Okay, I'll cover the injuries. Al Harris with a right elbow, he did return. Cullen Jenkins had a calf cramp, he returned. Jason Spitz had a calf cramp, he did not return. With that I'll take your questions please.
(Are you happy with the special teams?)
I'm very happy with the special teams and what a great start for a rookie kicker. I can't be more happy for Mason and our special teams units. It's nice to see particularly the younger guys that played here last year really step up. We talked about being vastly improved in that area and today was the first step in that.
(Were you afraid Bush might get called on interference on the punt?)
They're playing physical. I did not see a replay of the play. That's why you play the game. We'll tell them all the time in a gray area, go for it. I'm very happy with the outcome.
(What did you think of the defensive performance?)
Outstanding. I was really concerned about the defense at halftime because I clearly felt our offense kept them on the field too long. They were on the field almost 19 minutes (of the first half but) they just kept mustering up and containing Westbrook for the most part, big third downs over and over again. I thought they played excellent today.
(Is this what you envisioned with getting off to a fast start?)
It's the first step in getting off to a fast start. We're 1-0. It's definitely the starting point of our season. We have a lot of work to do, there's no doubt about that, but it's an excellent team win. Our guys played with tremendous energy. Their commitment to what we're doing and how we're doing it is the thing I'm very pleased with. You're seeing a young team coming together. It's an excellent win to build off of.
(How did Favre handle being patient with the game?)
He's a tremendous competitor. When things are not going well, that comes out. You're talking about a man that has a tremendous amount of knowledge, experience in the game of football. To me that's all a part of the competition. I thought he handled himself well. We had some opportunities that we did not hit on late in the fourth quarter. The protection was spotty at best. I thought we did a good job with recognition of the pressure and picking it up. The technique of pass protection, I'm sure as we sit down and watch the film, we can improve on.
(Is it a benefit having a veteran QB to recognize the blitz?)
It depends on the situation. Are you in a five-man protection where the ball has to come out and they have one more than you don't. Do you have seven in there and you're picking it up, you can't see everything. Sometimes you can't see a guy lose on the backside. If a guy's picked up, he's picked up in the quarterback's mind. Those are the things that we have to work through. It's our first game and we have a lot of work to do on offense.
(How encouraging was the defensive and special teams performance?)
I think our defense, coming off of last year and the preseason, I don't know why anyone would be surprised by their performance today. They're definitely playing with a lot of confidence. I think we can only get better because we have some young guys on the defensive side of the ball, particularly in the secondary, that are really contributing. I'm really happy with that. The special teams was big today. You can make a point that they were a catalyst in the victory. The offense needs to pick it up.
(Did you ever think to go no-huddle?)
We disguised it well. We actually started the game that way. When you don't get a first down no one will realize that you're in no-huddle. We used segments of it within a series. We didn't go full-blown in a no-huddle. We actually start the game in a no-huddle situation.
(Can you assess the running game today?)
I thought it was inconsistent. The communication that I was getting was that we were cutting or this guy was getting beat and so forth. I thought we had some physical runs. I tried to get into a draw game. We didn't handle the stunts very good in that aspect of it. We have some work to do. I've said it before when you don't really commit to the run game it's hard to be critical of it. We came into this game, throwing the ball was our mindset and running it to win was our game plan. We didn't get that part done. We have work to do. It's always great to push harder after a win. We're going to push real hard on offense this week.
(Will Jennings be back next week?)
Greg's had an excellent camp. Greg was a big part of our planning for this game with some of the things that we wanted to do. When you lose a player that late in the week, it's not a positive, but it has no bearing on how the game turned out. It's a hamstring. We all know about hamstrings but I'm hopeful that he'll go against the Giants. I'll be smart with him on Wednesday. He probably won't practice until Thursday.
{sportsad300}(How far away is Morency?)
He was pretty close this week. His whole situation is how he feels after a full-day workload. When a guy comes off of those type of injuries, until he has unresolved soreness. He's unresolved. I'm not making fun of Mo. That's not the point. It's unresolved. Until it's resolved, he can't play.
(Is it possible for Harris to not return next week?)
I haven't made it to the training room yet. I don't know the extent of it. I got the information on the sideline of his injury and he returned. When they return I think that's a positive.
(What impressed you most about Crosby?)
What impressed me most about Crosby was he was the same way today as he's been all training camp. Everyone here has watched the kicking competition throughout training camp. It was a kicking clinic going on against those two (Crosby and Dave Rayner) and he's never blinked. I thought his mental toughness was something that was evident through that time and he showed it today. I have full confidence in him obviously with the way we played that last series. He's a strong-legged young man. I hope he's kicking here a long time.
(Did you think about trying a long field goal at the end of the first half?)
Well, we had the sack.
(What about after that?)
I think we were too far. I don't recall what the yard-line was. To answer your question, no.
(What about the high snap on the winning field goal?)
The snap was high. Jon did a great job of getting it down and it was an excellent kick.
(What does that say about his mental toughness?)
He's a talented young man. Just watch the way the ball comes off of his foot and the lift that he gets. He's uniquely special that way. But his focus, concentration, he nailed it.
(How did Bigby and Bush do?)
They played well especially the way we played that game. They were challenging the receivers and running them all over the place. I refer to it as quarters, the defense refers to it as switch, all the quarter beaters as far as the pass concepts we saw from Philadelphia, I just love the way we play on defense. If we were going to go down, we're going to go down swinging. They were in their face all day. I thought they did a good job.
(How long will it take Wynn to learn the offense?)
He knows the offense. He played primarily on third down. We tried to play situation with both of those backs. It helps them through the course of the week and game-planning. It was their first game. He didn't get too many opportunities.
(Were there a lack of holes for Jackson to run through?)
I can't really answer that question. I don't think it's ever just one thing. I thought he ran hard. I thought he had good pad level. I didn't think we played as well as we could in the run blocking unit and the pass blocking unit.
(How did the team handle the adversity today?)
I thought we handled adversity well. I thought there was points in the game where the momentum swayed away from us and we clearly bounced back, so I definitely felt we overcame adversity throughout the ballgame.
