Herm Edwards Press Conference - 9/30

[Tribal Warfare]

Herm Edwards Press Conference - 9/30
Sep 30, 2008, 5:01:12 PM

Highlights

HERM EDWARDS: “Carolina: a good football team, a very physical, tough football team. They’ve played in a lot of close games thus far. They’re scoring about 20 points a game and giving up about 17. They run the ball for the most part, have two good receivers in Smith and Muhammed, have two good running backs. The rookie running back has scored four touchdowns and is averaging about 4.4 yards a carry – out of Oregon.

“The quarterback is a veteran guy, tough guy, a good football player. They run it, play-action pass it, play good defense. They play field position football basically. They have two kickers and their kickoff guy, Lloyd, generally kicks the ball in the endzone so generally 84% of the time you’re playing on the long field and their defense does a good job of not allowing you take long drives on them.

“They’re even in the turnover ratio and when they’re plus in giveaway-takeaway they’ve won 13 consecutive home games.

“It’s a game where you can’t let the score get away from you because it you do they’re just going to pound away on you. They don’t blink and they play tight games.”

Q: How is Branden Albert?

EDWARDS: “Branden Albert is okay and probably questionable. His elbow is pretty swollen.”

Q: You don’t expect him to miss much time?

EDWARDS: “I don’t know that.”

Q: Is it a dislocation?

EDWARDS: “It came out and went back in.”

Q: Is it going to require surgery?

EDWARDS: “No, nothing is broken. Kind of when a finger comes out, except it’s an elbow.”

Q: Is Patrick Surtain going to be back?

EDWARDS: “He’s going to try and go, he’s going to try and practice.”

Q: If he’s ready are you ready to make a permanent change with Carr?

EDWARDS: “We have three starting corners, I know that. I don’t know if Pat is able to play a whole game yet. We need them all. I know that. We haven’t made a decision.

Q: Do you know any other team that is starting two rookie corners?

EDWARDS: “No, just us.”

Q: Do you think that with the win the youngsters grew up a little bit?

EDWARDS: “I think they found out how hard it is to win in this league. It’s difficult. It’s not as easy as you think when you come into this league, especially when you come from programs that have won a lot of games.

“The thing we did, and we talked about it all week, was having energy. You’re not going to play perfect, and don’t worry about playing perfect. It’s about playing with energy and passion and they did that. They did it for four quarters and in a close game.

“You look at four of the games we played in, most of the time at halftime with the exception of Atlanta it was close. It’s a one-score game. This was the only game that we actually led. I think they understood you’ve got to keep your emotions going, you can’t worry about the score. You just got to keep playing and if you keep playing and play hard good things will happen. It happened for us and we got some breaks, we took the ball away, we had great field position. But when you play hard and with passion good things happen to you and we took advantage of it. We played very good in the Red Zone and we scored some points.”

Q: Did you think the passion wasn’t there before?

EDWARDS: “No, it was there. I thought it was there in the first half. In New England it was there. Oakland it was there. This game it was there. Atlanta, it got away from us because of the big plays and it was a more confident. We have so many young guys playing they kind of didn’t know what to anticipate. This week it was a little bit different and we talked about it. It was my main objective to talk to them about that. We have to just keep playing. We can’t worry about if we don’t have a lot of points at halftime. So far, we haven’t. That’s who we are right now, but you’re in the game and you’ve got to keep playing.”

Q: How did Herb Taylor grade out the second half?

EDWARDS: “He played good. What he can do is he’s a pretty good pass protector. That’s one of his strong suits. We found out that last year. He can pass block.”

Q: Is Glenn Dorsey coming on, are you seeing it?

EDWARDS: “Oh yeah, he really played good this week. He did a good job. He’s getting better. After four games now they’re kind of getting it, understanding what it takes, they’re growing up. That’s what I’m seeing. They’ve got a long way to go but what I’m seeing is they are a lot better now than they were our first game.”

Q: Brian Waters made the comment after the game that the young players have learned how hard you have to work to get a win.

EDWARDS: “That, and you can’t look for anybody else to help you. There’s nothing to say. It’s more about playing. I keep stressing this and I keep stressing this and I think it’s important: the one thing you have when you’re a young guy you have talent. That’s what gets you in this league. But you also have passion. You’re not going to know how to do everything correctly. That’s part of the process of learning how to play. You’ve got to keep playing with passion. Don’t let your passion die because you’ve made mistakes and are over-analyzing things, thinking like a robot, like I don’t want to make a mistake here if I do this. You can’t worry about that. You’ve got to go play.

“We made some errors. We didn’t do everything right. But we played so hard we could cover up for it. If you continue to play like that you’re going to get better.”

