Saturday, February 28, 2009

Andrews press conference

Stacy Andrews and Andy Reid met the medis today. Here's how it went down:

Andy Reid’s opening remarks:

“I’d like to introduce you to Stacy Andrews. We added another Andrews to the Philadelphia Eagles family. We are very excited to have Stacy with us. Stacy is a multi-position player, who can play both guard or tackle for us. We haven’t declared which one he’ll play, but he can do either or. He started at left guard and he started at right tackle for the Bengals and has done a phenomenal job there. Stacy is coming off of an injury. He had ACL surgery on his right leg. He is making great progress with it. We feel very comfortable about his leg. He has been poked and pronged for the last two days. He is ready to get this thing going here with the Eagles. I’d like to just thank [Eagles president] Joe Banner and [consultant] Andrew Brandt and [agent] Rich Moran for the great job they did of getting this thing together from an agent and organizational standpoint and making this happen and allowing Stacy to be a part of the Philadelphia Eagles. With that, I am going to say what I say every time we bring a new player aboard here. This is his day. Let’s keep the questions directed towards and about Stacy. You can ask me questions about Stacy. I want to keep this his day. It’s a special day for him and let’s keep it that way.”

Stacy Andrews

On how he feels to be on the team with his brother, Shawn Andrews:

“I am very excited. We always talked about possibly playing together. Now we have the chance. It’s unreal; I’m looking forward to it.”

On whether he has talked to Shawn:

“We exchanged a few text messages and all that, but I’ll call him afterwards.”

On whether Shawn shared his experiences with him about what it was like to play for the Eagles:

“He basically told me over the years about how family-oriented it is here and how great the rehab staff is, the coaches, the team, the players and everybody. I feel that this will be a great fit for me.”

On where he is more comfortable on the offensive line:

“I haven’t really tried left tackle, but either guard or tackle will be fine with me.”

Andy Reid

On how far in advance he would have to make a choice about whether Andrews will play guard or tackle:

“Because he has done both, you really don’t have to give too much time. We will get through the free agency process and then [offensive line coach] Juan [Castillo] and I will sit down and go through all of that. Right now we know he can really play any position, with the exception of center—he hasn’t’ done that. He has played the tackle position, and right and left tackle isn’t that much of a difference. If he had to play left, I’m sure he could do that too.”

Stacy Andrews

On whether he will be ready for training camp:

“As of right now, I’m really not sure. I’m just looking forward to getting in and rehabbing and getting better—working with the coaches and catching up on learning the system here and all that.”

On how far along he is with his rehab:

“Eight weeks post-operation. I feel like I’m ahead of schedule. I’m walking fine and feeling great.”

Andy Reid

On what the original timetable was for his return:

“They don’t put that. That’s not even a part of it. Everybody is different on it. We have looked into that and talked to the doctors and done that whole thing. Our doctors have talked to their doctors. Like any other surgery we have talked to you guys about, this is no different. Everybody is different with it. We’ll just see. He is doing well so far.”

On what he sees when he looks at the right tackle position:

“I know I have that flexibility there where he can play that. I haven’t really gotten into all of that at this time, but I know he gives me the flexibility where he can do either or. He has started at both and played at a very high level—a Pro Bowl-caliber level at both spots. Whatever happens here happens and I can work out that at the time.”

On whether he has a definite idea of what he is going to do with the offensive line:

“We are in no rush here. We will just see what happens. The main thing you guys need to know is that he’s going to play.”

Stacy Andrews

On whether having his brother on the team was a factor in his decision to come here:

“I had another team that was kind of stepping up. A big thing for me was playing with my brother and being on a family-oriented team. I felt like this would be the best fit, with rehab and all considered.”

On how his brother is doing:

“He is doing great. He is doing great.”

On whether he is hopeful he will be able to have a positive impact on Shawn:

“Most definitely. Me being on this team will add a boost to his spirit and we will get it going here.”

On whether he has ever played football with Shawn:

“Not at all. It will be really fun with both of us playing on the line and getting things going. It will be really fun.”

On what made him decide to start playing football in college after not playing in high school:

“To tell the truth, I regret not giving it a try in high school and I didn’t want to do the same thing leaving college—having regrets about not giving it a go. I talked to Shawn and came up with the decision to go ahead and give it a try.”

On how far along in his development he is as a player:

“As a player, there is always room for improvement. My thing coming in, at the beginning, was getting caught up with everybody else. I feel like I’ve done that and there is still room to grow.”

On what his plans are for the rest of the offseason:

“Go home and finish up a few things then get back up here and get ready to work with [head athletic trainer] Rick [Burkholder] and those guys. Rehabbing and getting better.”

Andy Reid

On whether one of the factors in bringing Stacy in was to have a stabilizing influence on Shawn:

“That’s not why we brought him here, no. We brought him here because he’s a good football player. That’s the primary thing. Shawn worked very hard to get things straightened out before we brought Stacy here. I’m not worried about that part of Shawn’s game. I think it will be a neat experience for them. I think the last time they played together was AAU basketball or something. They haven’t had a chance to do this on the football field and I think that’s pretty exciting for both of them.”

On whether he is cautious about making major changes on the offensive line:

“We are always going to bring in good players. That’s what we do. There is obviously room for him and we have an opportunity here. We will just see how things work as we go through free agency.”

Stacy Andrews

On who is the better basketball player between him and his brother:

“I will take that. I have been playing since a young age. As far as Shawn, he started really young with football. Basketball is my thing. That was one of the determining factors of me not playing football in high school. That’s what I stuck with, so I think I’ll take that. I will take that most definitely.”

On whether they have ever played on the same basketball team together:

“Like coach Reid said, we played AAU. I was a senior and he was a sophomore. We were never really out on the court at the same time, but it was still fun being on the same team with my little big brother.”

On who is the better singer:

“I don’t really sing out like he does. It would probably be equal.”

On how he feels about playing with QB Donovan McNabb:

“He’s a great leader. I’ll be the guy to protect him. It will be fun to work with Donovan.”

Andy Reid

On how he feels like things have gone so far for the team in free agency:

“We are very excited that [Stacy] is here and that he chose us as his team. We are excited about it. We are still young in free agency.”

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