OPENING STATEMENT: "Alright, as far as the injuries go, Mike Catapano has an ankle sprain and Jamaal (Charles) has a knee contusion. I would tell you that Mike's is probably a little more tender today than what Jamaal's is, but we'll just take it day by day with both of them. I'd like to thank the fans for the support that they gave yesterday. It's a tough place for an opponent to come in and play in. Right at the end of the game there, we needed the fan support and they brought it and they caused a big offsides there. I thought there were some good things and there were some things we need to work on, obviously. When the defense needed to step up, we were able to do that. DJ (Derrick Johnson) ended up with 12 tackles and Brandon Flowers, I mean you're talking about a corner position ending up with six tackles and a huge third-down tackle he had on the sideline. (Justin) Houston had another sack at a very important time. (Tyson) Jackson was also part of that. I thought Alex (Smith) did some good things on the offensive side, utilized about all the receivers that he had out there, (they) got a catch and he utilized them. Jamaal's toughness, having gotten dinged up there on his knee, he was able to get treatment on it and come back in and function well. Dwayne Bowe's toughness just getting to the game, I thought was important and then you see how people respect him. The touchdown to Dexter (McCluster), they ended up dropping down and doubling Bowe and then Dex was able to come free on that seam route. Then, Dexter got hit on the funny bone in the game and was able to come back in and play there afterwards and function well. Then, special teams, I thought we did some good things on special teams. I was sad to hear that their returner's knee was hurt; he's a heck of a player. But I thought our guys, for the most part; we were able to do a pretty good job there. Time's yours."
Q: Is Derrick Johnson a player you gain appreciation for seeing on the field, down by down?
REID: "You know what I like is his enthusiasm every day. He comes out and he's been doing this a long time. Those guys that are kind of in his shoes there, that have survived a very tough position for a number of years, that still can come out and bring energy every day, have to marvel at those guys. They're special and he falls into that category."
Q: Eric Berry spoke highly of the defense yesterday. What does it say about the defense that they were able to have such a good game with only one sack?
REID: "Well, we didn't have our defense on the field much that first half and they were able to get some points and that can be defeating, in some cases. Then they came out and had the long drive on us at the beginning of the second half and that can be defeating to a lot of teams. But, these guys kind of rallied each other and (Eric Berry's) a big part of that, now. You're talking about one of the primary leaders on that defensive unit and made sure everybody was involved and everything was going to be ok as long as we keep fighting. Everything's ok, let's just keep fighting. He was able to kind of rally that up and guys made plays in different areas. Whether it was a deflected ball or whether it was a big tackle, whatever it might be, tightening up the coverage a little bit, allowing pressure on the quarterback, even though we didn't get sacks, maybe he was throwing off his back foot at times. He's a good quarterback, too. He's a veteran quarterback. But, just making him throw from different levels, those are the little things that might get overlooked."
Q: What about going for the 52-yard field goal?
REID: "He had been bombing them from the 35, so we felt we were good from the 35. That's one of those where you're sitting right there with that field position question, so you want to make sure you've obviously studied. The wind seemed OK at that, it was kind of blowing toward our bench as opposed to either direction. The kicker was confident, Dave (Toub) was confident with it, so we went with it. I felt like he could make that. But you do, you lose it, you give up field position and then they came back and made plays."
Q: So there's no hard and fast rule there? Just a feeling?
REID: "You have to know where you're OK from. You have to have confidence trusting your players. You have a kicker who has really been on fire here, so you give him an opportunity, as long as you feel good with it. I've got a lot of trust in him, which is obvious; I came back at the end of the game and used him. That's another situation that you can question. There's another team in the league that had a similar situation and it didn't work out for them so well."
Q: What about the last field goal?
REID: "You need points there. You need to come out with points. You obviously want to score a touchdown; I mean that's the primary objective there. You know, you have another decision to make there, do you kick the field goal or do you go for it?"
Q: If you don't make it, they've got a long way to go.
REID: "Well, then again, you put a lot of trust back into your kicker, that he's got that big gun there and then, your coverage unit that they're going to do a good job there."
Q: How do you feel about your rushing offense?
REID: "I'm big on mix, so I'm pleased where we're at. Can we get better? Absolutely. We'll continue to work on that."
Q: What about your rushing defense?
REID: "You're going into things that I'll probably look more into during the bye week. Right now, I would tell you that we're doing ok there, too."
Q: Can a team's record keep you away from focusing on some things that need to be improved?
