ChiefsPlanet - Q&A TRENT GREEN 8/25

Q&A TRENT GREEN
Aug 25, 2005, 5:22:55 PM

Q: How healthy is your shoulder?

GREEN: “It feels good, it doesn’t hurt at all.”

Q: Have you been throwing more?

GREEN: “I have been all week. I feel pretty good with where I am now. As we are getting closer to the season we have increased the reps this week and it feels good. I am happy with where I am at this point.”

Q: Will Shields is obviously back, what kind of security blanket is that for you?

GREEN: “Well, he is a 10-time Pro Bowler and he has played in (close to) 200 straight games, so you know what he is all about and what he is going to bring to the huddle with the run game and pass game. It’s been last season since he’s been in live action so I am sure he is looking forward to it and there is definitely a togetherness with the whole offensive line. They have been together for so long that it will be nice having him back.”

Q: Will it be good to have the whole offense back together for this game?

GREEN: “I think it’s good for everybody. The offensive line and Tony Gonzalez has been practicing more after coming off surgery and they have regulated the number of reps he receives. From a wide receiver standpoint I think that’s kind of settling down in terms of who is going to be our guys and who is going to get the work. This is the third preseason game is really kind of the focus point of when you want to hone in on your timing because everybody knows the fourth preseason game is where your trying to have some success but your also don’t want anyone getting hurt before the opener.”

Q: Are they going to open it up a little bit more in terms offensively?

GREEN: “No, it will still be very vanilla. You won’t see many shifts and movements which is kind of status quo for the preseason. You’re not looking to show anything and it’s no big secret what we do. You just have to look at all of our tapes from previous years but there is no reason to give any indication now.”

Q: Coach Vermeil indication that the offense was not very impressive on Saturday?

GREEN: “I thought the first-unit offense was very impressive with our four drives and three of them were scoring opportunities. We had that one missed field goal. We had the touchdown on the other. We had the made field goal. When we were punting range or field goal range after the turnover that the defense got, other than that I thought the first team did pretty well.”

Q: There were 30 reps for the first team offense last week. Are you going to see any more time than that?

GREEN: “I think the plan going in is for all the starters to play the first half and maybe a little bit of the second half just so you get the momentum of coming out of the locker room at half time and then also to get more reps in.”

Q: How is your timing because as you said with training camp you really didn’t work with your full complement on offense?

GREEN: “My main work hasn’t been with Tony Gonzalez that is because of my shortening of reps and his shortening for reps we haven’t really had as much work together. As far with the wide receivers I feel good with them. There has to be more timing between Tony and I and Kris Wilson. But other than that I feel pretty good.”

Q: Where are you in relationship to last year?

GREEN: “From an offensive standpoint I don’t think we are any different than a year ago but other than there have been some guys that haven’t gotten as much work. It will be great to have Will Shields back out on the field to see how he fees and how his back holds up. The more reps we can get as a group together the better. Tony didn’t play last week but he will play this week. Priest (Holmes) and Larry (Johnson) continue to rotate so I think we have been coming together this last week and the last couple of weeks. This will just be an opportunity for us to play an entire half together and hopefully we will just keep moving forward.”

Q: You said you feel better. What exactly feels better?

GREEN: “Just because I haven’t thrown as much. As far as camp arm is concerned my arm is a lot fresher.”

Q: Do you kind of laugh at the concern that people have?

GREEN: “Well see I didn’t even know there is a concern. That’s why when you guys ask me that I don’t know where it’s coming from because I think we are ready to roll. I think the biggest question was whether or not Will Shields is going to be healthy and we will find that out on Saturday night. The fact he has been practicing for a couple weeks has given us confidence but getting in there on a live situation with bodies flying around will help. I think the practices have been sharp. I think when we have had opportunities other than that first game where we moved the ball and didn’t score the second game we moved the ball but we had to settle for field goals. The second game we scored and moved the ball and had scoring opportunities. I am good and I am not sure where the concern is coming from.”

