(opening statement)
“The key to the game yesterday was the quick start we had, both offensively and defensively.  Defensively, we were three-and-out in the first five series’.  The first five series defensively we dominated and we had two turnovers.  The takeaways gave the offense great field position, and we got 10 points from them.  Offensively, we had three touchdowns and three field goals in seven series’ in the first half.  We came out and made things happen, and scored points early.  The five takeaways were a big factor in the game.  Three of them were inside the 10-yard line, and another was on the 17-yard line.  We had two significant plays that happened in the game early.  We were up 27-3 and we got the ball with 1:22 left in the half.  We were going to go into a two minute mode, but yet we didn’t want to give them anything back at that time to give them any momentum.  We took it down and got a field goal to make it 30-3.  Then we come out in the second half, and throw an eighty yard touchdown pass to Terrence Wilkins on the first play to make it 37-3.  The drive at the end of the half to give us three points, and then coming out with the very first play to Terrence kind of put things out of reach. Those were some of the real good things that happened. 

“I would also like to mention that we had some good players that were not able to play because of injuries and other circumstances, and we had some other players that hadn’t played a whole lot, and they stepped in and played very well.  One of them was Jeff Saturday, who played the whole game at left guard for (injured) Steve McKinney.  Jeff played a really fine football game for us.  He had played once before with us against the Jets, but this is the first time he had played this much at all, and he played very well.  Isaac Jones went in as our third receiver because of the injuries to E.G. Green and Jerome Pathon, and he had a number of plays.  He blocked well, and did a good for what we asked him to do.  Bradford Banta played the most he has played this year at tight end, and did an excellent job blocking.  Paul Shields played quite a bit at fullback, but we actually asked him to go in and play some at tight end.  He was off the ball when he played tight end, and he had to learn his assignments late in the week when we felt like we wouldn’t have a good chance to get Kenny (Dilger) to play.  We felt like we didn’t want to get out of the two tight end set so we put Paul up there, and taught him some plays, and he did an excellent job.   Marcus Pollard had to play more than he ever had before and he did a nice job.  Defensively, Billy Austin went in and played safety in our dime situation, and did a nice job.  Billy hadn’t played much, and he went in and played well.  Mark Thomas played a lot more at left end.  Those guys coming in and doing a good job for us were a big factor in the game. 

“We jumped out to a big lead, and didn’t really falter.  We talked about getting up on people, and not letting them back in the ballgame.  In the fourth quarter, we started playing a lot of different people, a lot of substitutes and backups.  They all went in and did a pretty good job.  We did have three turnovers, which I wasn’t happy with it.  But overall, I thought the players that went in and played a significant amount for the first time did a good job.  Maybe that experience will come handy as we go through the rest of the season.  We didn’t have any major injuries.  We might have a couple of guys who might not be able to go full speed during practice early in the week, but I think everybody should be able to play Sunday that played last Sunday.  We should get E.G. Green back.  Ken Dilger is a day-to-day situation.”

(on DB-Tito Wooten and DE-Shawn King)
“Tito Wooten and Shawn King were placed on the reserved/suspended list today for severe violation of team policy.”

(on if RB-Edgerrin James has exceeded your expectations)
“Edgerrin has exceeded my expectations.  He is getting better every week.  He approaches the game like a true pro.  He is serious about it.  He works hard every week, and gets himself ready to play.  He goes out and plays hard, tough and physical on Sunday.  He is a good football player.”

(on the theory of rookies hitting the wall after the midpoint of the season)
“First of all, I think the thing with rookies hitting the wall is blown way out of proportion.  I’ve been coaching in this league for a number of years, and I hardly ever paid any attention to that or given it much credence.  It’s not like all of a sudden this guy stops playing good because he is a rookie.  I have seldom seen it and I don’t pay much attention to it.  I don’t worry about it.  Young guys should be fresher, and able to go longer.”

(on if this team has exceeded his expectations)
Yes.  I didn’t expect us to be 8-2 after 10 games.  You go into every season optimistic.  Every coach and organization does because you never know how you’re going to do over the course of a season.  But after coming off a 3-13 season last year, we are still a relatively young team with some new players, a new defensive system and a second-year quarterback.  I knew we would be better and I expected us to be better.  If someone would have told me we would be 8-2 after 10 games, I would have taken it right then.  I would have said, ‘Great, let’s go.’  I really didn’t anticipate we would have this record after 10 games.  We’ve had some games that could have went either way, but that’s how it is in this business.  We’ve won eight and I pleased with that, but we have some tough games coming up starting this week against the Jets.  We are realistic about everything.”

  (on why he gave the players Monday off)
“I have done this in the past, most coaches do.  Some coaches I have known give their team Monday off every time they win a game.  I have never been quite in that mode.  It depends on your team, maybe if you are an older or a younger team.  I just felt this team would benefit from coming in on Monday’s, and watching film, and lifting weights.  I just felt like after 10 games, and some tough road trips, this would be a good time to do it.  I don’t think it will hurt us at all.”

