On the team's kicking situation:
"We signed [K, #3] Nick Novak to kick for us. He's a good story. He's a local guy. He seems to be a real good kid. He's sharp. He's been in two camps [Chicago and Dallas], so he's been seasoned a little bit. He's going to be kicking for us. We're going to see how [K, #10] John [Hall] goes. He has a similar injury to last year, except not nearly as bad. So hopefully, at some point here, he bounces back real quick for us."
On [WR, #89] Santana Moss possibly returning punts against Dallas:
"I think that we always keep that as an option. He certainly can. It's going to be something where a game situation will determine what we're going to do back there. Obviously, you want to use him, but that's a heavy load. Last week, we had trouble in the first half because he had cramps and had to get an IV at halftime. I think, 'How many can he take? How much will he be able to do?'"
On how [QB, #11] Patrick Ramsey has handled his demotion:
"I think Patrick has handled this better than you can even expect someone [in his situation] to handle it. He has been very professional. I know he doesn't like it. I have great admiration for the way he has handled it. I really do. I think it says a lot about him. Again, I emphasize that this is not the first time that I've been through a situation like this with the quarterbacks. For many of the young ones, something like this can happen. It's happened to the other ones I've been around – I mentioned [former Redskins quarterback Mark] Rypien, I mentioned [former Redskins quarterback] Stan Humphries. We're committed to working as hard as we can in every way. Patrick had a great attitude today. We're going to go to work because you never know, in the situation that he's in, at what point he will be back in the game."
On whether [QB, #11] Patrick Ramsey asked the team to trade him:
"No. He's been very good about everything. Obviously, he was very disappointed. Anyone would be disappointed, but he's a heck of a competitor and wants to play."
On the keys to maintaining [QB, #11] Patrick Ramsey's self-confidence:
"What you do is a lot of hard work, [particularly] film work. He has confidence. Quarterbacks have to be unusually tough mentally – most of them are going to go through some very tough times. They've got tremendous pressure on them, but most of them have grown up with that or they wouldn't be a quarterback at this level. From a confidence standpoint, I think he has confidence."
On [LB, #57] Chris Clemons' injury status:
"He did some work for the first time. We're hoping that he'll be able to go from here on out."
On [DT, #75] Brandon Noble's injury status:
"I think we'll probably be releasing some stuff on that later on tonight. I didn't get all of the specifics on it, but I think there were some things that needed to be cleaned out. I think they scoped it. I think there were some particles that needed to be removed. We're just going to have to get the results and then the full conclusion on what the doctors think of what his availability is going to be."
On [DT, #75] Brandon Noble's misfortune over the past several seasons:
"He's extremely hard working. He's a real classy guy, as everyone knows. I think it says a lot about his work ethic and how mentally and physically tough he is to be able to play defensive tackle in this league, to start off with. But also, for a comeback player of the year to have that kind of injury and bounce back and be able to play the next year and play well. You hate that he gets a setback on something like that. Our first thought is always to protect him and what is best for him. We'll see what everybody says."
On facing the Cowboys in Dallas on Monday Night Football:
"I don't think you get any bigger than this. It's probably one of the tougher places in the world to go and play, particularly on a Monday night. Everyone here has great respect for them. Coach Parcells always has his teams ready to play. They're a really good football team. They've really helped themselves [since last season]. Their quarterback rating is out-of-sight, their running back is one of the tougher guys that we'll face. Obviously, they've restructured the defense. They have a lot going there, with some new talent and guys flying around. They went to San Diego and beat San Diego out there. We have great respect for San Diego, so it's a tough one for us. We're going to have to play the game of our life down there. We certainly will have the whole world against us down there."
On whether he references the Redskins' two losses to the Cowboys in 2004 when preparing the team for this week's game:
"I think you don't talk about that. At least I don't phrase it that way. We lost two ball games to them. Our guys played against them and they know them. You try to talk to the young guys a little bit about what to expect because you're going some place that will be a mad house to go in and play and try to do well. You just make the best preparations that you can. I don't know that you talk that much about last year. We have film cut-ups that we use, but the problem with our offense is that they've changed the whole structure of their defense. They pretty much revamped everything."
On whether he regrets not naming [QB, #8] Mark Brunell the starting quarterback before the season:
"I really don't deal in hindsight. You try to make the best decisions you can and work as hard as you can it. You try to make the best decisions of what you feel like and what is best for everyone on the team. No one likes to go through that – I didn't like going through that – but I don't think you go back. It doesn't do any good in pro sports to go back and think about the past. You've got to deal with the future and make decisions on what you think is best."
On [K, #10] John Hall's string of injuries since joining the Redskins:
"What we're dealing with is a real tough thing. He's one of our best conditioned athletes. We always say around here, 'If anything, he works too hard.' He's the first guy running, the first guy lifting, the first guy stretching. You hate to see him go through something like this, and we have to go through it. It's a tough deal, but we just have to deal with it. [The doctors] said that if last year's [right quad injury] was a 10, this year is a two, so it's not nearly as bad. I talked to him today as we were warming up and I just said, 'Hey, just keep us posted as to exactly how you're feeling.' I know he'll do that."
