Reid: No excuses for loss
The Philadelphia Daily News - Eagletarian
Reid: No excuses for loss
Daily News staff
The theme of Andy Reid’s day-after news conference was “no excuses” as the coach looked back on the Eagles’ 24-0 shutout loss to Dallas and looked ahead to Saturday’s NFC wild-card game against those same Cowboys.
“There are no excuses for anything here,” Reid said. “We’ve got to do a better job of putting our players in the right position and our players have to do a better executing. We’ve been doing a pretty good job to this point. I’m not going to can all that and make a lot of changes. We just have to do better.”
Reid also repeated often that the problems the Eagles had are things that can be corrected.
“The things that can be improved on from a coaching standpoint, substitutions, timeouts – again are my responsibility -- play calls and then performance by the players, dropped balls, turnovers in the red zone, penalties, missed tackles. Those things we need to get corrected. They all can be corrected. We’ll go back to the drawing board and get better.”
Reid said the first step was acknowledging the problems, what he called not “hiding the facts.”
“They were the better team yesterday,” he said. “You don’t hide that fact. You get back to business and do it in a very matter of fact way. If you get caught up in all the what-ifs and this and that, you’re making a mistake. You don’t have time for that. It’s a hurried-up week. We have to get back on the horse and figure out how not to get bucked off again.”
Asked about playing the Cowboys in back-to-back weeks, Reid cited the simple fact that the Eagles are in the postseason.
“Familiarity is the primary thing, but at this point, you’re in the playoffs. It’s a single-elimnination tournament. You don’t care who you play or where. You’re in …
There’s a positive to this among the negative. Positive is you are in the playoffs. It’s very seldom you get to play a team that just got after you. We’ve got that opportunity to correct ourselves. That’s the approach I expect this team to take. With leadership on this team, that will take place.”
Reid was asked about Donovan McNabb's postgame comment about the Eagles' showing their youth.
"I think it’s all of us. I don’t think it’s one group.," Reid said. "I’m an old guy and I could have done better. We’re all in the same boat here, man. We’ve got to pick our game up. That’s what we have to do."
He also was asked about McNabb's struggles with plays he usually makes, but in his response he broadened beyond McNabb.
"They are going to happen," Reid siad. "You’re not going to get hit every opportunity. In big games, the coaches have got to coach good, the players have to play good and that’s everybody, whether that’s to win the NFC East or now in the playoffs. That’s what we’ve done over the years. When we’re in big games, we played and coached well. We have to go back to that. That’s the challenge for this week."
On some other issues:
DeSean Jackson's groin: "He feels pretty good today. I don’t think it’s real serious. We have a few nicks and bruises, things you have to work through at this time of year."
Michael Vick's status: "I didn’t feel as comfortable with him running the football. He was right on the edge. I want to make sure if given the opportunity to carry the football, he doesn’t hurt himself. It’s a judgment call on my side."
False-start penalties and the revamped offensive line: "I didn’t think it was the noise level. Some of it was concentration. We’ve had a few those throughout the season. I’d like to tell you it’s the center. We can do better there ... I thought Nick [Cole] did a respectable job there. He actually played pretty well. Max [Jean Gillies] was OK too."
Brian Westbrook and only 10 running plays by the Eagles overall: "The more Brian plays, the better he will play. We’ll take care of that whole rotational thing. It got a little bit skewed with the score. As I said, there were bunch of things we could have done better. I mentioned playcalling. We probably could have called a few more runs."
Middle linebacker situation: "Akeem [Jordan], it's a new postion for him. He's getting back into the swing of things. We’ve been rotating him in. I thought Trot brought a lot of energy at that particular point in the game."
EAGLES IN LONDON?
There is speculation that the Eagles game at San Francisco will be moved to London next season.
Niners president Jed York did not seem opposed to the idea when asked about it recently by the Sacramento Bee, but he also said that the team had not been approached. An announcement is expected in February.
Eagles in New Orleans?
If the Eagles do somehow win in Dallas, they will play the divisional round at New Orleans on Saturday, Jan. 16, an Eagles spokesman said.
The Eagles have a better running game without Brian Softybrook, who has NO ability to RUN the ball and the Coaches have NO confidence in him running the ball I have been telling you Fn morons that for years now.....— 5isthebestEagleEver
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- Say it isn't so..."The more Brian plays, the better he will play. We’ll take care of that whole rotational thing." Weaver/McCoy will force Dallas to play an honest defense. This will sustain drives and keep our defense rested.— SayHello2MyLittleFriend
- philly10 Doesnt Know ISH about Football and Never will......— 5isthebestEagleEver
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- Well we have at least 3 years of not running the ball but can we please lose Mr. TheyoungkidsneedtoplayNabb. All I have to say is 1-4 NFC championship 0-1 superbowl and 0-xxx in games that matter. Wanted the vomit too makes me feel that superbowl all over again. Maybe McNabb can be in Any Given Sunday 2 as the puking veteran quarterback to replace Jamie Foxx. Get rid of him!!!!! Our bench quarterback had the best first 2 games in NFL history!!!!— mattt
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- Donovan Apologizes for putting the ball in Deseans hands, Maclins hands, Avants hands only to have them drop it......— 5isthebestEagleEver
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- I hate when the Eagles win and make the playoffs every year, I cant wait for the Kolb and 2-14 decade to begin.— 5isthebestEagleEver
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- Of course there are no excuses, and of course it is all his responsibility......BUT so what....different day...same excuse....11 years of his arrogance to us and the press......and 11 years of failure.......BUT agian his boss, Jeffery, does not care about winning....jsut make the playoffs and he is happy...the man is a loser....with no commitment to winning....he is not consumed with winning the only thIng you play for (THE LOMBARDY TROPHY) ...so if Jeffery does not care and he does not hold Andy accountable for the same things year after year, game after game....why should Andy give a dam......I hate Jerry Jones and Steinbrenner but I admire their goal .....Winning it all is all that matters......dam shame our owner did not have the same zeal and desire......and until that changes.....all we will ever do is lose and there will never be an excuse for it.....— nuggett
- As for Reid, its absolutely inexcusable for Weaver and McCoy not to get more touches. Pro bowl bound Weaver and Eagles rookie rushing record McCoy and we barely saw them yesterday. As for McNabb, i cant remember the last time he hit a reciever in stride, in the numbers on a slant pattern. That pattern to Maclin he was so wide open, and yes, he maybe should have reached behind him to make a great catch, but how about hitting the guy in stride for just once! The only thing i can hope is that the Cowpukes go into the game on Sat. so overconfident that we get lucky and maybe beat them. Thats about all i can reasonably expect at this point. I dont think we'll 'take' the game, it will have to be handed to us by an overly confident team that makes a few mistakes.— Tuck3
