Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid's Press Conference Quotes
October 7, 2013
OPENING STATEMENT:
"On the injury front, Donnie Avery has a shoulder contusion; we'll just see how he does here in the next couple of days. Eric Fisher is still recovering from the concussion and being tested and going through all of the protocol. Justin Houston took a shot to the neck, head and everything else, but he seems to be okay. I'm just mentioning him, here. Travis Kelce is still working with the bone bruise and then (Anthony) Fasano, with the ankle injury, is making progress. If we had practice today, he wouldn't be able to practice.
All in all, good win yesterday, with a lot of things that we can improve on, in a lot of areas; however, the three takeaways were important, the muff being one of those. Being able to come out with points on those, I thought was important. I think we had 13 points on the takeaways. We had the two turnovers offensively; we have to do a better job, there. We turned it over a little too much. I could see why the ball got away from Jamaal (Charles) there. You could see the way his body got contorted there and he came out healthy, so that's a plus. Jamaal, speaking of him, had a pretty good game with a total of 145 yards, which can do so many things for you and he does so many things well. I thought Ryan (Succop) had a good day kicking. He had 14 points, four field goals and two extra points.
Then defensively, I thought our guys came out and established attitude early and even though they were able to kind of get into a little bit of a flow in the second half, they were able to put an end to that and finish strong. Again, when your defense plays that well, I guess it would be highlighted by the goal line stand. When you come out with that kind of attitude, that's infectious to everybody. You saw it led to a long drive after that, I thought it actually helped get the offense going a little bit. We were able to score and then came that interception by (Quintin) Demps. (It) doesn't necessarily tell the whole story; you see (Brandon) Flowers and the work that he did there to cause the ball to be tipped and Demps to work on that.
Then, Flowers has been working through an injury; both he and (Kendrick) Lewis have just shown real grit, working through their injuries and fighting to get back on the field, then just coming out and playing good hard-nosed, tough football.
Things that we have to work on, we have to work on a few things offensively, (including) red zone; we were only one of four. We have to do a better job there; we stalled on a couple of drives and we're normally better than that. We have to take care of business down there, when we have the opportunity. Our third down efficiency was terrible. We were one of 12. You can't make a living doing that. You have to make sure you're more efficient on third down. You have to shorten the third down yardage-wise too. When you start getting those, 'third-and-a-gazillion', you don't have a lot of calls for those particular spots, so you have to keep your third downs manageable. They would do a very good job of that yesterday, that's my responsibility to make sure we're in those positions. The time is yours."
Q: Can you talk about why Brandon Flowers was playing in the slot a lot yesterday?
REID: "You saw early how we did that in training camp, when we had the flexibility to use him. He's really a good inside player; he's a good outside player too, but he's a good inside player. Then, (Marcus) Coop(er's) been playing well, too, so you get confidence to be able to do that. Brandon's flexibility is the key. He can do so many things for you and he's so willing. Very seldom do you see guys of his stature are that tough and are willing to get inside there with some of those big bodies, but he can play in there."
Q: Why did you use him inside specifically in this past game? Was it matchups or because of his knee?
REID: "No, it wasn't a load off the knee. It was just what Bob (Sutton) wanted as far as the scheme went. (It was) not necessarily as much about matchups as scheme."
Q: After Donnie Avery left the game, AJ Jenkins got a good amount of playing time. Are you comfortable with how AJ is playing right now, or is he just the next guy up?
REID: "Well, I guess both. He was the next guy up and to be the next guy up you have to be comfortable with him. He's a young guy and is continuing to learn what we're doing. I thought he did a good job with it."
Q: Did you know much about Marcus Cooper or was he one of John Dorsey's guys?
REID: "He was one of John's (guys). I remember him as a wide receiver at Rutgers; that's what I remember."
Q: What has allowed him to succeed?
REID: "Well, he's a smart kid and has good coaching. He wants to be good. He goes out there every day and doesn't let anything get in the way of him getting better, each and every day. He's willing to challenge and he also knows that he's a big kid in size, so he's not afraid of matchups or whatever."
Q: What's your understanding of whether a quarterback is or is not in bounds, like we've seen earlier with Geno Smith?
REID: "I think it's a bang-bang call by the officials. It's not always an easy job over there, but I think as long as the quarterback is working his way out of bounds, you can split the hairs there, if his foot's in the air going out of bounds. I'd probably tell you he's out of bounds. Not many of them can put their foot out of bounds and then come back in; I don't see that happen very often. I think it's one of those (plays) that you just throw the call and go for it."
Q: Do the defenders view the quarterback differently because of this?
REID: "I would tell you that, yeah I'm stating the obvious, there are rules put in to protect the quarterback; that's some of the rules. Now the run game has become a little more prevalent at the quarterback position over this year and really in the last year a little bit. It isn't quite as cut and dry, once they get outside of the tackle box and become a runner. Once they become a runner, they're a runner."