REID: "You can't do that, you can't even go there. That's not how we roll. As far as if I'm calling the plays, it starts with me analyzing the job I'm doing and being very critical of that and what we can do to get better. Then if you're on the offensive side it goes with each player and coach, what could they have done better. You do the same thing, Bob (Sutton) does the same thing on the defensive side as a play caller and then he goes through and we talk about that and discuss it. When I tell you that it's a great thing to win in the National Football League, you treasure each one of them. There's no style points or any of that. I'm also telling you that there's room to improve, and I take that to heart. Those aren't empty words that I'm throwing at you. We have a ton of room to improve in all three phases. That's exciting, but you have to make sure you go out to practice with that in mind. You get better at what you're doing then you get better at what you're not doing while you make sure that you keep improving yourself as a coach and as a player. Then you go play."
Q: What are the areas that this team needs to improve in?
REID: "You give me every phase and there's going to be a phase that we need to get better at within that phase, whether it's as a group collectively or if it's as an individual. That's how this thing goes. I've said this before, it's like being a farmer because you're never, never, never done. It might be an individual player stepping with the right foot, the proper foot, going in whatever direction and not under stepping himself, whether it's an offensive lineman or defensive lineman. It's that detailed and yet very broad. That's a loaded question, a good question, but those are all of the things that we're working on. You can't stand up here publicly, that's for the other coach to try to discover and has to work on. It's like an artist, only the artist knows where the mistakes are and you look at it from a non-artistic eye."
Q: Can you give me an artistic review of this first half of the season?
REID: "We need to continue to get better. That's all I can tell you. I'm not looking at this as the halfway point. That's not how I go about it."
Q: How did Knile Davis do with the different looks he was getting in the game last night?
REID: "I thought he did a good job with his time which was a positive being a young guy. Every week, he's gaining more confidence within the offense. He's knowing it better, and he's more comfortable. That's a plus for our team. Again, we tried to spread the ball out, spread the ball around a little bit. That's what we did the second half."
Q: It didn't seem like you were giving the full offensive package; were you scaling back a bit yesterday?
REID: "We tried not to, now their defense, they changed it a little bit. When you saw some of the things we were doing, I know you don't look at all of this, but when we were flexing Jamaal (Charles) out, they changed kind of what they did. Then we were able to do a couple of things different than we were able to the first half."
Q: Are you going to make any moves by tomorrow afternoon?
REID: "That's a good question. I haven't even gotten with John (Dorsey) on any of that. He deals with all of that. I'm dealing with all of the football stuff. Right now I don't see any, but I haven't had a chance to meet with him either."
Q: Do you like your roster? Are your guys good enough to win enough games and get to the playoffs?
REID: "Listen, we have good players. Do we need to keep getting better? Absolutely. As a group we need to keep getting better, but we have some good football players on this team."
Q: Is there any situation that you would defer on winning the toss?
REID: "Yeah, I have in the past. I can't tell you that I don't like taking the football. If they're going to give it to us, we'll take it. I'm alright with that."
Q: Quintin Demps said that Coach Dave Toub is telling him to be aggressive on kickoff returns. Is he getting too aggressive on those kick returns when they're seven-eight yards deep?
REID: "Not necessarily, there are certain plays where you have to down it. Other times we're pretty confident in what we're doing and we're confident in him. There's a time and a place where you have to down it."
Q: How much is it on Quintin Demps and how much is it on Cyrus Gray in making that decision or helping him with that decision?
REID: "Well, they communicate, but he knows where he's at on that. He's a seasoned veteran there; he knows where he's at."
Q: Last night there was a 109 yard return (Minnesota WR Cordarrelle Patterson's 109 yard kickoff return).
REID: "Yeah, I'll tell you what you see – you have stats on this – you see more teams taking the ball out the last couple of years here deep in the end zone. I know there was something mentioned on that this past preseason, but it's been that way for a couple of years now."
Q: So it's more of a game situation?
REID: "Yeah sometimes they're right on the edge, but that's alright."
Q: At 8-0 what's the best thing that could come out of this thing?
REID: "I appreciate their camaraderie and togetherness, and how they go about their business day in, day out. I'll tell you since the offseason program, they've come to work, and I appreciate that. I know at this time in the year, they're sore and banged up, I've got it, but they bring energy when they come to the building. I'm sure you feel it, when you're out at practice you feel it. You feel it when you talk to them. I'd tell you that's not the way it is everywhere. I mean that's just not the way it is."
Q: When you're considering making a move, how much do you have to factor the current team chemistry?
REID: "You look at everything. That's how John (Dorsey) goes through and evaluates them. That's what he does. I defer all of that to him. That's his expertise on that, but that's one of the categories he looks at."
