OPENING STATEMENT:"Alright, I don't really have any injuries for you. The guys are coming in now. Good to win the game. I appreciated the guys pushing through the four quarters. There were some ups and downs, obviously, throughout the game. Everybody stuck together, and I thought did a nice job. [We were] banged up in a couple spots. It was good to get some guys experience in there. We struggled a bit offensively. We'll get that fixed. There are some things we can do a little bit better there. We need to tighten up some of the run defense stuff, but again, I think those four turnovers were big for us.
Special teams, I thought Cairo [Santos] and Dustin [Colquitt], in particular, really did a nice job, especially in the field position stuff – with Dustin. Tyreek [Hill] had a couple nice returns. Again, we caused the turnovers. I thought turnovers, when it was all said and done, turnovers ended up being the tale of that game there – the result."
Q:What's the plan for Alex Smith?
REID:"He'll be back in as long as there are no setbacks here."
Q:So, he'll play on Sunday?
REID:"Yeah.
Q:How much consideration was there to give Alex Smith another week, especially because of Carolina's impressive front seven?
REID:"Well, that has nothing to really do with that part. They're good, but you have to make sure he's okay, number one. So, he seems to be good."
Q:What did you see from Alex Smith last week that gave you the confidence that he would be ready to go this week?
REID:"There were no signs of anything. He was just business as normal. No things like headaches or dizziness – there was none of that. He went out and functioned well on the scout team part of it. There was no hesitation when bodies were flying around him, wasn't flinching or anything. They were all positive signs. He already passed all the protocols. I didn't state stuff that hadn't already been said."
Q:You mentioned that you would do some things with Alex Smith to get his heart rate up and make sure nothing would pop up – I'm assuming you already did all that?
REID:"Yeah, he was all clear."
Q:What's Justin Houston's status for Sunday?
REID:"We'll see how he does this week. Like I said, he'll let me know on that – how he feels. He's obviously been cleared to play, but there's obviously more to it than that. You've got to make sure that you're right, and you have opportunities to practice and get yourself back. We're not in a hurry there. We just want to make sure he's safe going out there and playing. I'm not sure we probably realize how severe of an injury he had there. This guy has really pushed through. His work ethic has just driven him to this point, right here. He's been a beast on this thing. So, it's been fun to watch, but tough to push through. He's done great with it though, man. It was a serious injury that he's coming off, so we just want to make sure he's right."
Q:You mentioned he's been cleared to play. Can you clarify?
REID:"He's been cleared to get out to practice. We just need to take it from there and see how he does. He was cleared to practice the last couple of weeks."
Q:At what point would you decide he's ready to go?
REID:"We'll see how he feels. He's done a great job of communicating with us and with the doctors. We've kept a good open dialogue going. He's looked very good out there. I'll tell you, he's moving around good."
Q:Regardless, you'll activate him by the deadline?
REID:"Yeah, you have to activate him. Unless something changes, I would say yes."
Q:What have you seen from Ramik Wilson over the last few weeks since he's been brought up from the practice squad?
REID:"I'm proud of him for the job he's done. He's stepped in and given us some real good downs. He's had some big plays for us. Right now, he's playing good football. Does he have some things he needs to work at and get better on? Yeah. But he's doing a good job."
Q:What was going on in your mind when you saw him running around after the interception?
REID:"The ball started getting away from his body a little bit. 'Keep that thing high and tight.' You saw the receiver went after the ball there. He just needed to keep the ball high and tight. He was moving around pretty good. He'll probably want to play on the offensive side of the ball now [laughing]."
Q:With regards to Travis Kelce, where do you draw the line between having fun and taking care of business?
REID:"I let common sense step in there. You can't do things that are ridiculous. Even though he probably had an opportunity to gripe a little bit, you can't go overboard with it. The officials are human beings here too. You've got to respect the job that they do, even though you might question if they were really wrong there."
Q:Do you expect Jeremy Maclin's injury to keep him out longer?
REID:"It could. It easily could, but it's day-to-day. We'll have to wait and see how he's doing."
Q:What was the issue with the run defense on Sunday: physicality, fundamentals, gap discipline?
REID:"Probably a little bit of everything in there. We've got to do a better job in a lot of different areas. There are some things we can do to tighten it up a little bit."
Q:Despite all the injuries, this team still went out and got the win. How confident is this team right now?
REID:"They're confident. They expect to win which is important. They go into a game expecting that. It doesn't matter who's in or who's not. That's an important ingredient to have as a team. At the same time, they're willing to work hard and do the things that they need to do. If that starts dividing, and you go, 'Yeah we expect to win, but we're not willing to practice hard and do the right things,' you have a problem. This group stays pretty disciplined with themselves out there. I mentioned this in the press conference yesterday, you're kind of sitting in a weird spot here at that eighth game while other teams are in their ninth games. There is still hope for teams. If you're playing a team with a winning record that's just average, they could easily turn that around. If you have a decent record, that can go the opposite way as well. You really have to stay on your A-game and stay disciplined at this time of the year. Our guys have been focused and it's important they maintain that focus."
Q: Where is Spencer Ware at?
REID: "He has to pass all of the protocol. As I step in here right now, that's where we're at."
Q: Is it conceivable that he'll be ready for Carolina?
REID: "There's a good chance he is."
Q: Is it possible to give Knile [Davis] more work if Spencer doesn't play? Also what was attractive about bringing him back into the fold other than the fact that he knew the offense?
REID: "Well that, and he's a good football player and has had an opportunity to start for us. He's put together good games for us and we have a lot of respect for Knile [Davis]. Is he going to play a ton? Maybe not, but there is going to be a time and a place where he does and that's a comforting feeling to have. He's a good person and he's smart and he works hard, so we appreciate having him here."
Q: When Justin Houston is good to come back, Dee Ford has been playing well, who goes where?
REID: "I don't know. That's a good problem to have. Dee's playing well. Steven Nelson, I probably should put a kick in there too for him because I thought he played well. Coming back on that, it gives us a little flexibility there and Frank [Zombo] has had some good snaps for us too and Tamba [Hali] has had some good snaps. It's a good problem to have and gives Bob [Sutton] some flexibility."
Q: You had indicated on Friday that Bishop Sankey was going to play some, did you guys decide that he just wasn't there yet or didn't know the playbook or was it because of Knile [Davis]?
REID: "That was before Knile [Davis]. I felt Knile could do it, probably better. I like Bishop [Sankey]. I think he's a good football player."
Q: Longer term, do you see Knile [Davis] staying around? Once Spencer [Ware] is healthy and with the new running back?
REID: "I'd tell you yes, but anything is possible in this league. I'm not going to say that, but I enjoy having him here to answer your question."
