PHILADELPHIA -
Andy Reid's players may not be performing as well as they
normally do on the field, but the head coach remains pretty elusive during news
conferences.
Despite all of the criticism after his team's
sixth straight defeat, to hear Reid tell it, most of the season's free fall
still boils down to his responsibility and whether he's put players in the right
positions.
The cat-and-mouse game of trying to get the coach to make
some comment or remark that reveals his mostly hidden feelings continued for
most of Monday's noon news conference.
Then came one moment when Reid gave a glimmer of insight
into his line of thinking and why he's going to stay on despite his team's postseason
hopes being almost gone.
First came a brief acknowledgement, "My leadership isn't
good enough," followed by the standard, "So I've got to do a better job there."
Reid answered a subsequent question by saying, "Listen, I
can't tell you I'm the happiest guy. I don't like to lose. That's an
understatement, probably. We're in this thing to win football games, and so, at
the same time, I'm going to continue to teach the fundamentals and try to do
things the right way – that I think are the right way."
Then, Reid was asked if there was any scenario under which he
would say he has been ineffective and step down from coaching to let someone else
take over.
The response started out canned – about telling the team they've
got to continue to battle – but it didn't end that way.
"I think that would be a copout," Reid said. "That's not how
I see things. That's not the way I'm wired."
Lhe NFL's longest-tenured coach added, "We're going to keep battling and do it as a team,
and I'm not going to tell the guys one thing and then do the other."
The coach went on to say that team owner Jeffrey Lurie is "competitive" and
has been "disappointed" by this season's performance, as the team has been.
All of this came after Reid began the news conference
saying some pretty familiar things.
"As far as the game goes, I would say that's not good enough, the way
we're playing," Reid began right after the injury report. "I take full responsibility for that. I know we're letting the
fans down and the city down. I completely understand that. I understand their,
you know, how they feel on this, and I feel it from our football team, the
coaches and players. There are no excuses for it. You know, we've just got to
continue to get better, and that's eliminate the mistakes, make sure as coaches
that we're putting guys in the right position, and, when put in the right position,
that we're making plays. And, again, that's my responsibility to get that done."
Early turnovers hurt his team on Sunday, he said, adding that the penalties "keep adding up."
Reid said his team has been hurt by the opposition's big plays by
the opposition, something he said had changed in recent weeks.
Trying to sum it all up, he said, "So, we've got to
eliminate those, we've got to increase the big plays on the offensive side and
then make the easy plays, the ones that are possession throws and in the
short/intermediate range."
After adding one more "we've got to put the guys in position
to do that," the coach gave his usual "time's yours," to the media, and questions began about speculation on his coaching future and how he can keep
things from snowballing down the stretch.
Reid said he thinks the situation is "fixable."
"It's not an effort or a want to. I don't see that," the
coach said. "I've said before, sometimes I see where guys are pressing a bit
where they don't need to press, and guys that have been very consistent players
for us in the past. They want to do so well, they want to be that guy that makes
the play. And you've got to just back up and do what you do the best and relax
and play the game and play the way you know how to play."
Reid said Running back LeSean McCoy has a stage-one
concussion.
"We'll just take it day-by-day," Reid said. "He's got a bit
of a headache right now."
Reid again dodged questions about having his star running
back still carrying the ball in late in the fourth-quarter of a blowout,
conceding only that he wished he hadn't gotten hurt but saying he doesn't
regret the decision.
In response to another question about how things are inside his
team, Reid said, "I can't stand here and tell you that things are great when
you come off a loss like that. The guys are – I think everybody's searching
right now and looking for answers, and that can be a healthy thing."
As for the other injured Eagles, Quarterback Michael Vick is
improving with his concussion.
"He took the impact test, is still is not at baseline, so he
would be considered at stage one," the coach said.
Wide receiver Riley Cooper has some knee inflammation and
should be OK. Wide receiver Jason Avant, who missed the game, is still working
his way back from a hamstring strain. Defensive tackle Cullen Jenkins has a
foot sprain and should be OK. Running back Chris Polk has a toe sprain.
