From the official site:
*******
"Opening remarks: "We took [QB] Kevin Kolb with our first pick in the 2nd round, the quarterback out of Houston. For the first time since I've been here, we've actually been able to sit there during the draft and take the best player we thought was on the board at that time.
"I'd like to make it very clear that this is not about [QB] Donovan McNabb and his progress. He's doing great and is going to continue to do great. He's going to have a heck of a year and years to come. This was strictly sticking to what we had on the [draft] board and taking the best player at that time, and obviously we did it through a trade down, out of that 26th pick there.
"Then with our 2nd pick, we picked up Victor [Abiamiri, Notre Dame] and Victor's a big defensive end, very physical, has nice pass rush ability, and will be another defensive lineman to add to the stockpile of defensive lineman that we have. He continually improved throughout his college career and through the last 2 years. I've had a chance to watch him play, and I look forward to getting him in here."
On how special a QB has to be to take him with an early pick in the 2nd round: "Well, if there's a quarterback there I like, and am in a situation where I feel like I have a pretty good football team coming back, and I don't think there are a lot of holes, we won't have to force our pick. I'd take any position there was. He was just the highest on the board at that particular time and that's what we did."
On what he really likes about Kolb: "Well, I have a couple other good quarterbacks here, too, so I don't want to slight those guys. [QB] A.J. [Feeley] and [QB] Kelly [Holcomb], they're also pretty good. What I saw in Kevin was somebody that was in complete control of his offense. I didn't care as much about the offensive scheme he was running, other than he did it very well, and we had the opportunity to work him out and had him do whatever throws he didn't do in his offense that were in ours, and I thought he did that well.
"I like the way he's wired; I liked his mobility, movement in the pocket. He can throw from all different positions and platforms. I think he's a good solid person, and I think you'll see he has good leadership qualities, and that he'll be welcome here."
On the role owner Jeff Lurie and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had in completing the 1st round trade: "What we do is break up who's going to call who, and it's memoed by who's most familiar with whom, and Jeff obviously has a great relationship with Jerry and Jerry does a lot of deals. So, that's what Jeffrey did - he talked with Jerry and did a great job there."
On whether Kolb is a franchise QB: "I think people throw [around] this franchise quarterback thing. I think he can be a great quarterback in the NFL and that's what I look at. Obviously we need to see how he does down the road here, and see how he progresses. I'd say the same thing I said about Donovan when he first came in here. It's going to take time for him to learn and he'll have that time to do that."
On whether he would have taken QB Brady Quinn with the 26th pick had Quinn been available: "If he would've been the best player, yeah. Sure. It wouldn't have mattered."
On whether there were any players taken before the Eagles 26th pick that they were interested in: "Yeah, there were a handful of players we liked. The board was moving fast on those players."
On when the Eagles started making calls about trade possibilities: "Calls go on from the beginning of the draft- actually they start the week of the draft- so you kind of position and posture yourself."
On whether he had an idea at the 26th pick of who he liked: "Yeah, I don't want to slight Kevin. We had the opportunity to move back and still get a player that we really liked and wanted."
On whether he's reluctant to trade within the NFC East division: "Not as long as I'm getting good players, I'm fine."
On whether he made the trade thinking Kolb would be there at the 36th overall pick: "Yeah, he was one of the guys that we liked and thought was a fine football player."
On whether they liked other quarterbacks other than Kolb: "I thought [QB from BYU John] Beck was a good football player. He obviously went to a great university [laughter]."
On the possibility of keeping 4 quarterbacks on the roster: "We'll see. I'm not worried about that. I just want good players, and we'll see how it all works out."
On whether he spoke to QB Donovan McNabb: "I tried to call him. I left a message."
On what he wanted to tell Donovan: "Not to worry."
On whether he called Donovan before or after the pick was made: "Just prior to."
