OPENING STATEMENT:"Alright, don't really any have injury update for you, the players are coming in now. I thought yesterday was a good team win, all phases contributed. It's a nice bonus to make it to the playoffs for the whole organization and for the fans. Chiefs Kingdom is a wild place and very loyal in their support of us and we appreciate that. We're going to prep ourselves to play the Raiders, so there are a bunch of scenarios out there – don't really care about all of those. We're going to focus in on the Raiders and make sure we get ourselves ready for a good football team. And listen, we have a ton of things we need to improve on and we'll continue to work on those as we go. Anyway, that's where we're at, so the time is yours."
Q: So you're trying to win this game on Sunday?
REID:"Yeah, that's what we're trying to do."
Q: You're not going to play it like you played the San Diego game a couple years ago?
REID:"I don't know all of the scenarios."
Q: You could clinch the AFC West.
REID:"Yeah, so we're going to get ourselves ready to play Oakland."
Q: So was that a yes or a no?
REID:"That's a yes as we sit here right now, yes."
Q: What would it mean to win the AFC West as opposed to being a Wild Card team?
REID:"They're all big, those are all important things. If you have an opportunity to win the AFC West, I think that's important. At the same time, it's also good to be in the playoffs, that's an important part of your goals as a National Football League team. So we have one of those taken care of, we dug ourselves a bit of a hole, so this is in other people's hands right now, I believe, from what I understand – at least for the first part of it. We'll see."
Q: On playoff scenarios.
REID:"You know what, I'm not very good with those things so I haven't put a lot of time into that right now. I know tonight's deal, I got that. All of the other stuff, I'm not sure on. So I'll look at it. But right now I'm full steam ahead on the Raiders. We've already looked at yesterday's game as a staff and I'm well into the Raiders part of it, so I'm pretty simple that way."
Q: What does it mean to have Jeremy Maclin top 1,000 yards?
REID:"Yeah, well, he's a good player. He was a good player before he came here. Still a good player, but he not only brings the playing part of it, the actual physical part of making plays, but there's a certain attitude he brings with that too. So that's good to have and we're glad we have him and he's a good football player."
Q:Has his skillset allowed you to open up the offense more and do more things?
REID: "He's really a smart guy, so you can move him around. I think that gives you a little flexibility in the offense to do that. Are we doing a lot of different things? Not necessarily. But with him, we can put him in different spots, he handles all that very easily."
Q:Is the touchdown pass from Smith to Maclin an example of the trust that he has with Maclin and how quickly did that come between the two?
REID: "I think it's developed with time here. You have to kind of know – especially in that situation right there. That's about as tight a window as you're going to have – he has to fit it in between the safeties, the corner and then that linebacker that's kind of splitting that triangle right there and right off of his ear. It's not a very big window, so there's got to be a massive amount of trust there and timing and work that's gone into that. That's something that we worked on in training camp and we've kind of kept going here throughout the season. There's that confidence within each other that's built up there."
Q:How much of their chemistry is because they're both smart, cerebral players?
REID: "I think that's important, but they've also got a good skillset. There's a trust that Jeremy's going to be able to get open and in a tight, tight window, that's not always easy to do. You've got to create space at times and then you have to know that he can make all the catches – whether it's down low, high, back shoulder. All that goes into it. There is an aptitude part to that."
Q:What is the reason behind Alex Smith setting career highs in passing and rushing yards?
REID: "Listen, nobody works harder, first of all. I mean, he's a brilliant guy. But just the consistency of being in the same offense, doing the same things – you can see the comfort that he's got there. Listen, do we all have room to improve? Yeah. That's a pretty good thing to say when you're 30-years-old, he can keep going here, he knows it. That's one of the great things about football, you can always get a little bit better. But he's playing at a very high level right now."
Q:When Alex pulls the ball down, he's a runner, he doesn't look to throw it, is that him or is that something that you guys have coached him to do?
REID: "I think that's probably a little bit of both, I guess. He knows he can run. I think the thing that he knows it he kind of knows where the seam on the front is going to be so he can get through. And then he knows what's been accomplished by the route. If you go back and look, there are a couple guys that are open on shorter routes, but he knows that the defense has been cleared out in a certain area where he can maybe maximize what that route was going to take place. He's got kind of a sixth sense there with that. Pretty good deal to have."
Q:So you very seldom second guess any decision he makes to take off?
REID: "Yeah, I don't worry about that. He's got good judgement on things."
Q:What are your observations on the defense without Justin Houston or Tamba Hali?
REID: "I was proud of the guys that stepped up and played. And we've had that all year long. You've seen Danny (Sorensen) come in and play the safety spot for (Husain) Abdullah and then (Frank) Zombo jump in at outside linebacker, Dee (Ford) is getting great play time here and putting pressure on the quarterback. Even though he didn't get home, he was right there and hitting him. We've filled in a few people and I think they've done a good job."
Q: Have you seen any signs that the energy to win nine straight games has taken a toll at all?
REID: "I really haven't. They're as lively as ever. I really haven't seen that. We alter the practice numbers as we go throughout the season, and that helps them. They've got Rick (Burkholder), does a good job with the recovery part of it and they take advantage of that. I think they're staying fresh mentally. I think that's all positive. We're able to play a lot of guys, so that helps."
Q: What do you mean when you say you alter practice numbers?
REID: "Well, you just cut back. As the season goes on, you just kind of cut back the number of reps as you go. That's a common thing every year. That all comes back to your question, 'how do you keep the guys fresh?' Everything is set up from training camp on so that when you hit December and January, the guys are as fresh as they possibly can be after playing a 16-game schedule."
Q: What happened with the lack of opportunities with the ball in the second half?
REID: "Well, exactly. If the other team is able to put together long drives, you should be able to do the same thing. That's the objective there, is to score. There were mistakes in there. There were things where I could have put guys in better positions to do their jobs, and then the guys, there were a couple opportunities there that we needed to take advantage of. That's probably what it was. Joint effort."
Q: Do you anticipate De'Anthony Thomas will be ready for this week?
REID: "I think he'll probably work through this week. There's not a timeline. (John) Dorsey is kind of dealing with that right now. Listen, sometimes you run into a bump in the road in your life and you just kind of work through it. That's what he's doing so whatever direction he goes, he goes. I'm just glad he's physically okay. That's the important thing."
Q: Do you anticipate Justin Houston or Tamba Hali to practice this week?
REID: "We'll see. Day-to-day situation, we'll see how that goes. They've both been rehabbing and working hard. They were both driving me crazy on the sideline yesterday like they wanted to be in there. We'll see."
Q: You take that as a good sign?
REID: "Oh, it's a good sign. They were into it."
Q: Do you feel like this team has had to play with a playoff mentality and urgency these past nine weeks?
REID: "So I would tell you that it's very hard to (win) back-to-back games in the National Football League, let alone do what the guys have done. At least keep your focus that way. You saw it yesterday on a number of cases. It doesn't really matter who you're playing. In this league, the margin between being good and not-so-good is very small, so there's so much parody in this league. For them to have the mental toughness to do what they've done is absolutely a good foundation to build, have been built, and send you into the playoffs with."
Q: What was your evaluation of the national anthem singer? (Coach Reid's daughter)
REID: "Yeah, she definitely takes after her mother, which is a good thing. I thought she did a real nice job. It's hard to hear down there, but I thought she did a good job."
Q: How far is Husain Abdullah in his recovery?
REID: "I think he's close, close to being back here. Pretty good chance he'll be back this week. We'll see. Again, that's kind of the day-by-day thing we're talking about."
