OPENING STATEMENT:"Alright, I don't have any injuries for you right now. We'll get those to you later. Good team win. I thought the guys played well down the stretch. Obviously, the big plays down the stretch – EB [Eric Berry] on the interception really kind of set the tempo there for the things that followed. Dee Ford's sack, Chris Jones' sack, I thought were huge. Marcus Peters right at the end there – stripping the ball – that was a big play. Cairo [Santos] kind of gets left out of the mix there along with Dustin [Colquitt] who did a good job on the hold, but Cairo gets left out of the mix with the kick there. So, all of those were big down the stretch. I thought we flipped the field position, which ended up working in our favor in the second half, which was also a big part of it. We're playing a lot of guys right now. Guys like Tyreek Hill, who is a young guy, steps up and has a big day for us. He's continued to improve. We're asking him to do a ton of things and he just handles it. I've told you before I think he's a smart kid, shows up and does all the things that we're asking him to do. Along with that though, all
these kids that we're playing, the coaches are doing a nice job getting these guys ready to play with game plans and the actual coaching part of it – the day in, day out coaching part of it. So, hats off to all of them."
*Q: *Do you think having a guy in the offense like Tyreek Hill allows you to be more aggressive because of his skill set?
REID:"I would say that with Jeremy [Maclin], [Travis] Kelce and Chris Conley [who] has had some plays too, there. We've got enough speed and that out there to do that. No, listen – what's that one sandwich shop – he's freaky fast? He is freaky fast. He can giddy up and go, which doesn't hurt."
Q:You played Tyreek Hill a little more with Jeremy Maclin out – you see him getting more work offensively even when Maclin comes back?
REID:"Yeah, we'd been increasing him every week. So, however that works out, works out. It's kind of according to the game plan and how it goes. I would tell you this – we're not hesitant to put him in there and play him. That's whatever number he gets in there."
*Q: *In Chris Jones sack it seemed that Dontari Poe and Dee Ford were getting plenty of attention – have you noticed with what Dee Ford has done that it has opened up other opportunities?
REID:"Yeah, Dee [Ford] is playing good football right now. He's worked so hard at it. That's the part I appreciate about him. He's worked so hard at getting his game right. When he first came here, he hadn't played the position. Then, he was just a speed rush guy trying to run as fast as he could around the corner, and now, he's worked these moves, continuously, day in and day out. He's got people to learn from – not only Gary [Gibbs], who's his coach, but Tamba [Hali] and Justin [Houston] there. Those guys are willing to share ideas. But, to answer your question, yeah."
*Q: *Where's that confidence level with Cairo Santos right now?
REID:"Well, we've never not had confidence in Cairo [Santos]. He came in, and he won the starting job. That wasn't really expected to happen, and we really haven't ever felt a lack of confidence towards his game. Like everybody, it's a human element. You're going to make some and miss some – that happens. I think we all expect him to get in there and do what he does."
Q:Do you think he's hit a groove in 2016?
REID:"Yeah, you could say that. You've got to knock on wood though because we're only halfway done. It's like hitting a golf ball -- sometimes it's good and sometimes it's not so good."
Q:In this win streak, the defense has a showed a lot of different looks. How adaptable is the defense to different offenses?
REID:"The flexibility within the defense is crazy good. Bob [Sutton] knows all of it so well and is able to mix and match the different personnel groups that he uses according to the looks the offense is giving him. He's a master of the defense and has done a great job with it. To have that flexibility is a big thing. Again, we're playing a lot of guys. We were down for a while there -- we put [Ron] Parker at corner. We were down numbers there."
Q:You relied on some guys like Rakeem Nunez-Roches, Kendall Reyes, Kenneth Acker and a lot of guys
that haven't played a lot.
REID:"One thing about those guys: they come in and they go full throttle. You saw Nunez-Roches out there almost getting a sack. Acker was shaky on his first one and the rest of it he just cut it loose and was coming out of himself. He did a good job."
Q:Alex Smith wore a safety pin as a statement. Can you touch on that and how you allow your players to do what they do and be who they are?
REID:"That's what is so great about America, right? We had the military out there -- that's all part of it.
The NFL does a great job of letting people express themselves not only on the field as players, but also as people. We're just a microcosm of what this country is. It's all healthy. That's what makes this country the greatest place in the world to live."
Q:What's the plan this week for Justin Houston?
