HEAD COACH ANDY REID
OPENING STATEMENT:"Really D.J. Alexander is the only one we really need to mention. He had a rib contusion and ended up coming back. He went back in and played. Other than that, we came out fairly healthy. I thought it was good work. I thought our young guys had an opportunity to play. We ended up playing everybody. First time I've ever played five quarterbacks, and I'm not sure if they absolutely got into a rhythm. Last year, they had a chance to get in and do that. We'll take some good things out of this and learn from them. Our young guys will be a little bit better. I was happy with what our veterans did – our ones and twos. I thought they were efficient. Time is yours."
Q: On Pete Carroll going for two at the end of the game?"I'm okay with him going for two. If we didn't have the penalty and make it easy for him. Actually, we had a tackle right there too – a loss."
Q: Did you know ahead of time that Alex Smith would be done after the first successful drive?"Yeah, well I knew I was going to have to maneuver it. You never really know how it's going to work. I wanted to get Nick [Foles] in. I still wanted to get Tyler [Bray] enough reps. So, we got a little bit of a log jam at that spot. I wanted to give all the guys a good look. Alex [Smith] had enough reps there. I was good with what I saw and it allowed me to get Nick in and get him some reps with that first line and got Tyler good reps with the two guys."
Q: Dezman Moses had some big plays out there – is this a continuation of what you've seen from him at training camp?"Yeah, he did a couple good things. He's a good football player. Tough kid and works hard."
Q: What can he bring to you?"He's a physical kid. He's got good hands is what he has. He's a good special teams guy."
Q: Were you happy with Chris Jones' pass rush?"I thought he had some positive plays. He was close on a couple. Initially, when he got in that first bit – the couple first three plays he was in. Then, he was close on a couple other ones, but I thought he did a nice job."
QB ALEX SMITH
Q: Alright Alex, you get one drive to show them your stuff, were you locked in on one drive or were you going to go until you scored?"Yeah, first quarter is what we were told. You know, I think the older you get you try not to do too much. Obviously you know you have limited time and it's easy to say, 'oh we've got to score, we've got to do this.' For me, just kind of, 'let's go out and be in the moment and be in each play and try to go out and execute.' We didn't put a huge emphasis on game planning this game so it was really just kind of go out, for me just kind of trust any of the training we've talked about all of camp and offseason and just go out and make the plays that were there."
Q: With the emphasis being on staying healthy the first round, and then just execute, is that something? "Yeah you're just trying, I mean you've been going against each other for two straight weeks and here's a chance to basically go against a different team. They haven't seen our stuff we haven't seen their stuff and how do you match up? You know, I'm sure neither team put a lot of emphasis on game planning, so really you're going out with your fundamentals. Obviously it's a dress rehearsal, practice in that sense almost."
Q: Who told you that you were done after that series and what did they say to you? "Coach Reid. Yeah once we scored it was similar to a couple of years ago when we'd gone down and scored in a first preseason game as well, he pulled the starters. He had set it almost as the incentive for the first group if you do go out and score in the opening drive. But it was good, the biggest thing you want to do is move the chains a few times, get into a rhythm, extend a drive. Nothing worse than putting a three and out together, so to go down and to finish the way that we did was nice."
Q: Only eight plays, is that enough to scrape the rust off?"Yeah I mean there's four preseason games. You know I don't know what the mark was. I don't even know, like you said it was just kind of first quarter. In the past we've talked about 12, you know like I said to get eight and score. Coach decided that that was enough at that point."
Q: Do you feel like that's progress even though it's not a whole lot of work? "You know it was fine for me. I felt good about it. When coach said obviously… you'd love the reps, but when coach said it, you get it and you understand it and there's three more chances."
Q: I imagine you're pretty satisfied, especially with the third and nine in the redzone, you kind of squared up, felt the pressure. What did you see on that play? "Yeah I was really trying to hit Kelce in the middle of the field and actually had him open. I had kind of lost vision, the d-lineman had kind of jumped as I was going to throw it and just kind of tucked it and all of a sudden just kind of found myself rolling out. You know Mac [Maclin] had made a nice play on the sideline keeping his feet in."
