CHIEFS VICE PRESIDENT OF SPORTS MEDICINE AND PERFORMANCE RICK BURKHOLDER
BURKHOLDER:"Alright guys, on Dan Sorensen, Dan hurt his left knee at practice earlier in the week. He has what's called a tibial plateau fracture. So, it's his tibia, which is your shin bone. He has a fracture there. He was fixed at the University of Kansas Health System by two surgeons, John Sojka and Paul Schroeppel. He also had an MCL injury, a medial collateral ligament injury, and lateral meniscus tear. They were all fixed and we now have to wait for the bone to heal. With all bones that are broken we wait six weeks so there is no timeframe other than we are going to re-examine Danny at six weeks. He'll be up here today starting his formal rehab with us. Thank you."
HEAD COACH ANDY REID
Opening Statement:"I'll fill in a couple of the other (injuries), (Leon) McQuay didn't work today, he rehabbed. (Jimmy) Murray didn't practice today, he's got a sore knee. Dillon Gordon, a shoulder. (Keith) Reaser, a quad strain, and then we mentioned (Dan) Sorensen to you with Rick (Burkholder). (Anthony) Hitchens did partial today, it was good to get him back out there. (Derrick) Nnadi was partial, again good to get him back out working. Dee Ford was sick, so we got him out of here, and then (Makinton) Dorleant tweaked his hamstring right at, I think, the last play, so we'll just see how he is. I talked to you yesterday about the game, there were some good things, there were some things we need to work on, the effort was good, we've just got to clean up some of the fundamental things. We're throwing a lot at these guys, we've cut way back for the game. Again, they'll see the tape today, they haven't seen the tape yet. They'll see the tape today, have a chance to study it and see where we need to improve. But overall, the effort was good. With that, time is yours."
Q:Can you remind fans what your primary purpose is for these early games?
REID:"Yeah, so you look around the league and most teams are running the ball quite a bit in the first game, especially with the starters. My idea was to get some reps trying to throw the football and get Patrick (Mahomes) a little full, live, contact there, give the offensive line some contact, and so that's what we did. We knew that the quarterbacks were only in a short period of time, I wanted to maximize as much as we could. There are some things we could clean up. You need to get that on tape. You need to see it, you need to feel it, that's what the preseason is about, I don't hide much with it. As far as what we're doing, we don't really game plan for it at all. We just got to call up some plays that we feel pretty comfortable with and go with them."
Q:Andy, at what point does camp become less about player evaluation, player development and more about preparing for the Los Angeles Chargers?
REID:"Normally once you get through that third week. That third preseason game, you kind of start turning things towards that, up to that point you're still in camp mode and kind of grinding away."
Q:Do you feel like Patrick Mahomes had one of his better practices for camp up here?
REID:"Yeah, I believe he did. I'll have to look at the tape on it, but it looked like he did some pretty good things. Not a lot of shots down the field, not a lot of short routes, we're really working heavy, we tried to do it in the game too, just that intermediate-long route thought, not just that dink and dunk stuff that you need during the season. You're going to have to do those, but that's not what we went into the game with and we kind of did that same thing in practice, today."
Q:Is it fun working with Patrick Mahomes? Clark Hunt said he could detect a bounce in your step, does it energize you working with a talented young quarterback?
REID:"Yeah, well he makes it that way. He's excited to learn, and we are teachers, is what we are as coaches. You appreciate guys that look you eye-to-eye and you're able to give them something and then they go. I always tell these guys that the greatest players I've been around, I've been lucky to have been around some Hall of Fame players, and the one thing they wanted you to do as a coach is to give them one more thing to even make them greater than they were and then to go try it, and try it live. He's that way, he's attentive, he wants to know everything. You always hear the sponge thing, that's kind of where he's at in his career right now, he wants to know everything."
Q: Can you speak to the importance to having the alumni here at camp?
REID:"I love that. That's what it is about. The history of the game. Those guys are the ones that build it up so that (the current players) can have what they have now. Between the military keeping us the land of the free and these alums for setting the foundation, they are very important people. I'm talking about the military veterans and this group here. They are a big part of what we have going here in the National Football League and we appreciate all of it."
Q: How much are you hoping you can play as many guys as possible against Atlanta?
REID:"The one thing we do is we get everyone in the game. You funnel. If you can picture that, you kind of funnel as you start getting to the season. Right now it is broad and you are playing and you are seeing combinations and mixing and matching people in there. You don't have an extensive game plan. That is what we are doing, trying to give guys opportunities to play and play fast to the best of their ability. We will start funneling it down as we get closer. Till then, you are going to see a lot of bodies moving around."
Q: How eager are you to see Ragland and Hitchens together on Friday or later?