Q: What about the call when Alex Smith was hit out of bounds?
REID: "It depends on where; if you're going out of bounds, you see it. I'm stating the obvious, but if you're going out of bounds, it wouldn't have mattered if it's a running back, a tight end, a wide receiver, if you're going out of bounds and somebody comes full speed at you, they're probably going to call that call. Alex (Smith) has taken some chances; he's done two flips in two weeks or three weeks, whatever it is. I don't necessarily like seeing that, but he's a competitive guy and he's trying to get the first down. I got it. I thought the one in the game though—I thought the officials made the right call."
Q: What was the mindset of when you went deep to Donnie Avery?
REID: "We liked the match. We had that play on our script and we thought we had the opportunity to take a shot there. I thought Donnie did a nice job of hanging onto the football and Alex put it out there and let him go get it. That's what we saw."
Q: Did the guys feed off of that?
REID: "Yeah. You can't help but get excited, when your defensive line gets a goal line stand like that. I think everybody gets fired up and ready to go. I think we got a field goal out of that one. We needed to score a touchdown, but we got a field goal. It was a good extended drive. That's one of the areas we feel pretty good about, the time of possession. When you have time of possession, you don't want to come out with field goals. Although Ryan (Succop) did a nice job, but that's not really what you want. You want to get touchdowns, especially on longer drives like that."
Q: What about Chad Hall?
REID: "We had a little package in there for him and he did some good things, early, he did some good things. Then we blended him, throughout the game at different times. He gives you some quickness. Both he and Dexter (McCluster) are a little bit undersized. They're smaller guys, but they have great quickness. We try to utilize both of them at the same time."
Q: What does Alex Smith do to make sure the guys, lower on the depth chart, are confident when the ball comes their way?
REID: "There is no period really during the day. So, if the defense is up, he's out working with those guys. Whether it's individually or as a group, you are trying to gain time there. I mentioned yesterday, which I think is important, that as you guys look at things, when you play teams that play a lot of man coverage, like almost every snap man-coverage, there are going to be some good ones and there are going to be some ones that don't look so good; that happens. The important thing is that you keep firing and you fire with confidence and you trust your guys and you get all of those things, which is huge. (Sean) McGrath comes on board and (Smith) is feeding McGrath in these tight situations, crucial situations and he's shooting this guy. (Kevin) Brock, (Smith) gives him opportunities. Chad (Hall,) who he did work with a little bit in San Francisco, he's throwing to him. These are guys that haven't been with us for too long."
Q: What about this being Raiders week?
REID: "I was going to finish this with that. It is Raider week. I'm all about rivalries, I get it. It's exciting. I know our fans are going to be crazy, I know that. Our players are going to be fired up for it. These are special in the National Football League, these types of rivalries they get your juices flowing and gets them flowing early. The black and silver, if anybody is wearing it, be careful."
Q: Are you doing anything different as far as preparation?
REID: "They know. They're aware of it. They understand that. I'm not into all that kind of stuff, but you know when you're playing a rival, and it's an AFC West team, so that's very important, too. Not that they all aren't, but those become very important games. The fellas, they realize that."
Q: Did you stay up yesterday to watch them?
REID: "I did take a peek at them."
Q: What are the issues with the low percentage in the red zone and third down conversions? Is it a blocking issue?
REID: "Kind of a variety of things, collectively, we have to do better. Everybody has got a little piece and each one was different. The bottom line is, and I mentioned it after the game, I have to do a better job of making sure I get these guys in the right position and calling the right plays for them and once they get that done, the situation will be alright."
Q: What about the team's effort?
REID: "The guys that I'm looking at, and I mentioned this about Alex (Smith), as a group, they're all in. They're very positive and upbeat, throughout the game. They're working to do their best and you appreciate that. There is a certain confidence there and you appreciate that as a coach."
Q: Why do you think Dwayne Bowe hasn't gotten it going yet?
REID: "Well, he's gotten it going at the right time and that's really the play calls coming in. Teams have put a lot of emphasis on him early, with coverage, and we kind of work our way through and make sure we see what they're doing. All of the sudden, we get them going with the calls and then he does a phenomenal job with it. You saw a couple of those toward the end of the game you saw people settling in underneath him to give up the flat. That's how they are; they just keep battling up as often as you can, so you can get him the football, because normally, good things are happening when the ball is in his hands."
Q: Anthony Fasano tweeted last night he was frustrated he missed the game. How has his absence affected the team?
REID: "The other guys have done a nice job; it's not hindering what we're doing there. I think his frustration is over just not being healthy. If he's tweeting that, it's just not about having the opportunity to play. He loves to play the game."
