Message to the fans:
"Over the last two and a half weeks I want to give a big thanks to our fans. I can't tell you how many emails, letters, phone calls and cards have swamped the organization here, talking about Sean Taylor and what his life meant to the Redskins. I want to start off by saying a big thanks to all of our fans out there. We have had great support there and it has been an outpouring of caring. Yesterday I walked into the stadium and I felt like the electricity in there and the way our fans started us off had a lot to do with how our team played yesterday."
On Thursday's game and the injuries:
"Chris Cooley (TE, #47) gets hit, a real hard hit, and Chris has never missed a game or practice. He goes limping off and they took him in to get an xray. I was really concerned about that. Later on he comes back out and plays again. Fred (Smoot, CB #27) starts the game off not feeling good. In the later part of the third quarter he starts throwing up. They took him inside and in that point inside the training room, these are some of the things that takes place in the football game and this was an unusual game, he sees what is happening on the field and that they are making some yards. He tells someone to go and get something so the trainers went to get it for him and he took off running back to the field and told Gregg (Williams, Assistant Head Coach ? Defense) he was going back in. He went in and played the rest of the game. After the game he is throwing up on the sideline and in the locker room. That is a real testimony to somebody with a toughness and willingness to sacrifice for the football team. Clinton Portis (RB, #26) had the same thing. He was sick on the sidelines and had an upset stomach. He had to come out for a while and then goes back in. Ladell (Betts, RB, #46) did a great job of taking his place on that. Shawn Springs (CB, #24) did not practice all week and we were seriously concerned about that. We did not think he would play. He worked out before the game and said he was going to play, and play he did. Chris Samuels (OL, #60) before the game went to the trainers and said his foot was extremely painful every time he put pressure on it. He went and played the whole game and Chris gets the toughest match-ups every week with all the great pass rushers on that side. He did a terrific job in the game. Then you put on top of that the things that have happened to this football team over the last several weeks, tough losses with four of them in a row. Then you have our quarterback Jason (Campbell, #17). First of all, he gets hit in the hand, has numbness in his hand and comes back in later when that went away. Then the whole team sees our quarterback go down on the field. The bottom line is that we have had a lot happen to our football team. I thought we had great excitement on the sideline and we had a lot of energy. The guys did not let anything get them down. To me it was a courageous effort considering everything that has happened to our football team."
On Jason Campbell (QB #17):
"He went and got an MRI this morning because he displaced his knee cap. First they wanted to look at the MRI and make sure there were no chips and stuff that came off with it. It looks like we are ok from that standpoint. I am guessing - now don't hold me to this - that there will be no surgery. It will be a matter of that getting healed up. We are thankful that it was no worse than what it was."
On how they played defensively against the Bears:
"The defense was very fast and physical. We had good pressure early in the game. We were real good on third downs. We limited the rush to 2.5 yards per carry which is outstanding; they are a very physical group. We tackled real well. We had two interceptions which was huge. I think for the first time - which is a big part of this game - we came out on the plus side of the turnover ratio. It is tough to win games up here if you are on the negative side. I felt like that was a huge part, us getting two interceptions there and Shawn's (Springs, CB#24) first one, getting everyone going. We only gave up one touchdown and made them kick field goals, which is great. We did a good job of using up the clock when we had to on defense, fought through injuries and we tackled real well. The negatives were that we had five penalties and they kept drives going, which made it extremely tough for us. We gave up three explosive passes and had two chances for turnovers that we missed late in the game. It was a very physical, hard fought effort."
On how they played on special teams against Chicago:
"That was an unusual situation that we were in the other night. That guy (Devin Hester) is a bonafide phenom. Danny (Smith, Special Teams Coach) did a great job. It was a great game plan and the way our guys executed that thing I thought was one of the keys to the game. He normally can dominate a football game. It was a great job by Derrick (Frost, P #4). We directionally punted. We were going to go out of bounds with it and we did not want him to handle the ball on the punt. Derrick did a terrific job. I think we netted 38 yards per kick even though he was punting for the sidelines and trying to get the ball out of bounds. Our kickoff coverage was excellent. We had some guys make great plays scrambling around trying to get him down. We power kicked it. We gave them a look of onside kick to kind of destroy their normal return set up and then tried to power the ball. I thought the game plan there was great. Danny did a great job of getting us ready to play. Our kickoff returns were very good. We went from the 28, the 31, and 38. Rock (Cartwright, RB #31) did a great job there. We had real good punt rush. We were real close to getting a solid block but we got it tipped. Kedric (Golston, DT #64) that is the second kick (one extra point, one field goal) he was able to block. He did a great job there. Our negatives were that we missed tow field goals and we only had two kicks inside the 20. We tied at the 32 yardline as far as putting the ball in play."
On how they played offensively against Chicago:
"The biggest thing here was the drives. We had a 12-play for 79 (yards). That is what our team has shown offensively that we can drive the ball long distances. We had an eight-play for 70 yards and a touchdown. We had an 11 for 55 and a missed field goal, we had 5 for 63 and a touchdown. Our quarterbacks ratings were excellent. We had 70% completions which is great. We had a 116 quarterback rating for both quarterbacks together. Thirteen yards per reception was excellent. Third downs were very good. We had six plays of 20 yards or more, 10 of over 15. We were good on the goal line. We responded in the second half when they scored. We took a drive and went back. We did a good job of answering. Also when we came out at half time we made a big push, as everyone here has been focused on how we finish games in the second half. We talked about that at halftime. We came out and responded and took the ball down and scored, 63 yards on five plays. The negatives were that our rushing was very poor. You have to give a lot of credit to them and they do stack the line of scrimmage but we have had two weeks in a row where we don't rush the football. Our backs were big play guys in the passing games, but rushing the football that is going to get us in trouble. We had one turnover, we had one sack and we lost the time of possession."
On what the timetable is on Jason Campbell's (QB, #17) return:
"We just got all the information back and it will be a while for the doctors to get a chance to look at everything and give us the best guess of how long it will be before he can play. That is still in the works. We do know today that it is not something where he will have to have surgery. It will be a matter of him healing up and being able to get back over that. We have not gotten to a point where we can say how long."
On Todd Collins (QB, #15):
"I am not sure I have had anybody play that well coming off the bench at quarterback. That is against a defense, the basic scheme for that defense is they are coming after you and loading the box. You are going to have to throw it. They are not going to let you run it. What happened there is Todd hit break offs when they came after us. His very first play they came after us. He did a great job on break offs. He reads everything. He is one of the brightest guys I have been around. What amazes me is week in and week out that you can get prepared the way he does. He is mentally sharp on every single thing. Each week in practice he is the first one to call out if it is the wrong formation. He never gets mentally lazy. It showed up in this game, was ready to go and he made key plays. He stood up in there against some real pressure against a real good rush group and made some key plays and key throws."