REID:"You have to be smart with it. That's just how it is today. We are doing that. I just want to make sure these guys are right. They are coming out in practice and we practice fast. When you can get out here and do that and gradually build himself up and then we will just see how it goes from there. You want to play but you want to make it right."
Q: How does that go into your assessment of stopping the run when Hitchens and Ragland are out?
REID:"Listen, I expect everyone that gets in there to play. I've told you that before. We had a lot of guys who weren't playing that normally would be in there, but somebody gets hurt, you have to go. You have to step up and you have to do the right things. That's where it will be a great learning tool for me and for the guys. You have to fit everything the right way and you have to make sure you are paying attention and somebody goes down and you're in, let's go."
Q: After looking at the tape, did you like what you saw in terms of playing by the new rules?
REID:"Yeah, I will be curious when I get the reports from the league. There was probably one call that I would like to see what the deal is. As far as big hits go with the head and not head and all that business. There were a couple with the down the field rules. How sensitive are we going to be on down the field throws? That helps both sides out. It helps the offensive guys and the defensive guys to know what you can get away with and what you can't get away with. The officials, they are going to over officiate early. They are going to let you know. Now is that what is going to be real during the season? That's what we need to know."
Q: What are the biggest thing you want Mahomes to look at in today's film session?
REID:"I'm not going to get into specifics. He's got to get in and study the thing. He made a couple nice throws and there are a couple he can learn off of. One in particular, there was a little bit of pressure on the other one. He can get in and just see, it is hard in that first quarter. You get in a little bit of a rhythm and all the sudden you are out of the game. He can learn from it. There's some things he can learn from it. He will get in and do that."
CENTER MITCH MORSE
Q: Looking at the tape after the preseason game, did anything jump out to you that you didn't realize immediately?
MORSE:"I think we definitely need a little sense of urgency with the one-group. We did a few good things but there's some things we definitely need to work on. That's with every game and every practice. This was just a glorified practice, which was tough. There's definitely things you look back at and have to look at yourself in a difficult and critical manner, but if you have five guys doing that and figuring out how they can get better and corelating that to the football field and practice then we will be a better football team."
Q:With the way you guys are trying to ramp up for September, how important is it in Atlanta and Chicago for you to get more reps to prepare you for the regular season?
MORSE:"Any chance we get to step on the football field is a chance to get better, whether it's out here or it's out on the playing field with a different team. I think repetition is a huge part of getting better and getting cohesive as a unit, especially with a quarterback and center. Going out there and just practicing and playing with a purpose of working on your craft, getting a little better at the nuances of the game and competing is key."
Q:Was there a level of frustration with the ones after the first quarter of the first preseason game or just a sense of having a baseline to work forward from?
MORSE:"No, it's definitely frustrating. You are not going to come off of that and be okay with how it went. Sometimes you need a kick in the pants to rev it up, get out there and see what you need to work on. If anything, we are glad it happened now. We wish it hadn't happened, but if it's going to happen, now is the time so we can get out there and be all-cylinders firing by the end of training camp. It's not going to be perfect next game. We are just going to get better little by little every day. That's all we can ask for."
LINEBACKER REGGIE RAGLAND
Q:Reggie what's it like taking that long flight from Mexico City knowing your body wasn't where it needed to be to start camp?
RAGLAND:"It was tough. When I first got over there it swelled on a Friday. I ran on turf, it depends on the turf, it sometimes aggravates my knee. Then that Sunday I had the flu. Then I got to Mexico with the elevation. Me not being smart I should've put a knee sleeve on. Then when I got out there in the elevation it took my knee and blew it straight up. It was tough not be out there with my guys for the first couple weeks. Everyone kept telling me take your take, make sure you're right when you come back and that's just what I was doing. Rick and his staff have done a great job getting me prepared and to come back."
Q:Now that you've gone through some workouts do you feel 100%?
RAGLAND:"I'm still sore at times. But it's football, if you can't work through soreness you might as well not play. That's the name of the game working through it. I've been working through it and just trying to get back to myself. Get in better shape."
Q: Do you think it's going to change what you've been able to do in terms of stopping the run?
RAGLAND: "Don't worry we're going to stop that run. We ain't playing this year about that run. We are going to stop it this year. Everybody has the right mind set. First couple practices where we got into pads everyone was talking about [Anthony] Hitchens coming down and if you go back and watch film he was doing a great job of doing that. Then when I finally came back in and did my first nine on seven and everything that line, that wall is there. We got the guys to do it but at the end of the day it's all about attitude when you want to stop the run. You have to want to do that. Offense you can do it nonchalantly, do what you have to do but on defense majority of our stuff we have to want to do it. I feel like we have the guys to do that. We got the coaching staff, we got everybody. We just have to put it together and we have to be one as a team."