On whether he's concerned about Donovan's reaction: "No, I'm partial to Donovan. I think he's the best in the NFL. He doesn't have anything to worry about. He'll go do his job. It's strictly how the board fell. I wasn't trying to send a message, or that Donovan's hurt. It's none of that. That's not what this is all about."
On how many defensive ends he needs on the roster: "Well again, if they're good ones, they're hard to find. I always look to upgrade the lines, and I want great competition there. If there's a good one sitting there, I'm going to take him, and I felt this kid was good [DE Victor Abiamiri]."
On when Kevin Kolb came across his radar: "To be honest with you, I watched him play. I watched him play as a freshman. The whole story of how his high school coach coached him in college, and his dad being a coach, and when they ran kind of a unique offense and were on tv quite a bit. So, I had a chance to see him, and just kind of kept my eye on him over the years. And I just kind of like the way he operates."
On whether Donovan is on target to be the opening day starter: "Yes. Absolutely. Actually, he's a little bit ahead of schedule. He's doing a great job with his rehab."
On how Kolb would fit in in a perfect scenario with McNabb playing well for 10 years and the Eagles winning many Super Bowls: "I hope in 10 years you can ask me that question, that we're here talking about that. With quarterbacks, if you have a good one that you feel good about, and you don't really care what anyone else thinks, there's one player you feel good about, and he comes across your board, and you feel he's the best, you take him. Then you just let it happen. If he gets an opportunity to play, then he plays. If Donovan continues to play at the level he's been playing at, more power to it. It keeps you on top in the NFL and gives you the opportunity to win championships."
On whether it's easy to trade a QB: "Everybody's looking for great quarterbacks. I think we know that. That's a tough position to find in this league."
On whether the Eagles would have been able to afford drafting a QB in past years based on team needs: "You always say you're going to take the best player on the board, but a lot of times you're steered towards a position if you're a little short at that position, but I feel pretty good about the guys we have coming back."
On whether there is too much made of the Eagles needing defensive backfield help: "I think we have pretty good players there. We're okay there."
*******
"Opening remarks: "We took [QB] Kevin Kolb with our first pick in the 2nd round, the quarterback out of Houston. For the first time since I've been here, we've actually been able to sit there during the draft and take the best player we thought was on the board at that time.
"I'd like to make it very clear that this is not about [QB] Donovan McNabb and his progress. He's doing great and is going to continue to do great. He's going to have a heck of a year and years to come. This was strictly sticking to what we had on the [draft] board and taking the best player at that time, and obviously we did it through a trade down, out of that 26th pick there.
"Then with our 2nd pick, we picked up Victor [Abiamiri, Notre Dame] and Victor's a big defensive end, very physical, has nice pass rush ability, and will be another defensive lineman to add to the stockpile of defensive lineman that we have. He continually improved throughout his college career and through the last 2 years. I've had a chance to watch him play, and I look forward to getting him in here."
On how special a QB has to be to take him with an early pick in the 2nd round: "Well, if there's a quarterback there I like, and am in a situation where I feel like I have a pretty good football team coming back, and I don't think there are a lot of holes, we won't have to force our pick. I'd take any position there was. He was just the highest on the board at that particular time and that's what we did."
On what he really likes about Kolb: "Well, I have a couple other good quarterbacks here, too, so I don't want to slight those guys. [QB] A.J. [Feeley] and [QB] Kelly [Holcomb], they're also pretty good. What I saw in Kevin was somebody that was in complete control of his offense. I didn't care as much about the offensive scheme he was running, other than he did it very well, and we had the opportunity to work him out and had him do whatever throws he didn't do in his offense that were in ours, and I thought he did that well.
"I like the way he's wired; I liked his mobility, movement in the pocket. He can throw from all different positions and platforms. I think he's a good solid person, and I think you'll see he has good leadership qualities, and that he'll be welcome here."
