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CHIEFS CO-OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR BRAD CHILDRESS**
Opening Statement:"We are entering in the dog days here. Just finished one of those dog days. Another tough one tomorrow, players' day off Thursday, mock game Friday and ready to play on Saturday."
Q:Are you doing anything differently with Charcandrick West than you would have with Jamaal Charles?
CHILDRESS: "We're just running our offense. All of those guys have different things that they do well. I think EB [Eric Bieniemy] does a good job putting them in the spots where they can succeed as well as Coach [Andy] Reid. They're both doing the same type of things. We expect them both to do the same type of things."
Q:What have you learned from Nick Foles being here?
CHILDRESS: "He's a quick study. It's great that he has been involved with the verbiage part of this offense before. Again, things have changed, so he has to adapt to some of those things that have changed when he left for St. Louis, but I think he is a big picture guy. He grasps our concepts. I just think he's a smart guy and comes to it quickly."
Q:Can what Tyreek Hill has done out here at camp translate to a game?
CHILDRESS: "Well, that's what we are about to find out. I know Dave [Toub] is anxious to watch him return, and we're anxious to see him play as a receiver, and that's what these preseason games are for."
Q:Is Tyreek big enough to break tackles?
CHILDRESS: "He's powerful. He's a packed up little dude – explosive guy."
Q:What's going to be the biggest hurdle for Nick Foles to overcome?
CHILDRESS: "That's a good question. I don't know if there are a lot of hurdles. The biggest hurdle is being fluent in our language and being able to have the words paint a picture in his mind, not stutter in the huddle – may cost you time at the line of scrimmage. Like I said, that's coming to him here. We've thrown a ton at him. We've taken him back all the way to first installation. We had install No. 10 last night, so he had some catching up to do, but he did a good job in the two-minute period there."
Q: Can he have enough time and enough snaps from now to the start of the regular season to get him ready to be your number two guy – if that's what you choose to do?
CHILDRESS: "Yeah, he's getting plenty of snaps. I think play will determine that as we go down the line, surely that will be a Coach [Andy] Reid decision."
Q: Can you tell based on his experience - based on playing games before - his ability to communicate things in the huddle is pretty clear? Is he a good communicator?
CHILDRESS: "Yeah, he knows when to take a breath, he knows when to change his tone - when to look at somebody - he points if there's something special about a call. You can tell he's been in a good command huddle."
Q: It seemed like one of the things Chase Daniel was good at was preparing guys during the week of the game, to get ready for that game. Do you feel like [Nick] Foles will be good at that as well?
CHILDRESS: "Yeah and I think that's what is key when you're talking about a backup role is a guy who takes limited reps but still is able to come in – know the game plan and be able to come in and execute. It's rare – it's a hard thing to do when you're not getting to see it in real time. We say you've got to take mental reps. But he's got to be kind of a pair of eyes for Alex [Smith]. When you come off the football field – like all those guys are – and that's having a good backup quarterback. The guy that has the ability to come in and translate your game plan that hasn't done as much in the week."
Q: Aside from Nick Foles, have any of the other quarterbacks stood out to you?
CHILDRESS: "We grade them every day so I would tell you different guys on different days. We are always interested to go in - you always have a gut feeling when you leave the field - but then you go in and verify it as you look at tape. That grades those guys everyday – there are hard eyes on the quarterback. But I'll just tell you there are different guys on different days out of the three."
Q: What does Ross Travis offer as a tight end, kind of a complete tight end?
CHILDRESS: "He's a big, tall athlete who has a wide-ranging catch radius. He's explosive, he can run – we know what he looked like running against our defense all last year. We're anxious to watch him play in a padded situation – we see some of it here. But when the lights come on - what's the guy able to do."
Q:How would you describe the quality of throws you see Tyler Bray make out at practice?
CHILDRESS: "We keep that every day too. They have a fine system and they have an incentive system for what percentage they throw. They know what percentage they've thrown for or what percentage we had the drops in, what percentage it would be then. They're tracked literally practice-to-practice and then they all look at it very intensely. They like to have a lot of debate at the end of the night on 'Oh I should've been given this one, that was a drop', but yeah he's [Bray] done a good job with his accuracy so far."