Q: Your right tackle (Kevin) Sampson is out. There must be some concern on your part with some of the wide receivers and rookie wide receivers and injuries?

GREEN: “Jordan Black is playing at right tackle right now and he played last year and played well when he had the chance. It will be great to have Kevin back no matter who the starter is going to be at least we will have a quality back up. Kevin was playing well before he got hurt and Jordan’s played well to this point and he is growing and learning. As far as the young wide receivers I don’t really get much of a chance to work with them because I am working with Samie Parker and Eddie Kennison, Dante Hall, Marc Boerigeter and Chris Horn. Those guys Chris and Marc I have been working with since the off-season because they are coming off of surgeries and I was rehabbing my shoulder so it was a situation where I have had plenty of work with those five and those are the main guys I work with. Once again I am not real sure where the concern is coming but I feel real good with where we are.”

Q: Is the offense in the preseason designed to protect your health a little bit?

GREEN: “First it’s kind of protect the scheme you don’t want to show too much of what we are kind of leaning on for the regular season. You try to keep things pretty basic but also the reason you keep it basic is when you get the young guys in there you want to give them an opportunity to give them success if all of a sudden your doing all the shifting, moving and you have them thinking too much then they can’t show their natural ability. You try to put them in a position to have success. You try to protect the lineman and the backs and you’re not looking to get anyone hurt. In this last weeks game against Arizona Cardinals we went max protection just because with Todd Collins being hurt and Damon (Huard) we are losing some of our quarterbacks so we went to more of a max protection to try and protect James Kilian. Even before I went out of there we did more max protection than you would in a preseason game but a lot of it number one protect the scheme and the other is to protect the players and the third is give the guys an opportunity to have success by not confusing them too much.”

Q: There is a general belief out there that this team can’t afford to lose you, do you share in that belief?

GREEN: “I am real confident in what Todd (Collins) can do. I have said that the last couple years I think he understands this offense and can run it very well. When exactly he’s going to be back that is the concern. Until he gets back, Damon this is only his second year in the offense. Jonathan Quinn is back now. He has been in the offense for a few years. James Killian is new in the offense. I think until Todd Collins gets back there is some concern. I don’t plan on going anywhere.”

Q: When did your shoulder start to bother you?

GREEN: “It was during the mini-camps. Remember I did like the first half of the OTAs and mini-camps then they shut me down. It was all my fault I over worked. I started training in February instead of March. I was over-anxious and worked too hard.”

Q: Do you feel it’s going to affect the regular season?

GREEN: “No, it’s going to help ultimately because they ended up getting that time off. They regulated the number of throws I had in camp. Maybe it’s a blessing, maybe I will be more fresh as we go into the season.”

Q: What does it mean to have Priest Holmes and Larry Johnson healthy do together for the offense?

GREEN: “I think the number one thing is we have to keep them happy in terms of touches. I think they both have proven last season and in previous seasons with Priest case and then throughout the preseason as well as run the ball very well. Then with the offensive line getting back healthy and figuring those guys out it will be great for us. Not only can you keep each other healthy by rotating them around they both have different styles of running so at certain situations we may see one guy more than the other. They both have proven that they are pass receivers. We will be able to utilize both in the passing game. We have to find ways to get them both the ball because they are both explosive and that will be the hard part getting them their touches.”

Q: What about using Larry Johnson over Priest Holmes, when is Larry a better fit than Priest and vice versa?

GREEN: Right now Priest is one of the top two or three backs in the game. Larry has had some success at the end of last year and some success at the beginning of preseason but Priest has proven it over the last few seasons that he is one of the best in the league. I think it would be premature to say that.”

Q: Are there enough snaps in the game to get them the ball?

GREEN: “It depends on how many snaps they both want. I think everybody wants the ball in their hands every play. That’s what makes guys competitors and make them as good as they are. You are never going to be completely happy unless you win games. If you’re winning games everything is well. I think that’s the trademark of this team we have a lot of guys that are unselfish. As long as we are winning I don’t think guys will have too much of a problem.”