Thoughts On Reid's Press Conference

After about a month of full silence, Andy Reid finally addressed the media Tuesday afternoon at the Nova Care Complex.  After watching a decent amount of the interview, it was definitely clear that Reid's attitude toward the media had changed dramatically.

Reid was much more friendly and engaging and overall didn't come off as arrogant or rude.  Reid also furthered Lurie's sentiments that his "arrogance" was really a form of him protecting his players and trying to keep the locker room united.

Reid was extremely unclear on what exactly happened with Steve Spagnuolo.  Hall of fame analyst Ray Didinger asked a tough question on whether or not they had actively pursued Spags.  Reid said that he made it clear to Spags that "the job was open if he couldn't find anything else."

"Steve Spagnuolo I know was another topic, and I understand, he’s a fine football coach. Steve and I are good friends. And we talked throughout the season, as we do every year. When Steve was released from the Rams I did offer him a spot here to coach, if he needed one. A place to land, with open arms. My feeling was if you can have two great coaches on defense, That’s even better than just having Juan himself. That’s about how far as it went there. We didn’t talk about titles or anything else."

While Reid was open on the Spags issue he didn't give any definite answers and it was extremely hard for reporters to fully pin him down.  And the key phrase from that quote is "if he needed one."  It sounds to me like Reid didn't actively pursue Spags and instead made a half hearted effort to make him the next defensive coordinator.

Another key element of Reid's press conference was his comments regarding Desean Jackson.

“I was proud of DeSean for standing up….“I thought he showed maturity this season.  I think he’s done that every year he’s been here.  He showed it and admitted to everybody that he didn’t handle things the right way.  I’ll tell you the last six games he did a nice job for us.  I was proud of him for that.”

Notice that Reid again didn't give a clear response.  He could have very easily stated "I'm not worried about Desean.  He's a very important part of this team's success and we are going to get a deal done."  Instead Reid reflected on the past and didn't give a clear answer on whether or not number 10 will be in midnight green next year.  My feeling is that if it were up to Reid, he would bring Jackson back in a heart beat.  But this is a decision that is out of Reid's hands and Howie Roseman and Joe Banner will be calling the shots on this one.

While I'm a fully documented Reid supporter, I know that this is in all likelihood his final year.  For Reid, he has to fix his past mistakes and focus on uniting all of the talent that he clearly has at his disposal.  This upcoming season, Reid can't continue to give us the same excuses.  If he does, he could very easily find himself on the outside looking in come 2013.