[Wile_E_Coyote]

Q&A QB Trent Green

Dec 16, 2004, 4:06:45 PM


Q: WR Eddie Kennison has made some big catches and had some big games in recent weeks?

GREEN: “I think a lot of it has to do with his health. He got hurt in training camp and missed almost all of training camp with two separate injuries. Once he got back in there he’s played well all year. Early in the season I think he ended up having a hamstring problem, missed a couple of games in the first half of the season. Now that he’s back and healthy, he’s very productive. He’s on a nice streak right now.”

Q: Are you making a concerted effort to get the ball to him more?

GREEN: “This offense is based on reads. There are times you can call certain plays because you want to get one person more involved than another, but it’s more of a progression-type offense. It just so happens that he’s been the guy that’s come up with big plays.”

Q: Talk about the long TD pass to Eddie early in the game against Tennessee?

GREEN: “That was just a double move and fortunately they got confused in coverage. Later in the game we tried a double move to Johnnie (Morton) and they had the right coverage on. It wasn’t that we were trying to get the ball to Eddie and not Johnnie, it was just the way they happened to play it on that play. Sometimes timing works to your favor.”

Q: Is having Eddie back in the lineup going 100 percent make it harder for Denver to key on TE Tony Gonzalez by putting CB Champ Bailey on him in coverage? That seemed to cause some problems for you and Tony in September.

GREEN: “Eddie played in the first game, he caught the first bomb. It did cause some problems and its something I’m sure they’ll try to do again. When you look at the amount of attention (Gonzalez) gets – the Raiders put Charles Woodson on Tony. If that’s who they feel is going to be the biggest threat in the passing game, I’m sure that’s who they’ll continue to put it on. With Eddie playing as well as he is, hopefully that will be able to continue no matter who they put on him. We weren’t very successful in the passing game the first time we played them. We were effective running the ball but not as effective passing as we need to be in order to try and find a way to win this week.”

Q: Are you more confident in RB Larry Johnson now?

GREEN: “Yeah, and it’s not just me, its everybody. The way he’s hitting the holes; the way he’s setting his blocks. The linemen feel better about him; (offensive coordinator) Al (Saunders) feels better about him. You can tell by the play calling, by the number of opportunities he’s getting. He’s maintained the right demeanor. He’s carried himself well these last couple of weeks instead of all the criticism he was taking earlier in the year and last season. He’s just kind of going about his business and played hard and done a good job. Hopefully that continues.”

Q: With the Chiefs offensive line, could anyone have success rushing the ball?

GREEN: “I wouldn’t say that. I feel good about the way our offensive line blocks. Obviously they take good care of me. If you look at the running backs we’ve had with Priest (Holmes), Derrick (Blaylock) and Larry in there, it still takes a good running back to be able to do it. We’re fortunate that we have three guys who are able to do that.”

Q: Do you feel pressure to score every time you step on the field with the struggles the team has had defensively?

GREEN: “We take that approach no matter how the defense is playing. Our goal is number one to get some first downs and move the ball and get yourself in the position to get points. We’ve taken a lot of pride in the Red Zone the past couple of years and not just from a points standpoint with field goals, but touchdowns. That’s what we strive for in every possession. There is at times in specific games, added pressure to score on every possession or score quite a bit.”

Q: Is it tougher to have success in those situations where you feel pressure to score?

GREEN: “It doesn’t make it any tougher. You go out with the same mindset every time to score points. You don’t put any added pressure on ourselves. I think where it comes into play is later in the game, you tend to take more risks. You tend to try and maybe squeeze the ball in there that you would not actually do if you had the lead, so that’s really the only time it comes into play I think, when its later in the game and you’re trailing and trying to catch up, sometimes you have to try too hard.”

Q: Do you talk with the defensive players about that team concept?

GREEN: “Over the last three years, everybody has tried to make it an offense/defense battle and there’s none. We have to get it done as a team. We’ve had opportunities on offense where we’ve messed up this year and haven’t held up our end of the bargain. Just like our success last year was a product of all three phases. So yeah, I communicate with those guys all the time.”

Q: After having all summer to prepare for the opener against Denver, is this game going to be different having only a short week?

GREEN: “It’s very different. Going into the season with very high expectations, they came out with a win. We felt at this time of year we’d be battling for the division lead and a playoff spot. They’re still in that position and unfortunately we’re not. So it’s a much different attitude and approach and I’m sure if you ask them, they’re trying to stay in the hunt. They’re trying to win a game and we’re trying to salvage a season. It’s a much different approach by both teams.”

Q: Are you looking forward to the opportunity to derail Denver’s playoff chances?

