getting this many days together is that you've got new guys that are here, the draft choices, free agents, guys we got in trades. It gives everybody a chance to get to know each other and as much as anything it develops that team camaraderie. The guys get to know each other and there's a feeling of team."
On what his message was to the players at the end of the last practice:
"We talked for a long time today. We talked for quite a while and I kind of told them what our game plan is for the break."
On whether or not he has a gut feeling about this year's team:
"I don't think I've ever had a gut feeling about a season. I kind of look at it as what a tough schedule we've got with what everybody else in the division is doing. It's a tough road. We come back and play two big games right off the bat. We've got the Monday night game and then a short work week and then we go to Dallas. I think we're going to have a huge challenge in our schedule in who we play in our division and like I've said, you see all kinds of swings every year and you're never quite sure what's going to happen. Everybody's very close and a lot of small things can swing the direction of a season in a hurry. We've made our preparation. Our guys have worked hard and I appreciate their attitude."
On the balance in the offense with the addition of new receivers Antwaan Randle El (WR, #82) and Brandon Lloyd (WR, #85):
"Last year our offense bounced all the way up to 11th in the league. I think at one point we were one of the first teams to have a 1,000-yard rusher and a 1,000-yard receiver. With our receivers, we've obviously added some talent. We can be balanced and keep people off balance. We can keep people from playing the run or laying back and playing the pass. That's what we'll be striving for and we've worked hard personnel-wise to try and help ourselves, so we'll see."
On his impression of Jason Campbell (QB, #17) during mini-camp:
"I think ever since he's been here he's done every single thing we've asked of him. I think he's been impressive; I thought he was impressive last year as a rookie and I think he's obviously made steady progress. He's had a lot of individual work with Bill [Lazor, quarterbacks coach], a lot of team work, and he knows this is a big pre-season coming up for him. We're all excited about seeing our quarterbacks play, and certainly Jason's going to have a big role in pre-season and it's going to be interesting to see how he plays."
On the balance of talent in the NFC East division:
"The whole NFL is very closely balanced; you've got a huge swing every year because it's very close. All it takes is a few injuries, a tough schedule, a few bad breaks and that's the difference. In our division, there's nobody that does a bad coaching job, they're very smart, and they've done a good job of preparation. That's one of the toughest things we've got going for ourselves, we have to play all those guys twice. You're division has got a lot to do with it and we've got a tough one."
On what his goals are for the team in 2006:
"Every team probably sets their goals for the year. We always talk about how first, we want to get in (the playoffs) somehow, secondly you'd like to win the division-which he haven't the last two years-and then third you'd like to have home field advantage and get to a Super Bowl. We kind of lay it out that way and we'll start out with those same objectives."
On the competition between the defense and the offense during camp:
"I think we've got good things going for ourselves because we've got good schemes on defense and we have good schemes on offense. I think what that does is it makes it tough on the defense and the offense, but what I've found is if you're competitive, it's not lopsided. Some teams in the league just don't have a defense, some just don't have an offense, but I think here we're kind of balanced up so it's going to be very competitive and I think that helps."
On whether or not the players were able to absorb all of the new information installed this weekend:
"We did get a lot in both ways and also Danny [Smith, Special Teams Coach] with special teams. We covered everything we thought we needed to cover gameplan-wise, so I think we covered everything. Now, did we get everything? I think the players are swimming a little bit, particularly the new guys, it's a lot harder for them and they've got a lot of information they can take with them. So hopefully what they're going to do besides continuing to work out, is spend a little time each day studying."
On the off-season progress of David Patten (WR, #80):
"He was roaring. I think he took to the competition. I love his attitude, I called him when we made our trade and draft choice and he was great. All he wanted to know was that we're going to play the best guy and he talks to me all the time about how in New England, they had a studly four guys up there and he said that they were a great part of the football team. Nobody was selfish or worrying about things and they just wanted to play. I think David's got that attitude, he's a great person and I think he wants to play and do great things. Last year he was a good example of what happened to us because I think he played for about four weeks with a meniscus that was bothering him. Finally after the regular season he came to us and said there was something that needed to be fixed. Certainly now he looks totally different than he did in those last three or four weeks that he was playing."
