OPENING STATEMENT: "As far as injuries go, I really don't have anything for you – players are just coming in. I'm proud of the team, and the way they handled themselves. Again, that's an explosive football team. They have been in every game they've played. They've really been on a hot streak here the last couple games that they've had. I thought our defense really stepped up. Turnovers were big, obviously, with points. All three phases contributed. The defense had a big chore right there with Drew [Brees] and company. He's all that they say he is, plus a little bit. He's really a good player. When you can come out of the game as a head coach and have so many guys that contributed in all three phases and you can't mention just one or two, that's a good thing. Again, I'm just proud of the team effort. With that, I'll leave it to you guys."
Q: What went into the decision of Jamaal Charles only playing one snap?
REID: "His knee acted up after the last game. It was up and down kind of throughout the week. We were doing okay without him in there and I felt like if we kind of could get by with that. Does he want to play? Yeah, he wants to play. We got a long season here, so it seems like there is a rush on it, but when you really look at what's real, it's a long season. We'll need him as we go. I'm trying to be as patient as possible – be smart with it – is really what I'm trying to do. It's not that one guy is doing better than the other – that has nothing to do with that. We're not hiding something. There's no game involved here. I'm just telling you what's real."
Q: Was it just a feeling that you had at that time and moment?
REID: "His leg wasn't feeling right. That was it. He had a little tweak in there. Not that it was a big thing, but why? Why push it? Where we're at right now, why do that? Just trying to be smart with it."
Q: Tamba Hali played 61 percent of snaps – was that because he could be in there or because the Saints can throw the ball?
REID: "We've been trying to increase him every week. Again, we're just looking at what we see and trying to evaluate it as we go. We felt like he was feeling better. We kind of checked in with him during the game. He was doing good, and then, it fits in with what they do. It's mainly how the players are doing. You have to keep that in mind – where they are at on this. You start forcing guys into doing stuff, that's not the way to go. So, we have been able to increase him without taking steps back here all along. That's where we're at."
Q: What about Phillip Gaines?
REID: "He did come in this morning, and he was feeling a little bit better today. I thought he felt a little bit better yesterday and felt better today. So, I think we just take it day-by-day here and see how he does. Again, he's a lot younger than these other guys that we've talked about, but again, same deal. You have to go off of how he's feeling. That's one of those positions where you get a lot of torque on that thing, and then, you have to run fast. So, if they don't feel right, then, you have to back off that."
Q: He was feeling better yesterday?
REID: "He's continuing to get better. Let me put it that way."
Q: But there was still no thought of making him active?
REID: "No."
Q: How did Ramik Wilson look to you at inside linebacker?
REID: "He did some good things. It looked fast initially, but as the game went on, I thought he started catching up a little with the speed of it. When you've been on the practice squad and get thrown into a game against a pretty good offense, things are going to be quick initially. As the game went on, I thought he handled it well. We played a lot of young guys. Chris Jones got in as well and he did a pretty good job against a pretty explosive offense. Steven Nelson continued to improve, D.J. White is another guy that got in and he had a good snap count. That's important as we go along here -- getting more guys experience."
Q: Are you looking at how mentally tough some of the younger guys are as the season progresses? How is D.J. White in particular?
REID: "He has to understand that it's not because he's a young guy. It's because the guy [Marcus Peters] on the opposite side has a 'gazillion' interceptions. Teams are probably leaning away from [Peters] which makes them throw towards D.J.'s side. You have to have a short memory when playing corner. That's one of those things where you have to learn from your mistakes. Something can happen in front of you but you still have to line up and play the next one."
Q: Do corners either have that patience/short memory or they don't? Is it something you can teach?
REID: "Normally you've 'got it' and guys are wired in on that. Others can mature though too. Some guys are afraid to get up there in press coverage. He's relentless when you see him in coverage and coming up and making tackles.
Q: How nice was it to be back at Arrowhead Stadium again?