Q:So they don't always agree with their grades that you guys give them?
CHILDRESS:"No, but the eye in the sky don't lie, so we just take it right off of there."
Q:As far as [Ross] Travis goes, how is he grasping the offense and also, does he profile as a guy that can be an in-line blocker one day or is he more of a move tight end?
CHILDRESS:"Right now he'd be a push and pester guy. I'm not going tell you he's a removal guy at the end of the line of scrimmage. That's something that we'd like to have him do, have him play next to a tackle. I do believe he's a hybrid type that can open up and split outside and create some mismatches out there."
Q:Is he picking up the offense pretty good or is it still a process too?
CHILDRESS:"Still a process. He hasn't played since Chaska, Minnesota. There's good football in Chaska, but you know."
Q:Does Tyreek Hill's speed make throws, especially downfield, that may not be pinpoint accurate, look accurate because he can catch up to a lot of those throws?
CHILDRESS:"He's got a lot of make up speed. It's hard to out throw him, and our guys have found that out in this camp. It's hard to stick one out past where he can go. That's what's great about these camps is [learning] how is he getting off press and how much can he connect on a ball. That's why sometimes we throw tight windows or sometimes we throw it long to see where guys can go. That's what we're all kind of calibrating right now as quarterbacks."
DT DONTARI POE
Q:Until Justin Houston gets back, how important will it be for you guys on the defensive line to play at a high level? POE: "We've been putting pressure on ourselves since day one. It's up to us to carry this team just as much as anyone else to see how far we can take this team. It doesn't matter who is in or who is out, we've got to perform at a high level every day."
Q:Is the defensive line at an all-time high at this point since you've been here?POE: "Yes, I think so. Coach (Britt) Reid has been doing a good job as a D-Line coach of putting us in the right positions and letting us play. When he lets us go out there, we show up and make plays."
Q:Do you compare Kansas City's defensive line to other teams?
POE: "I don't really compare, we just try to be the best players we can be. I feel like we can be the best in the NFL. Like I said, we put a lot of pressure on ourselves on performing at a high level. It's not up to anyone else what we can do, we just need to go out and do it."
RB CHARCANDRICK WEST
Q: How do you feel like you're running right now? Do you feel like you've kind of hit your stride here at camp?
WEST: "Oh yeah, I feel like the offensive line is doing a great job, they open up some holes and that makes my job pretty easy."
Q: How much has a year in the system made a difference for you for how comfortable you are with a ball in your hands, how comfortable you are running around?
WEST: "It makes it a lot easier. Like I said our offensive line is doing a great job. So what we're doing, knowing where to be makes it a lot easier and makes you more confident because you can just go out and play. You don't have to worry about where to be, when to be, you know what you're doing so you can just go play."
Q: Do you feel like there's less stop and start with practice now because guys all know where they're supposed to be?
WEST: "That's a good thing about having a lot of guys back. There's no stop trying to get guys caught up. Everyone just comes out here, and we just kind of roll with it. It makes practice a lot smoother."
S DANIEL SORENSEN
Q:Who are some guys at the safety position that you've grown up liking or taken stuff from? SORENSEN:"A lot of the guys that I've been able to play with here in Kansas City. Husain Abdullah was a guy that I looked to -- especially when playing in the dime position. I still go back and look at some of the things that he was able to do. Eric Berry, Tyvon Branch, all those guys have been good to watch in the pattern and see what they do. They're all veteran guys with good experience. Outside of that, just the guys I've been able to practice with day-in and day-out have been great as well."
Q:How would you say you and Eric Berry's games are different?SORENSEN:"Eric is extremely athletic, so he's able to get away with a little more. I've found I need to be on top of everything. Technique and leverage are a few of the things I've been working on out here. Eric Berry also has great technique -- but I've got to make an emphasis on focusing in on the details."
Q:With missing Eric, Husain, and Tyvon, who has stepped up as a leader in their place?SORENSEN:"Ron Parker is a guy that's been here for a number of years. He's really stepped into a leadership role as opposed to years past. Marcus [Peters] has stepped into that role with the corners with the success he had last season. There's a lot of youth in that room, so we look up to those two guys who have a lot of experience."
