OPENING STATEMENT:"As far as the injuries go, Donnie Avery is out, making progress, but is out. Cyrus Gray will not practice today. Most likely he's going to practice on Friday and he'll be out these next couple of days. Chris Owens will not practice today. He's day to day. We'll just see how he does. He's got a bone bruise and a knee ligament. Everyone else is ready to go. Look forward to the challenge of playing the Chargers. They're a good football team. We know that and it's important that we get ourselves ready and prepare and go through that process and our guys will do that. We started this morning with a walk-through and we'll keep on going here the next few days and get ourselves ready to go. We had a couple of changes. Nico Johnson was taken off the practice squad and went to the Cincinnati Bengals. We wish him the best of luck there. It's an opportunity for him to make their roster and have the opportunity to play and we brought Orie Lemon back here and he'll be on the practice squad and work there and then before we get started here on San Diego, congrats to the Royals. I know they've got a big one today and we look forward to watching them after practice. We're wishing them the best of luck obviously. Time's yours."
Q: Do you have a good feeling about Eric Berry with regards to Sunday?
REID:"Yeah, he went through Monday's practice. He felt good. He's going to go through today's, and I think we'll just, you know, see how he does. He came back and he felt good. So, I'm pretty good with him today and we'll see how it goes from there."
Q: Why did it not work out for Nico Johnson here?
REID: "By numbers it just didn't work out. I mean, I'd probably leave it at that. I think he's a good football player and he'll have a chance to make that team there and have a chance to play."
Q: Jamaal Charles is 53 yards away from being the all-time leading rusher here. What does that mean to you?
REID: "Well, I think it's a compliment to Jamaal. I don't think he's focused on that right now nor am I, but we're focused on San Diego, but it's a great accomplishment even to be that close is an accomplishment and a lot of hard work went into it. You know, for all those running backs out there, this guy works harder than I'm sure anybody out there. He spends a lot of time in his profession and it pays off for him. "
Q: You've had a lot of good running backs including your time at Philly. Where does he rank in those guys as far as running backs you've coached?
REID: "I've been fortunate to have a bunch of good ones. I'm not going to sit there and compare them, that's a bad thing to do as a coach, but I'll tell you, he's pretty stinking good and I'm very happy to have him."
Q: He had the foot during training camp and the ankle from the Denver game. Was the bye week a good break for him specifically?
REID: "Yeah, I think he feels good, I think. That's a tough position to play. He had that weird kind of freaky thing happen at training camp and then I think he's back now and feeling pretty good."
Q: What are your impressions of Orie Lemon?
REID: "I thought Orie was a smart kid and moved around pretty good. This gives him an opportunity to get himself back in, back in playing. We'll see how he does."
Q: Just to clarify, you said practice squad?
REID: "Practice squad, yeah."
Q: You've obviously been successful after the bye. What makes you guys as a staff so successful coming off bye week?
REID: "Yeah well we didn't do too well last year with it. We've got plenty of room to improve and that's what we're all working to do. I don't know. I've been asked that question a little bit. I don't know the reason why we've had success. I was involved with some pretty good football teams and that's how it works. The schedule, all those things go into that. We're not focused on that either. We're going after getting prepared for San Diego."
Q: With Philip Rivers, has he lifted his game these past two years?
REID: "I thought he and Norv Turner had a really great relationship and put up big numbers and played very well. I think he's done the same with Mike (McCoy). I think he's really taken on this offense. It's a new challenge late in his career. It's different than what he's done before and I think he's taken on that with a, I'm not going to say new energy, its new for him so I guess we could probably put it in that category."
Q: Five games in, what is the biggest thing you've seen out of Allen Bailey as far as his growth from last year to this year?
REID: "Probably consistency. He's had to do this play after play, game after game. It's a tough position he plays. You've got to endure the whole physical part of it and the mental part. To this point, he's done a pretty good job of that."
Q: Is there anything you can put your finger on at why you guys couldn't get it done in the last two minutes of the game at San Francisco and Denver and even last year in Indianapolis?
REID: "I've got to make sure I'm dialing up their plays there. It comes down to we've got to execute if they're good plays and everybody's got to make sure they pick up their game. Each team has been a little bit different, but the bottom line is we've got to finish in those, when we're put in those positions. We can obviously do better."
Q: What is the difference between Brandon Flowers this year and last year?
REID: "I think he's playing good football. He played good football here; he's playing good football there. He's a good football player. Smart kid and good football player."
Q: Does he look healthy? I know he was banged up a little last year.
REID: "I think he's been fairly healthy. I think he got banged up a little in this last game a little bit. I can't answer that for you. I don't know where he's at as far as that goes, but it looks like he's playing good football."
Q: Does he look like the guy you had or are they using him differently?
REID: "I think they're using him about the same way. He plays on the outside, a little bit inside on third downs; he's been playing on the defensive left side. Same spot. Started off on the right side, then they moved him back over to the left side. Yeah, about the same."
Q: Back to the under two minutes in San Francisco, you guys got the ball back with some time, no timeouts. How confident were you at that point? REID: "I felt very confident. I'll always take the blame for that because I'm the one calling the plays. So we didn't get it executed, the two minute drill, so I've got to make sure that I'm dialing up the right things for the guys, make sure that they can get that done. That's my responsibility."
