Philadelphia Eagles coaches and players comment on their upcoming game against the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII.
On the Patriots...
"I think we match up well. They've obviously got a great system, great offense, probably the best quarterback of all time, a great tight end, speedy receivers. They've got a real good scheme, and they isolate people, but if there's any defense out there that can match up with every single person, I think it's this defense, so we're looking forward to it."
- Eagles S Malcolm Jenkins
On Tom Brady...
"We have to play 60 minutes against them. What makes Tom Brady unique is he gets rid of the football so quickly, and he doesn't really make any mistakes. It's going to come down to us getting after them. It's about us, it's not about them."
- Eagles DT Fletcher Cox
"Tom Brady is the GOAT (greatest of all time). He's the man and everybody understands you've got to play him for 60 minutes, sometimes even longer if you go overtime. You've got to get after him, get him rattled, because he's the head of that team and everybody knows it."
- Eagles DE Brandon Graham
"Greatest quarterback of all time, but that doesn't mean that he's unbeatable. We've got a destination that we're geared to. No matter who's in front of us, we've got somewhere to go. We're not worried about what's in front. We're going to run through what's there."
- Eagles S Malcolm Jenkins
On playing against his former team...
"I play for the Eagles. I don't play for the Patriots anymore. I don't watch the Patriots anymore. I don't care about the Patriots. I focus on what we need to do to put us in the best position to win this game. I had a great time there last year, but last year is last year."
- Eagles RB LeGarrette Blount
On the Patriots offense...
"The obvious thing that the Patriots do probably better than anybody is that they create the matchups that they want. We feel good about that. We do a good job of matching up with personnel regardless of who we put on the field."
- Eagles S Malcolm Jenkins
"I think you have to put that challenge to playing the Patriots' offense. No player stands on his own. I mentioned (tight end Rob) Gronkowski, (wide receiver Brandin) Cooks, (wide receiver Danny) Amendola's been mentioned, (wide receiver Chris) Hogan, (running back James) White, (running back Dion) Lewis. There are a million different guys in there. I'm sure somebody will say something because I slighted somebody, but you can't just – the NFL in general, but particularly the Patriots, you can't scheme for one player. If you do, then they have plenty of other players that can make plays. You have to do a good job against their entire offense, and you can't really make it about one person."
- Eagles Defensive Coordinator Jim Schwartz
"You can't just play three quarters because we went down there I think 2015 and they still almost came back and won the game. That'll let you know that you've got to go and play 60 minutes. What makes them so unique is he (Tom Brady) gets rid of the ball fast. He's not going to take a lot of hits. He knows where he's going when the ball is snapped. As I say every week, it's going to come down to the front four guys getting after the quarterback making him uncomfortable in the pocket."
- Eagles DT Fletcher Cox
"Everything runs through number 12 (quarterback Tom Brady) and 87 (tight end Rob Gronkowski). In my opinion, those are two of the greatest to ever play at their positions. You can make an argument that they are the greatest. They work well as a team. Everything they do, they do on the same page. They have four or five really good running backs. Their offensive line, they've got one of the best-coached units in the league … they just have a ton of weapons. You have to do everything well to beat them."
- Eagles DE Chris Long
On the Patriots defense...
"They're extremely well-coached. They've been doing it for a long time, in that same scheme for a long time. They play fast. They're able to adjust extremely well in the games. It's going to be hard to beat them on the same play twice because they're able to kind of see what you've done earlier in the game and react to that so they're extremely disciplined. They've got a lot of good players and it's going to be a very tough test for us."
- Eagles TE Zach Ertz
On Rob Gronkowski...
"That guy has been doing it for a long time. His second year in the league, he set the record for touchdowns from the tight end position and yards I think it's at 1,327. So he set pretty much every tight end record out there. The guy is a physical specimen. He's a freak, he's able to use his body. He obviously has a very good quarterback throwing him the ball but he would still be producing those numbers with or without Tom Brady. I've definitely learned a lot from him. He's a beast after the catch. He's able to use his body whenever he wants to get open. Even when he's not open, the frame that he has and the ball skills that he has so he's definitely someone that's been the preeminent tight end in this league for a long time and an unbelievable player."
- Eagles TE Zach Ertz