Q: So you didn't see a passing lane there to Kelce? "Yeah that's why I kind of ended up tucking it, I was really trying to find him inside and it was there when I looked at the sideline pictures. If I'd had thrown it though it definitely would have been batted it felt like, that's kind of why I ended up tucking it and getting out to the left."
Q: The adjustment that Maclin made on that route, is that something that you kind of knew that he was going to do? "Yeah we talk a lot all off season and even at camp. Whether it be seven on seven, working scrambling drills, you know such a big part of the game. There's a descent chunk of plays that break down and you've got to go play ball. A lot of that is dress rehearsed. You understand guy's habits. There is a pattern to the chaos there on scramble plays, and you know it is rehearsed, and the more you practice it I think the better you get."
Q: How do you know it's a job well done for a preseason game like this? Does Coach Reid come up to you before he takes you out? "Yeah it's quick. I think you know yourself. At this point, especially now. So we had the sideline tablets that are showing you the play, so it wasn't even just pictures, I literally got to watch the film already. You know pretty quick right there. A lot of times you even know it when you're playing. So yeah at this point though, coaches will go through it and we'll come back in and we'll all have dwelled on it. You know there's always something you miss though, or something Coach Reid saw or Nags [Nagy] or somebody that you didn't see."
Q: This was a chance for a lot of the young guys to play in a game today for the first time, what's the value of that for Tyreek Hill? Do you learn, do you grow from a game because that first one's out of the way? "No question, absolutely this is a step. I talked about it kind of leading up that this is kind of that next step in camp and in our season and our progression. Like I said, going against each other for two weeks and here it is. I get it. You know it's been obvious that no one cares about your preseason record, but none the less these are such learning experiences for everybody and for young guys. I think even just all of the little things; how do we do pregame, your locker, what tunnel do we run out of. I mean all that stuff to kind of have all that down once the regular season starts is extremely helpful. You don't have all that clutter in your head, you know what you're in for, especially the home game. And then none-the-less though it's a great learning experience there at the end for that last group, how to finish a game. Especially for the whole team. I think ultimately there's so many NFL games that come down to this, that you feel like you dominated, you feel like you were in a great position and you let teams hang around and then all of a sudden a couple of plays and they're right back in it. Similar we had a couple of those games last year."
Q: Talk about the depth you have at running back, wide receiver and what those weapons mean to you guys?"Yeah, I feel like there's a lot of depth across the board at the skill positions, whether it be running back, tight end, receiver. Coach [Andy Reid] put out there that everybody was going to play in this first game. It's tough with the kind of depth that we have, I feel like, but those guys did a great job getting everybody in, getting everybody a chance to get on some tape. We're deep – we're deep across the boards. [John] Dorsey and Coach [Andy Reid] are going to have their hands full whenever it comes to decision time."
Q: What did you take away from watching from the sideline today from the other quarterbacks and this offense?"You've been practicing, quarterbacks have the yellow jersey on out there in practice. We aren't totally live –it's not totally real football for us and here's a chance where it was and a chance to let your instincts come into play as well and move in the pocket. Broken plays happen, and I think a true test of a quarterback is on game day for sure. Practice isn't quite the same. So, for all of those guys, it was fun to go out and watch them compete and watch them make plays. You know, it's tough from the sidelines always evaluating, but it was fun."
Q: Why did you spend time talking to Kevin Hogan on the sidelines?"I can remember being that guy. I remember my first preseason game well, and how fast it was, and how many nerves you have going and how anxious you are. So, for me, to just try and help him. He's a good kid. He works hard and here's a chance. So yeah, just have him go out there and trust himself, trust his eyes, trust what he's seeing, what he's coaching up to this point and that's it. It's not much."