(on if the next three games are the most important stretch of the season)
“It is because it is the one coming up.  If you would have asked me three weeks ago, I would have said those three weeks are the most important.  If you would asked me six weeks ago, I would have said the stretch coming up is the most important.  When we had three home games, that was the most important stretch we had.  When we had two road games against the Giants and the Eagles, two tough places to play.  Was that an important stretch?  Yes.  Now we have this stretch coming up.  This is the most important stretch we have coming up, because it is right now.  This is the most important game of the season because it’s this game.”

(on the Jets)
“I haven’t looked at them on film yet today.  Obviously, they are playing a lot better.  They’ve won three in a row.  They won at New England and beat Buffalo yesterday at home.  They are playing a lot better, and their confidence level has to be up there.  They are a talented football team, a team that won 12 games and the division last year.  They had one really change, and it was a big change with (Vinny) Testaverde.  Ray Lucas has played well the last couple of weeks.  They are on a roll and they are going to come in here with a lot of confidence.  They have a chance for the playoffs and it should be a heck of a game.”

(on if he senses a change in how opposing teams come at you)
“In this league, everybody respects everybody else.  You look at teams and everybody is capable of coming out on that given day, and beating you unless you are prepared.  There is never a taste where you just feel like you have something in the bag.  Even when we were 3-13 two years in a row, I don’t think teams overlooked us, or weren’t ready to play.  That wasn’t the case because I know how coaches are in this league.  But now that we are winning and playing better, it’s just a natural to say, ‘This is a really good team that we are playing and we really have to play well.’ Especially since it’s a divisional opponent, and these games take on a little bit more meaning.”

(on if parity in the league has anything to do with the Colts rise so quickly)
“I don’t think so.  It happened 10, 15, 20 years ago.  Teams have done that.  My second year in New Orleans, they had gone 20 years without a winning season, and we won 12 games.  I’m not taking credit for that, but I’m giving an example.  We won seven the year before.  It happens, and it’s not just because of parity.  You get on a roll, and get some momentum going, schedule, injuries, a key guy hurt for your opponent that week.  All of those things come into play, and make a big difference in whether you win or lose.  Sometimes things just kind of fall your way.  I’m not taking anything away from our football team, because it’s difficult to win eight out of 10 games.  There are lot of factors that go into it.”

(on the playoff picture)
“We have six games left, a little less than half the season.  A lot can happen in those last six games.  You see teams every year start out fast and fade at the end or vice versa for different reasons.  We can’t sit here and assume we got anything at all.  The fact there are five teams in the AFC with eight wins tells you that if you expect to do anything here in the postseason, you better buckle down these last six weeks. You have to take it one week at a time and play your best football.  It’s going to be so competitive.”

(on the worries of his team being overconfident)
“As I’ve said before, I don’t think anybody in this business takes any team lightly.  You can’t afford to.  You can talk to 31 head coaches and they would all tell you the same thing.  You don’t take another team lightly in the NFL.  It’s too competitive.  If you do, it’s a major, major mistake.”

(on the play of the offensive line)
“Last year, we gave up a minimum of sacks with a rookie quarterback and we did a good job doing that.  It’s not always the offensive line, but they were a big part of it.  We came back this year, and made a couple of changes.  We strengthened ourselves with those changes and I indicated that to you at that time.  I felt they were for the betterment of the team.  I still feel that way and it’s been proven that way.  These five guys are playing very well.  They are a young group with the two oldest in their third years.  The other three are in their second years in the league.  They work hard and their athletic.  They are not big by today’s standards, but Howard (Mudd) does a real nice job of coaching them.  They prepare well, make a minimum of mistakes, and they perform well.  It helps to have people around them that can do things with the football, like Peyton, Edgerrin and Marvin.  It makes them look better.  Also, their play makes those guys look better.  They have done a good job, stayed healthy, and it’s been the same five guys other than yesterday.  Jeff Saturday goes in his second game ever in the NFL and does a good job for us.  I credit those guys, Howard Mudd and the offensive staff for preparing these guys every week.  I’m real happy with the job they have done up to this point.”

(on playing the AFC East teams for the second time this season)
“You have the experience of playing them the first time and you learn something from that, but they learn something from playing you the first time.  It’s a wash from that standpoint.  Everybody in this division is playoff caliber even though the Jets are 4-6.  They still think they can go to the playoffs, and they can.  You’ve got five teams that are playoff caliber teams based on what they have done so far.  You know you have a tough road ahead of you, a tough game every week, and you better be at the top of your game every week if you expect to come out on top.  It’s a great division.  It’s the best division in football.  There’s no question about it.”

(on his team trying to make the most of this season and not waiting until next season)
“I have mentioned this to the team.  When you put yourself in a position that you have this year, why think about next year.  Like I told them, we don’t want to be known as the young Colts.  We want to be known as the good Colts, the winning Colts.  We put ourselves in a situation where we have an opportunity to have some good things happen to us this season.  We can’t worry about down the road because we can’t control what’s going to happen next year.  A lot of things can happen, good or bad.  Let’s make the most of the moment, and that’s what we’re trying to do.”

(on WR-Isaac Jones)
“He did a nice job.  He has done a nice job for us in practice so it didn’t surprise me.  You never know until you see a guy in a game, but he went in and did a nice job.  We feel good about him.  If he has to play in the future, then I would feel good about it.  He’s a good young prospect.”