On the role owner Jeff Lurie and Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones had in completing the 1st round trade: "What we do is break up who's going to call who, and it's memoed by who's most familiar with whom, and Jeff obviously has a great relationship with Jerry and Jerry does a lot of deals. So, that's what Jeffrey did - he talked with Jerry and did a great job there."
On whether Kolb is a franchise QB: "I think people throw [around] this franchise quarterback thing. I think he can be a great quarterback in the NFL and that's what I look at. Obviously we need to see how he does down the road here, and see how he progresses. I'd say the same thing I said about Donovan when he first came in here. It's going to take time for him to learn and he'll have that time to do that."
On whether he would have taken QB Brady Quinn with the 26th pick had Quinn been available: "If he would've been the best player, yeah. Sure. It wouldn't have mattered."
On whether there were any players taken before the Eagles 26th pick that they were interested in: "Yeah, there were a handful of players we liked. The board was moving fast on those players."
On when the Eagles started making calls about trade possibilities: "Calls go on from the beginning of the draft- actually they start the week of the draft- so you kind of position and posture yourself."
On whether he had an idea at the 26th pick of who he liked: "Yeah, I don't want to slight Kevin. We had the opportunity to move back and still get a player that we really liked and wanted."
On whether he's reluctant to trade within the NFC East division: "Not as long as I'm getting good players, I'm fine."
On whether he made the trade thinking Kolb would be there at the 36th overall pick: "Yeah, he was one of the guys that we liked and thought was a fine football player."
On whether they liked other quarterbacks other than Kolb: "I thought [QB from BYU John] Beck was a good football player. He obviously went to a great university [laughter]."
On the possibility of keeping 4 quarterbacks on the roster: "We'll see. I'm not worried about that. I just want good players, and we'll see how it all works out."
On whether he spoke to QB Donovan McNabb: "I tried to call him. I left a message."
On what he wanted to tell Donovan: "Not to worry."
On whether he called Donovan before or after the pick was made: "Just prior to."
On whether he's concerned about Donovan's reaction: "No, I'm partial to Donovan. I think he's the best in the NFL. He doesn't have anything to worry about. He'll go do his job. It's strictly how the board fell. I wasn't trying to send a message, or that Donovan's hurt. It's none of that. That's not what this is all about."
On how many defensive ends he needs on the roster: "Well again, if they're good ones, they're hard to find. I always look to upgrade the lines, and I want great competition there. If there's a good one sitting there, I'm going to take him, and I felt this kid was good [DE Victor Abiamiri]."
On when Kevin Kolb came across his radar: "To be honest with you, I watched him play. I watched him play as a freshman. The whole story of how his high school coach coached him in college, and his dad being a coach, and when they ran kind of a unique offense and were on tv quite a bit. So, I had a chance to see him, and just kind of kept my eye on him over the years. And I just kind of like the way he operates."
On whether Donovan is on target to be the opening day starter: "Yes. Absolutely. Actually, he's a little bit ahead of schedule. He's doing a great job with his rehab."
On how Kolb would fit in in a perfect scenario with McNabb playing well for 10 years and the Eagles winning many Super Bowls: "I hope in 10 years you can ask me that question, that we're here talking about that. With quarterbacks, if you have a good one that you feel good about, and you don't really care what anyone else thinks, there's one player you feel good about, and he comes across your board, and you feel he's the best, you take him. Then you just let it happen. If he gets an opportunity to play, then he plays. If Donovan continues to play at the level he's been playing at, more power to it. It keeps you on top in the NFL and gives you the opportunity to win championships."
On whether it's easy to trade a QB: "Everybody's looking for great quarterbacks. I think we know that. That's a tough position to find in this league."
On whether the Eagles would have been able to afford drafting a QB in past years based on team needs: "You always say you're going to take the best player on the board, but a lot of times you're steered towards a position if you're a little short at that position, but I feel pretty good about the guys we have coming back."
On whether there is too much made of the Eagles needing defensive backfield help: "I think we have pretty good players there. We're okay there."
Comment