Q: Were you concerned that some of the young players were getting discouraged?

EDWARDS: “I think they were questioning their talent. You can’t question that. The way you overcome that is you just have to keep playing. Just play with energy and going fast. Just to keep playing fast.

“We tried to simplify some things for them, but the only way you learn is to play and the more they play the more confident they become.”

Q: What’s Tamba Hali’s status?

EDWARDS: “His knee was bothering, sore from last week’s game. He did a good job of going in and battling because we’re really thin at the end position, as you know. He’s not full-speed yet, but for him to show up and play I thought that helped us.”

Q: Along those same lines, you are still struggling to get pressure on the quarterback. Is there anything you can do to fix that during the course of the season or is it personnel?

EDWARDS: “The way you do that is to bring other people. That’s a way you can get it done. You’ve got a young end in Johnston and he played better this week. Tamba wasn’t a 100%, so that’s where it’s at. Turk is playing well and is learning too. But we’re going to have to bring pressure other ways if we’re going to get pressure on the quarterback.”

Q: How much of being a pass rusher is having it or getting better?

EDWARDS: “You can get better but the natural guy is a natural guy. Some guys just have good feel for it. The great ones have that, whatever it is.”

Q: Tony Gonzalez talked about how disappointed he was in not getting the three yards he needed to set the all-time record in receiving yards. What are your thoughts on if he should have gotten the ball?

EDWARDS: “When you’re a competitive guy — and Tony is very competitive – you wish it would have happened for him yesterday. He’s at home. It would have been a great venue for it to happen. It’s going to happen – eventually. He’s got 12 games left.

“But it doesn’t happen. His competitiveness comes out and when you want something that bad and you’re that close you just figure why can’t we do it. Well, I was in a situation in that football game where when I aware of it, it was a little bit too late for us to do that.

“I’ve always been a guy who believes team comes first. I couldn’t do it; it wouldn’t be right to do it. It wouldn’t be fair to me or the football team. It wasn’t anything against Tony at all. It was just the circumstances you’re in. You just can’t do it because there are a lot of things you have to answer when you do it about football and how it should be played. I believe it’s played a certain way and when you’re trying to win a game – and we hadn’t won a game in such a long time – to put that in jeopardy you can’t. You cannot do it. I wasn’t willing to do it.

“I think Tony and I had a great conversation. I told him where I was at. I told him I know how you feel but the day you accept your jacket and bust at the Hall of Fame I want you to think about this conversation we had today. I bet you’ll smile. Tony’s fine. If he does it on the road I’m sure this organization will do something for him when he comes home for our fans and for everyone else. It’s well deserved.

“You talk about a guy who’s going to break all the records in the history of tight ends. That’s a great tribute to him and what he’s done for this organization and he’ll be rewarded.”

Q: Were you satisfied that he was no longer upset after talking to him?

EDWARDS: “One thing I don’t try to do is convince people. I just tell people the truth, this is my side of the story, you have your side of the story. I’m not trying to change your opinion. It’s not about that. It’s about me telling you where I’m at and what I have to do, what my job and my responsibilities are to this football are. It was a great conversation.”

Q: Considering that you guys got a victory are you surprised or disappointed he was that upset about it?

EDWARDS: “I wasn’t anything. I’ve been a player. I get it. I get all that stuff. It’s taken nothing away from our win. Tony was elated we won the game, no doubt about it.

“I remember this as a player. Harold Carmichael when I was in Philadelphia broke a record. They stopped the game, they brought the trophy out, they brought his wife out and he got a standing ovation in Philadelphia. We go in the locker room after the game was over with and he says, ‘Herm, I wish we had won the game. If we had won the game I would have given this back. I just wanted to win the game.’

“It’s the way it is. It just didn’t work out this time. He’ll break the record, no doubt about it and he’ll get all the accolades he deserves and he deserves a lot of them.”

Q: With Tony going past another record and you rebuilding why not trade Tony and get picks for him? What’s his value in a rebuilding process?

EDWARDS: “Because most people in today’s world of sports hardly ever finish with the team they start with. Tony has a chance to do that. That’s hard to do anymore. If you start somewhere and finish there and get the accolades he’s gotten so far, that’s really big. It’s big for him, big for this organization.

“I think he’s going to be a Chief long as he wants to be a Chief.”

Q: Do you see him influencing the young players? Do you see a Dwayne Bowe look at the work he puts in to play the way he does?

EDWARDS: “He’s helping Dwayne Bowe; he’s helping (Brad) Cottam a lot. That’s what the pros do. They give something back to the game. It’s not about what you’re going to receive from the game because you receive a lot of things as a player. You receive accolades, you receive a way to make a leaving. But what do you give back to the players who follow you? I was taught that by Roman Gabriel on my walks to the practice field at training camp every day.