REID: "The fans were phenomenal. It was packed, a beautiful day out, the leaves were changing and it's football weather. You love it and the guys feed off of it. It was also Breast Cancer Awareness Week, so we had a lot of support there which is important and I like that the National Football League does that.
Q: How close to a complete game was yesterday's performance?
REID: "I thought all three phases contributed. There are teams that get into these situations that don't come out on the winning end. I think that's important. Every team is going to put a charge together, especially when you have an explosive offense like the Saints. They're going to put a charge together. It's important that you can stop that thing and come out on the winning end. Could we have played better? Yeah. There's a ton of things I can bring up about this game and we can work on to get better. The bottom line is, we won the football game and everyone contributed. We have a lot to build on from there."
Q: Why isn't the team a little better in the four-minute phase than you are right now?
REID: "That's a spot where we need to pick up. We had a chance yesterday to close it out and for one reason or another, we didn't get it done. We'll go back and look at it. We'll work on it. We're about an inch away from closing that yesterday. It'll be good for the guys to see it on tape, study it and see what teams are doing and where we can improve on."
Q: How much of a given week's game plan can Alex Smith carry over from the recent week's success?
REID: "The kid had a 126.0 quarterback rating, managed the game well and made some big-time throws. We had a drop there at the end that he made a check on. He's playing some good football. People don't think he can throw the ball downfield. He's making downfield throws and doing all the things people critique him on. He's showing everybody he can do those things. Also, his teammates trust him and believe in him as a leader and a player. We're lucky to have him here."
Q: I think Albert Wilson might have played close to a season low of snaps as far as percentages go, I'm curious what's going on?
REID: "We're just mixing and matching. We have all of these guys up so we're trying to playing everybody and play to their strengths. Albert is handling it well, so that's all a part of it. He's contributing when he gets an opportunity to contribute. We have a lot of bodies that can play at that position. We're lucky to have him with the experience that he has."
Q: In terms of the down field throws in particular with number 10 [Tyreek Hill], how much work has kind of gone into that between Alex [Smith] and Tyreek?
REID: "They actually spent a little time on that play. They stayed out [in practice] and hit a couple of those Thursday. Time is spent on that and you just have to have trust to just put it up. He was virtually covering so it was an air time play. You put it up and you bank that he's going to go get it. He would have been a great center fielder I'm telling you. He's able to adjust to the ball so well, you're able to see it on punts and that's God given. That's something he has a knack for."
Q: Saw in the locker room after the game that Clark [Hunt] had given you the game ball, what does that mean to you?
REID: "Well I appreciate him doing that. I'm not all that big on all that. I'm still waiting for my win total to exceed my weight. That's going to be a couple more wins."
Q: What's the plan for Justin Houston this week?
REID: "We'll just keep practicing him and see how he does. He's not there yet, but he did look good last week and we'll take it day by day and see how he does."
Q: When you say he's not there, will you elaborate on that, what's not there yet?
REID: "He just needs to keep playing football right now. He's coming off of the rehab part of it so it's getting acclimated back into simple things like just having the pads on and then moving around at the speed that the guys are moving around out there are at. You can't get that in rehab. You have to get everything adjusted and he's doing that. He works very hard."
Q: Is it reasonable that he could play Sunday?
REID: "I'd probably say that he wouldn't, but we'll see how he does as it goes."
Q: What does Rakeem Nunez-Roches and Kendall Reyes have to do to kind of show you guys that they can graduate to that fourth linemen role with a little more playing time?
REID: "So Kendall [Reyes] just got here, so he's played, he's been a starter, he's done all of that. I think it's just a matter of him getting acclimated to the defense. Roches, he just keeps getting better. One thing he does is he's going to play fast and hard and he's going to give you honest downs out there and has a little bit of a pass rush. Again just getting used to being in there and doing their thing with the ones. It's different than being on the scout team obviously."