REID:"We'll pick up where we left off last week, see how he's doing and if he can get in there and roll, he'll get in there and roll. If he can't, then he can't. He's done a great job of keeping open communication. I know he was feeling pretty good as we ended the week last week. I haven't talked to him today. I know he's looking forward to getting back in -- we'll just have to see how he does. We upped the work load last week and it felt pretty good, but we'll have to wait and see how it goes this week.
Q:Were you close to bringing him up last week?
REID:"We're getting closer. We're pretty close here. We'll see how he does this week."
Q:How did he take the news on Friday?
REID:"He's been good and he understands. The players want you to take their best interest. As long as they know you're doing that and you're not playing games with them, they're okay. We've kept open communication and he's been great with that."
Q:How does Rakeem Nunez-Roches fit the mold of an energy giver?
REID:"He's a big-time energy giver. He always comes to work with a smile on his face. It doesn't matter if it's on scout team or on defense working with the ones there, he goes 100 miles per hour. The guys, because he does that, can take that 'rompin' and they know how he plays. He's going to give you a good honest down."
Q:This defense seems special when it comes to taking the ball away. Those takeaways have often led to offensive opportunities. Can you touch on those opportunities?
REID:"It's important that you believe you can do that and you practice it. It probably goes just the same in reverse. You practice it, you do well in practice and then you go into a game and if you have some success with it, now you can build on it. The guys practice it, the coaches harp on it, the players take a lot of pride in it. If somebody doesn't work to strip the ball out, they're going to get on that guy for not doing it. If you play soft on a coverage and are not trying to get the interception, the other guys are going to ride them about that. That's how it rolls. It's a positive thing, but you've got to believe that you're going to do it."
Q: What do feel is going to be the key for this offense to stride over the final few games?
REID: "A couple of weeks ago, three weeks ago, we were kind of right there doing our thing, doing well in the third down and doing well in the red zone, we have to take care of that first. Our third down percentage the last two weeks have been just terrible. I have to make sure I get the guys in the right position and do stuff the right way. We have to cut it down, we have these third and gazillion yards, too many penalties that are working into that and putting us into long yard situations. We have to take care of that first and then cut those down and then your percentages have a tendency to go back up and then red zone, likewise. We have to stay aggressive in the red zone, but there is a time and place to check it down or run it and I have to make sure I'm giving the guys the opportunity to do that."
Q: You guys are almost 3 to 1 outscoring your opponents in the fourth quarter this year, something you can put your finger on there why you guys have been so good there?
REID: "First of all the guys don't panic, that's the most important thing I think. You saw the halftime and the things that were being said in the locker room with our guys. It wasn't – 'oh you have to do this,' that's not what it was it was – hey listen, we're this close, let's just keep pushing, and they push and push and push and they challenge each other in that area, then you carry yourself through the game with that and pretty soon you're in the fourth quarter and things get rolling. They've kept a positive attitude and that goes so far. Listen if you're going to lose a game, lose it going down swinging at 100 miles an hour someone said. Don't put it back on yourself – oh I could have done this, could have done that – they've maintained that.
Q: Getting it done the first time out, the first time you were faced with that situation was San Diego, does that connect carry a team a little bit?
REID: "Yeah, you mentioned that yesterday. I would say yes, I think it's a foundation that you can always come back to. I also think it's how the group is wired, some of the leadership out there. You talk about Eric Berry and the things he's been through, never give up. He's never going to give up. This is easy compared to the things he went through. Those kind of guys; Alex, DJ, all these guys that have gone through trials whether it's career, physically, mentally, whatever it is, that leadership is so important."
Q: You mentioned that about Eric Berry, do you sense that he was like that even before the cancer?
REID: "Yeah I think so. You meet mom and dad you kind of know where it comes from, pretty good stock right there now. They're upbeat people and they're very positive."
Q: On the offensive line and Mitch Morse.
REID: "Yeah, that was a big challenge for our offensive line. I thought for the most part they held up pretty good against them. It was a team that hadn't been run on very well and we were able to. 32 [Spencer Ware] had a pretty good average going into the second half and had a huge run at the end there. It starts with the center, you start right there. He's the primary signal caller for that front, the transmitter between the right and left side and he's done a nice job with that. He's got a heavy load on him, mentally and physically. He's got a load that he has to digest every week and he does a nice job with that."