“That’s what Roman Gabriel taught me: how to be a professional football player. What it took. ‘These are things I’m going to give you that money can’t buy. Conversations and how to practice and how to prepare.’ That was done by a pretty good quarterback. I walked with him every day and learned what it took to play in this league. That’s what pro players do. They let them know what it takes to be a professional football player.”

Q: Don’t the other guys, too, see the way he works after practice?

EDWARDS: “Absolutely. What are you willing to put in on your own time? At the end of the day it’s your profession. What you put in is what you get out and your talent alone is good, but if you want to be one of those top echelon players you have to work hard and that’s what he does.”

Q: What is it about San Diego State in the ‘70s that it produced two NFL head coaches?

EDWARDS: “Lot of double transfers to San Diego State, lot of renegade players. That’s how I ended up there. It was JC’s (junior colleges). That’s how they used to be in the ‘70s. It was JC players on those teams in the ‘70s and the ‘60s. It was a four year school but it was basically JC guys. It was kind of ironic because most of the guys were either JC guys or guys from big schools. I was at Cal and left. Little bit of a renegade school. There were some characters there.”

Q: And yet it’s the place that produced two guys from the same backfield that became head coaches. Could you have imagined that?

EDWARDS: “If I would have thought that I was going to be a head coach…now John Fox had a shot. I could see him being a coach. He was kind of like the captain on the defense, the safety, very analytical. You could see he was going to be a head coach. He knew then that he probably wasn’t going to play pro football. Sure enough, as soon he got out he went to small schools and started coaching. He worked his way up the chain.

“For me, I was just glad someone would accept me to go to school. I was a renegade.”

Q: But you had the pros in mind, too?

EDWARDS: “Well, I had that ambition. I was fortunate. A lot of people helped me along the way. I took a hard road to get here. Somebody gave me a chance. I wasn’t drafted, but a lot of it was probably because I was a double transfer and had a lot of hair on my head and when the coach asked a question I asked him why we had to do it. I was probably one of those guys who was a smart aleck and had long hair. Kind of made me a free agent.”

Q: Who was your coach there?

EDWARDS: “Don Coryell had just left. He had just recruited me and went to St. Louis and Gilbert took over there. Madden coached there, obviously. Joe Gibbs. They all were out of San Diego State.”

Q: Do you feel a weight has been lifted off your shoulders with this win? Do you sleep better?

EDWARDS: “I kept asking my wife in bed about 1 o’clock, ‘we won right, honey?’ And she said, ‘yeah, we won honey.’

“I just feel for everybody: for the players, the organization, for our fans. I mean, our fans…that game felt like Arrowhead. You could just… It was different. The energy the fans brought the players felt. I think the young guys needed to feel that. They hadn’t felt that and for them it was electric. It was Arrowhead, the fans, everyone involved in the game. Now, you feel you can move on. We don’t have to worry about that any more. We can just concentrate on the game.”

Q: How did you approach the Denver game?

EDWARDS: “If they get 10 possessions, we need to try and hold them to two touchdowns and three field goals. What we had to do is, they do kick the ball off, because they score a lot. Hopefully it’s on field goals. We need to have our kickoff return team give us good return yardage so it’s on a short field. We have to take the ball away twice. We did it more than that. We did it four times.

“We were on the plus side of the 50, six times. Out of those six times, we scored four.

“The next key for us when we had the ball on offense, was to take the clock down, every time we had the ball, was to take the clock down to four seconds before you snap the football, to take time off the clock, so we could keep their offense off the field. That was a little bit of the plan we had and it came to fruition. We were going to run the ball. We weren’t going to get out of running the ball. To run the ball, you have to keep it to a one score game. You can’t go behind by two scores. If you do, they are going to put you in a position where you are going to have to throw and we didn’t want to do that. We wanted to stop them from running. We wanted them to throw the ball because we just felt if you throw the ball enough times, we can maybe take some of those balls, or hit the quarterback. We were able to.

“t kind of worked out for us. The plan kind of worked. You always have these plans before the game, you change the plan. The plan was good. For us scoring early was important; we haven’t had a lead. That’s why when we got down there, I was settling for field goals because I knew where we were at. If you don’t make it and you go for it on fourth down, that deflates this whole football team. That would deflate us. I wasn’t going to do that. We wanted to score and that’s what we were able to do.

“We ran the ball because we were trying to play small ball, not large ball. Take as much time as you can off the clock, Keep running the ball, keep running the ball. Don’t get into a passing game with them because it’s going to be difficult.”

