OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR ERIC BIENIEMY
Q: How much of a running back pass blocking is technique and how much of it is pure desire?
BIENIEMY: "I think it is a combination of both but you said it at the end. First of all, it is about your attitude and your mindset. You have to go want to block. You have to want to go hit a grown man. Now this is when the technique comes into play. You have to be able to sink your hips, focus on the right target, use your hands, and place your body between that defender and the quarterback. After that, it just becomes a fight. Coach Deland (McCullough) is doing a great job with those guys. Obviously, Coach Tom Melvin is doing a good job. We want all our guys to take a lot of personal pride in protecting the quarterback. When it is all said and done, why? We do things together to accomplish the mission."
Q: How is Kareem Hunt doing in that regard?
BIENIEMY: "He is doing good. Obviously, last season he had a few struggles early in the season but he got better over the season. He is doing a good job. He is like an old, wily vet now. He is starting to get everything back underneath him. He is playing good football. I am eager to continue to see him work."
Q: Does he have the desire to get it done?
BIENIEMY: "Yeah, he does. Yes he does."
Q: What have you seen from Damien Williams that separates him?
BIENIEMY: "Damien is doing a heck of a job. He is a heck of a football player. Brett Veach did a great job of bringing him in and he can do some things. He can catch, he block and he can also run. We love those type of players. We love good football players who can play the running back position. That gives us a whole different dimension and matchup issues for the opponent."
Q: What are you going to be looking for when it comes the third and fourth string quarterback on Thursday night?
BIENIEMY: "I just want to see those two go out there. First of all, from that perspective, I want to see those guys play with some urgency and have some fun, but I also want to see them execute our offense the way we want it done. With Matt (McGloin) and Chase (Litton), obviously we are going to decide on who is playing what amount of time. But at the end of the day, play hard, play fast and let's do a great job of executing what we do.'
Q: What has Cam Erving done to give himself the opportunity he has now?
BIENIEMY: "Cam is very versatile. He can play center, he can play guard, he can play tackle. If you ask him, he can play tight end and running back as well. He also said he could throw it. He is doing a heck of a job. He is smart, he is tough, he is flexible and when you got those guys who can play any position it makes him valuable. He brings that versatility and that helps us. Now we don't get pigeonholed trying to play him in one spot. That helps us a great deal."
WIDE RECEIVER CHRIS CONLEY
Q: Through two weeks of camp, have you learned anything about Patrick (Mahomes) from playing with him on a day-to-day basis that you didn't know before?
CONLEY:"I have learned that he will take chances, and that's good. You want to see that out of a gun slinger and he is getting better every day. You can kind of see his accelerated learning as you come out here. The offense is changing and you're putting in more stuff as camp goes on. When we come back to things we put in in OTAs, he still can go back to those and recall things, details and points and he is building chemistry with these guys really fast."
Q:What have you learned so far from Coach Bieniemy?
CONELY:"He really looks at the offense and coaches us the same way he coached his running backs. It's about grit. You may come up to the line and the defense may show you something other than what you were expecting, but as long as we are on the same page and we give max effort, we can make it happen. The offense has really responded to that. He is really good at encouraging guys, especially on long weeks like this where we've been in full pads and hitting, he helps us find something extra to go that extra inch to get that first down and that score and I think it's going to translate. It's good to have someone constantly in your ear reminding you of minor details and that effort can make a difference."
Q:What kind of value do you put in Thursday and you getting back in between the white lines?
CONELY:"It's going to be interesting. It's been a while. I'm going to test some things out. I'm just going to go back and play football and hopefully continue to knock off rust, build chemistry and prepare for this season. I want to execute the game plan. I want to have quick recall. When you are in the huddle like that for a long drive you get tired. You have to move around. I move around to a lot of different positions so I want my recall to be quick. I want to be able to move around, line up and attack defenses and read those coverages."
CORNERBACK KENDALL FULLER
Q: What's been the best part about competing against guys like Chris Conley and Demarcus Robinson in that slot corner position?
FULLER: "I like how they kind of move all of those guys around, so you get a good look. Sometimes, you've got Tyreek (Hill) in there where you get speed, you get Chris in there where he's good with his hands and gets physical, Demarcus is a little shiftier – so you're getting all of those looks in the inside compared to just seeing just one person every single day. I'm enjoying it."
Q: You've said before that you enjoy exchanging strategy – why someone covered a certain way or why someone did something when you're covering them. When did you start developing that chemistry with guys?
FULLER: "I think that's just a part of football. You see certain stuff. If one of those guys gets me, I'm going to go ask them what they see. At the end of the day, we're competing against each other - but at the same time we're on the same team trying to get each other ready for Sundays. If they get me, I'm going to go ask them a question. If I get a good rep on them and they have a question, I'm going to tell them what I was doing and what I was seeing."
Q: Whose brain are you picking in the secondary?
FULLER: "Everybody. I think one thing I learned when I came in was that everybody has their strengths, everybody has their weaknesses. You get guys who excel at one thing and you pick their brain about that. Anytime you find someone with a strength, you just try and add that to your game. Really just with everybody – with Steve (Nelson), EB (Eric Berry), Am (David Amerson) and Al (Harris). Al's big just knowing how we think and with him having played the game before. That's definitely big."
Q: With the first team defense expected to not get a lot of time on Thursday, what's something you want to take away from the first preseason game?
FULLER: "Going against a different colored jersey. At the end of the day, we talk about that with every snap you just got to go out there and compete. So, really just going out there and competing."