GREEN: “That really hasn’t been brought up this week, either by coaches or players. I think it’s just a division game. It’s a rivalry going back a long way and there have been a lot of great games just the four years that I’ve been here, overtime games, games that have come down to the final play. I just think it’s a great series to be involved with. Right now we haven’t brought any of that up. It’s more just the opportunity to play Denver, a division opponent and because it’s a back and forth series and we’ve just got to play our best.”

Q: Is there any credence in the thought that wins now just mean that you’re sacrificing your draft position?

GREEN: “No, it doesn’t. We’re just trying to win games. At least I hope nobody in our organization is thinking about draft picks. I know from a player standpoint that we’re all still focused on the same thing. As far as outside forces, I don’t let that influence me good or bad.”

Q: Could it motivate guys, knowing that the draft pick might be the guys that takes their job?

GREEN: “I’ve said that for a few weeks. People ask ‘What are you still playing for?’ And the answer is your job. Unfortunately we’ve been out of the playoff race picture for a few weeks now, so if guys want to be around here… there are going to be changes made on both sides of the ball. We had 15 new players from a year ago when we were 13-3, so right now we’re in much worse position and you think there’s going to be changes. If guys want to stay a part of this, you’ll see it on the field.”

Q: What are your impressions of Broncos QB Jake Plummer’s gesture to the crowd last week being a fellow member of the quarterback club?

GREEN: “It’s tough because we’ve all been in that situation. Obviously, if you ask him, he wants it back, those few seconds of concentration lapse you wish you could have back. There are times when people say things or throw things that you want to respond, or something negative happens on the field where you want to have an outburst on the sideline. You’ve seen players in the past have an outburst on their coaches or another player or throw their helmet. There are times when everybody feels like that through the course of a game. Your adrenaline is pumping. It’s a tense game, a tense environment. It’s tough to maintain your composure in that kind of environment. Like I said, we’ve all (been there). You want to do it, but I don’t respond good or bad, that’s been my policy. I started that a long time ago. It’s real hard to ignore, because when somebody’s saying something good or bad or you’re winning in the fourth quarter, having fun on the sidelines, you want that reaction from the crowd. But what you’re doing is just setting yourself up. You’re setting yourself up in that regard.”

Q: Is it different when it’s caught on camera? Does it change the way you carry yourself?

GREEN: “There’s a couple of guys that have been caught in spitting incidents. Back in the ‘50s and ‘60s, we have a couple of guys here who played (then) and they could say (what went on): biting and pulling, you read books about the guys down in the trenches and all the dirty stuff that happened. Now everybody has to act much differently because of all the cameras and different angles. It’s a more scrutinized league both on and off the field. There’s a lot of tradeoff. From a financial standpoint there’s a huge tradeoff there. The TV contracts are the things that are really paying our contracts. The reason the salary cap continues to go up is the money people pay to see the games.

There’s much more scrutiny. And 20, 30 years ago, when things were going on, on and off the field, many of you know there was a lot of stuff that took place off the field that just got swept under the rug.”

Q: But for a quarterback to react the way he did, isn’t that the guy who is always supposed to be cool and collected?

GREEN: “You know, I think we’ve had our cast of characters at the quarterback position. I think the guy that comes to my mind, that I’ve met a couple of times, the energy he brought to the game – (former Bears QB) Jim McMahon. He did everything to stir the pot. Anything he could to break the trends, go against the stereotype he did. There have been plenty of guys, but the normal, stereotypical role of the quarterback; you don’t typically see that response.”

Q: Can you put your finger on what the difference has been in the fourth-quarter wins the last two weeks?

GREEN: “I don’t necessarily think so. I wish we could have figured it out a long time ago. Certainly Dante (Hall)’s kick return set us up about the 35, 40-yard line. We didn’t have any timeouts, fortunately we had a couple penalties go our way and we had some big plays up the field where we were able to get out of bounds, able to get first downs, get the clock stopped and those kinds of things. The last few weeks we’ve been very fortunate.”

Q: You talked about taking chances more often later in the game, but those last two drives didn’t seem to have a moment where you were forcing the ball?

GREEN: “There was one last week early in the drive that I forced to Tony and (LB Keith) Bulluck tipped away. That was just dumb on my part, once again just trying to force a play up field. Going back and watching film, I had a checkdown and the next play I went to the checkdown and got seven yards to give us a third-and-short situation, which it would have been much better to be in a second-and-short, second-and-medium situation. Sometimes I just have to remind myself, ‘Hey, we have 1:30, it’s not like we have 30 seconds and we have to go 60 yards. Even though we didn’t have timeouts you can still work the clock a little bit.”

Q: Is it a matter of not looking up the field so much then and trying to get smaller chunks or yardage?


GREEN: “I tend to look up field quite a bit. It’s just trying to be smarter, smarter in those situations.”