[K] David [Akers] had been doing well with that hamstring. Then on the first kickoff he tweaked it. He was able to hang in there and give us what he could give us. [DE] Juqua Thomas hurt his knee. He’ll have an MRI and we’ll check on that.”

Opening remarks:

“All in all, it was a heck of a football game. From a tactical standpoint we probably made a few too many mistakes early. We really weren’t in rhythm. The defense was able to get into rhythm before the offense. They did a pretty good job after that first drive. We were playing a little bit of that field position game with [TE] [Mike] Bartrum kicking. I was questioning why he was putting that other shoe on. But it worked out. In the long run it worked out. That was a nice job by the offense, that last drive getting it down there. Donovan handled the clock very well. He battled through some early throws. He was a little bit tight in the pelvis area. I think that was bothering him early. He battled through that thing like a warrior which he is. He just came up with some huge throws in the second half. That basically tells you the whole story about Donovan McNabb right there.”

Commenting on how close they thought they had to get on the last drive:

“We thought we had to get to the 12.”

On the guttiness of David Akers:

“That was pretty dramatic.” 

On whether he was worried about utilizing David Akers:

“I worry about it, if the doctors say that it’s high enough, right up in the buttocks area. Normally, you don’t hurt them any worse than what they are, but it was bothering him.”

Regarding not activating a new kicker for the game:

“Well, in hindsight yes I wish I would have done that.”

On why he decided to go with David Akers to kick:

He had done fine and he was booming them in warm-ups. I don’t know if he slipped. I don’t know what happened. I just know it wasn’t working.”

On whether Donovan McNabb has a “sports hernia:”

“Well he has a strain there in the abdominal area. That’s what it is right now.”

On whether they are investigating the possibility of McNabb having a “sports hernia:”

“We did last week. We looked in there and looked at it, it’s in that area. We’ll see how he does. We’ll see how he does next week.”

On whether or not rest would help heal McNabb’s injury:

“Time should help it. Time should help heal that but there’s not a lot of time.”

Commenting on whether or not they have learned that McNabb’s injury is not a “sports hernia:”

“Right now they are calling it an abdominal strain. That’s what they’re calling it.”

On what medical attention David Akers received when he left the field:

“Somebody was rubbing on it but I don’t think they’re magicians.”

On how emotional David Akers was after the game:

“He looked fairly emotional. You saw it right there, that’s what I saw. He was pretty happy about it. That was a big kick for him.”

On his thoughts prior to the start of the last drive:

“Well we wanted to score. We wanted to score a touchdown. That’s what we were shooting for so we wouldn’t have to worry about that other part. It didn’t work out that way.”

On the long gains by Brian Westbrook:

“There were a couple of plays where Donovan got flushed just a little bit he would have had big plays on. He’s a good football player and they were trying to man him up. That’s a tough chore for a safety or a linebacker.”

Regarding the thought of using Koy Detmer:

“There was a point where I thought about it, yes. There was a point were he was hurting after he took a hit there. He tried to run and took a hit. I thought about it.”

About the decision to leave McNabb in the game:

“You’ve got to communicate with him. He’s pretty straight forward. Certain guys you can talk to about those things and they will tell you what’s up and if they can go or not go.”

Commenting on discussions with David Akers and his effective range:

“He said if we get it to the 12, inside the 12 he should be okay. He thought he could make a 30 yarder, somewhere inside the 12.” 

On whether he would bring in another kicker:

“No. I brought on in last week and I haven’t released him so I’ve got two of them here.”

On whether he thought the team was lucky to get a win:

“They played a good football game I thought, the Raiders. We gave up some things we had an opportunity right down at the end there of the second half to score a touchdown we had the turnover. [TE] L.J. [Smith] made a heck of a play on it, he just lost the ball. So wouldn’t say lucky. You’re going to have these types of games and it’s important that you come out of these on our side of the stick and battle. Battle through it. Everything’s is not going to be a 42-3 game and you’ve got to have the withal in you to battle a little bit, and our guys did that.”

On whether McNabb’s injury would bother him all season:

“I can’t answer that. I don’t know. Is it going to bug him here for a little bit? It probably will. Will the by week help? Probably will. I can’t tell you that far in advance.”

On whether he considered activating another kicker:

“We did, we did. Sitting right here, it’s probably not the smartest move. I thought David (Akers) was feeling better, all the reports that I got. He was kicking the ball as well as he has ever kicked it. You guys who were out there at practice saw it. He was kicking as well as he’s ever kicked and the thing popped on him and it hurt right on the first kickoff.”

On David Akers performance inspiring his teammates:

“He did what the other players do. There are a lot of players hurting. He was just one of them today. There are guys that are sore. That’s part of playing in this league. You’re going to hurt a little bit and you’ve got to function. He did what the other guys have done. He did a nice job with it.”

Commenting on the players rallying around McNabb when he was injured:

“The players feed off of Donovan. The linemen can’t see what’s going on back there. They all follow Donovan’s lead as it goes. He’s the leader of that football team.”