Jeff Garcia On Returning To City Where He Resurrected His Career: “The experience that we had here that season was a once in a lifetime experience for myself, for my family.”
September 16, 2009 – 6:00 am by Michael Bean
It didn’t take long for the Philadelphia Eagles to look for insurance at the quarterback position after Donovan McNabb suffered a cracked rib in Philly’s 38-10 dusting of Carolina on Sunday. Yes, Michael Vick is waiting in the wings and was added to the 53 man roster despite still having to serve the rest of his suspension, but the Eagles decided that it made sense to sign the 39-year old veteran quarterback who helped guide the Eagles to an unlikely playoff run in 2006 when McNabb was injured that year.
Garcia joined WIP in Philadelphia to talk about returning to the City of Brotherly Love, what he expects his role to be on this team in the immediate future and how he thinks he’ll be able to quickly pick up Andy Reid’s offense.
On the sudden development that landed him back in Philadelphia:
“Well, I’m thrilled to be back. It’s an exciting day for myself, for my family. I’m just happy to be back with a great organization in a great city and just want to make the most of the time that I’m here.”
On if he ever was as well received anywhere as he was that one season in Philadelphia:
“Not at all . I mean even playing back in my area back in SF, I didn’t have the reception at all that I did in Philly. I mean, that was unbelievable and you know, we’ll never forget that – the experience that we had here that season was a once in a lifetime experience for myself, for my family. And it definitely stuck with us; and we were sad to leave but we’re excited about being able to return.”
On what he expects for himself in Philly this second time around:
“You know it’s really a day to day thing for me this time. Obviously the situation is different. I’m not on the roster from the beginning of the season. It’s a different circumstance so I don’t really know what to expect and I can’t look in to it too much past tomorrow in the sense of being able to report to practice, be a part of the team, be a part of the team this weekend and hopefully in the time that I’m here, make a enough of an impact once again to hopefully make the stay a little bit longer than what we’re looking at right now. I really can’t say any more than that. I just want to make the most of the time that I’m here.”
On how long he thinks it will take for him to re-learn the Eagles’ offense:
“The good thing is I’ve been well trained in the West Coast offense and when I was here three years ago, the offense was very natural for me. It was something I’d been running for six years prior to that and the last two years in Tampa, I had very similar terminology. And then my training camp and offseason in Oakland was very similar – a lot of West Coast terminology. So, I don’t think it will be very difficult at all. I think I’ll be able to grasp it very fast, very quickly, and be on the same page hopefully with the rest of my teammates.”
Listen here to Garcia with Angelo Cataldi on WIP in Philadelphia
Tags: Andy Reid, best backup quarterbacks, Donovan McNabb injured, Jeff Garcia signed by Eagles, Michael Vick
