HEAD COACH LOVIE SMITH
“We knew who we were playing. Some people will argue the best team in football right now in the NFL. I thought our guys played hard from start to finish. We didn’t always play smart football, and there are some mistakes we have to eliminate, but I like the way they fought. Offensively. First, offensive line. I thought offensive line did an excellent job. Of course, Dameon Pierce did what he normally does, run hard, an outstanding job. We got the running game going pretty good. The turnovers hurt, simple as that. I like what Phillip Dorsett and Chris Moore did stepping up. Teagan (Quitoriano) getting his first action getting a touchdown. There’s a lot of good things for us to like from our offense. Defensively, you know, I think they were four-for-four down in the red zone. Didn’t take the ball away enough, but I liked the way our guys fought. Jerry Hughes played the type of game he normally plays. He is going to play hard, and he is a legitimate outside rusher. Again, we did some good things, but it wasn’t enough. We wanted to get it to the second half and then see what we could do, and some of those critical plays really hurt us. But I saw improvement in our ball club. That gives us a lot of hope going forward.”
Where do things stand with WR Brandin Cooks?
“Brandin (Cooks) will be back in the building tomorrow on the team.”
On Wednesday and today, was WR Brandin Cooks’ absence excused?
“I told you last week he was excused for personal reasons. Part of the personal reason was some of the things that were going on. I, more as a coaching decision, didn’t think that he was ready to play. When you don’t practice through the week, I don’t think you’re ready to play through the game.”
How would you evaluate your team’s defensive performance containing Eagles QB Jalen Hurts?
“I thought the guys fought hard. Statistically, when I talked about them getting touchdowns in the red zone, I mean, that really hurt. We saw improvement, though. That’s an…
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