DAVID CULLEY: Even way back when way was with Andy Reid early in Philadelphia is that having a run game is so important for your team and to be able to establish exactly who you are, clock management, clock control, those kind of things and I believe that you've got to be able to do that and you've got to be able to do that when they know you're going to do that. That's going to be our philosophy here and we're going to try to make that work.
Phillips has had success, and he showed up today on some runs and did the same thing yesterday and we're glad to have him here.
He's a veteran and he's been there and done that, and I tell you something, he's a warrior. Everything starts with him snapping the ball and getting that thing back and trick us on outside with those guys and he's been excellent for us. And he is the consummate pro and it's great to have him with this crew that we got right now, he and Laremy because those guys have been there and done that and for our guys they are great mentors.
You know what, he's quick, he can run. He's a guy that's not very big but knows how to play football. He is a football player. The fact that -- the success that he's had before we got him right here, we know what he's capable of doing and you know he fits what we want to try to do here
Q. How are you get to go learn these guys and what steps are you taking to know them more than just a number and a face?
DAVID CULLEY: I'm using that cheat sheet you saw me using out there. Our scouting department has everybody on this sheet. We don't have names on jerseys right now, so I just see people running around and I'm not really sure from the back of the jersey with the numbers because I don't know all the numbers yet.
But I am starting to now get a really good feel for who is what because certain guys show up and when they show up and they show up over and over again, you kind of get their names.
Q. Switching jerseys --
DAVID CULLEY: The point is they are football players to me. Doesn't Matter for me who it is, but I know when they are showing up and showing up a bunch and we are talking about who they are, there's a pretty good chance that those guys are doing exactly what we need to do to be able to make this football team.
Q. Can we expect to see --
DAVID CULLEY: You know, again, as we said before, it's a daily deal and there's no change from yesterday.
Q. Can you talk about Higgins on your defense --
DAVID CULLEY: He's a heck of a player. The thing about him is he knows how to play the game. We talk all the time about guys at positions like guys play a safety, he's a DB, you know, but we first and foremost what we look at those guys at, their football players first and he is a football player who just happens to be the position that he mays.
Q. It looks like there's -- how do you encourage and demand as a head coach?
DAVID CULLEY: That's easy when they do something really good, I let them know they have done it really good and when it's not done the right way we let them know it's not done the right way and they understand that. Here the thing, those guys want to do the right thing and they want to be good and the only way to do that is it to the right things. In training camp, that's where you learn to do that and here, because it's all about ball. They go to bed at night, they wake up in the morning, it's all football right now, it's all football. So the thing that we want to make sure that they are doing is they are getting better every day. We don't want them making the same mistake twice over and over again. That's what we're getting right now out of them and today, the one thing from a training camp standpoint that I feel good about what we are doing right now is yesterday in practice, we had a couple of balls on the ground and very disappointing and then now, the flipside of that was defense has something to do with that ball being on the ground a couple of times but today we only had one ball on the ground which is too many but there was improvement from yesterday and that's encouraging to see that. Part of that is our defense flying around and take the ball away and doing those kind of things and there has to be an alert up for our offensive guys when they have that ball in hand because there's nothing more important for the offense than protecting the football.
Q. The rookies --
DAVID CULLEY: Well, rookies are rookies. They don't know what they don't know. They can they think they know. The thing about this is we have a good conglomeration of players who have been around and done it and there's guys around here that know how to play and practice and do things the right way and we encourage guys, watch those guys and see how it's done because they don't know. As they do that and go through training camp and learn how to be a pro then they become better.
Q. What have you found out about yourself?
DAVID CULLEY: When I found out about myself is there's a whole lot I don't know and the beauty of that whole thing is, I've got a great staff. I've got some great guys on our staff that has been there and done what I'm doing right now, talking about Lovey and Romeo and I lean on them, I lean on everybody, the whole coaching staff that I've got. These guys on this staff right here has been to the mountain top. Some guys right here knows what it's like to get there and get it done and I feel confident and encouraged to know that I've got those guys on this staff and a good staff to lean on.
Q. What could make that changes --
DAVID CULLEY: There's no change, we're just going day-to-day.
Q. What is the most important thing you're looking for?
DAVID CULLEY: Consistency. Consistency every day. As I mentioned earlier about the balls being on the ground is that it was on the ground twice yesterday and only once today which is too many. That's encouraging and that's consistent. That's what I'm looking for, not just in protecting the ball but in doing the right things with the defense.
Q. Do you see DeShaun's workload changing?
DAVID CULLEY: Again we're just going day-to-day with that.
Q. Inaudible.
DAVID CULLEY: We've got numbers there for sure and as far as being able to decide where they are right now and where we are in camp with them, I think in another week or so we'll be able to determine more about that once we get the pads on right now because you don't find out, like I said early yesterday we are in that ramp-up period right now and we're trying to get through this and make sure everybody is healthy and getting through once we put the pads on. But it's a good group. Got good numbers there, good experience there, guys that have been there and played well in this league and looking forward to seeing what happens when we get the pads on, and that's what training camp is for.
Q. The offensive line --
DAVID CULLEY: I tell you what, good group there with Justin and Laremy coming back and been there before and done that, their experience is invaluable for us right there. We are happy with where wore at with them.
Today I was so encouraged when we were doing our run period today, camp, we've been talking about finishing and finishing and finishing and we had a couple of finishes in our run period today that really fired me up just to let you know that they are in the right direction and that comes from those veteran guys that we got.
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