[aturnis]

I'd say it would have been playcalling. When Brodie was in, they played it safe like they have done early in games all year. Not to mention it was the first game of the season. We started the season pretty conservative, and have slowly progressed the playbook with each series.

I don't know that the leash was for Brodie, or for the offense. I do know though, that Brodie looked great in training camp.

[mikey23545]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

I effing hate this stupid mother******er. "I just couldn't do it. I could not put an individual above the team."

Stupid ******ing, self-righteous prick. How about putting Trent Green above the team in the play-off game against Indy?

He acted like TG was some practice squad receiver asking to playing QB, saying it would hurt the team, that was trying to win a game, by throwing a pass to TG. Effing liar, he does not give a shit about winning a game, i.e leaving Thigpen in after 5 straight three-and-outs in Atlanta, even though he claimed all week that Huard would come off the bench if Thigpen did not perform.

I have never hated this prick more than I do now after watching him pretend to care about winning, and bagging on TG.

I can't wait till this kool-aid serving, minstrel show preacher is on his way out of town!

Wow, you're quite the idiot.
TG's self-centered tantrum has absolutely no place in team sports. He should have kept is arrogant mouth shut.

You'll probably never be able to grasp the idea unless masturbation becomes a team sport.

[Marcellus]

I would laugh harder at all the Hermanisms if he wasn't our coach, or we were winning at a .750 clip instead of a .0750 clip.

[smittysbar]

Originally Posted by mikey23545

Wow, you're quite the idiot.
TG's self-centered tantrum has absolutely no place in team sports. He should have kept is arrogant mouth shut.

You'll probably never be able to grasp the idea unless masturbation becomes a team sport.

TG deserved it, team sport or not. Most teammates would go out of their way to help for an accomplishment this big by one of their teammates.

[aturnis]

No, he's not stupid, he just thinks swole is a word. Ever since he's been coaching this team, I've listened to him say that and could not believe it. Doesn't anyone correct him?

He has many other words he misuses, mispronounces, or just makes up. Idiot.

[aturnis]

No question, the team should have gotten him the record this week. In front of his fans, and his family. Classless by Herm. I do agree though, that Tony could have left his feeling unspoken.

[FAX]

Originally Posted by aturnis

I'd say it would have been playcalling. When Brodie was in, they played it safe like they have done early in games all year. Not to mention it was the first game of the season. We started the season pretty conservative, and have slowly progressed the playbook with each series.

I don't know that the leash was for Brodie, or for the offense. I do know though, that Brodie looked great in training camp.

I think you're right. As the season unfolds, we're seeing a subtle difference, Mr. aturnis. It appears there are a combination of issues driving the play selection ... some of it is entirely dependent on the game situation and the quarterback on the field, which is completely understandable ... but there are other factors as well ... I suppose part of it is Herm's overwhelming desire to establish the run no matter what (and it's safe to assume that's intended to try and get the o-line in sync, get LJ going, burn clock, etc.), part of it is Herm's nearly irrational fear of turnovers in the passing game, and part of it is (was) an attempt to bring Croyle along slowly by reining him in. Granted, Croyle's only been in a few series but the playcalling is even more conservative (if that's possible) when Croyle's in the game as compared to Downfield.

To me, that last part is (was) a little out of control. Other than experience (and that's why I thought we were playing the young guys), Downfield doesn't seem to have an edge on Croyle. He certainly can't run the boot or rollout. Nevertheless, they seem to allow him to pass the ball more often even though he has more INTs and sacks. Go figure.

FAX

[Hammock Parties]

We're also running a lot more play action now, although I did notice most of the play action was mostly one-man routes. That's OK, though. Baby steps! The offensive line blocked well for one of the old Vermeil play-action passes - the fake handoff, fake reverse, throw over the middle thingamajig!

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by aturnis

No, he's not stupid, he just thinks swole is a word. Ever since he's been coaching this team, I've listened to him say that and could not believe it. Doesn't anyone correct him?

He has many other words he misuses, mispronounces, or just makes up. Idiot.

I wasn't aware that a degree in English was required to be a football coach.

If you want DUMB ****ing press conferences, look no further than your resident D-Coordinator.

Gunther couldn't put together a 5 word sentence if you spotted him the first four words.

[FAX]

Originally Posted by Claythan

We're also running a lot more play action now, although I did notice most of the play action was mostly one-man routes. That's OK, though. Baby steps! The offensive line blocked well for one of the old Vermeil play-action passes - the fake handoff, fake reverse, throw over the middle thingamajig!

If we can keep the running game going anywhere close to where it was on Sunday, play action should be money, Mr. GoChiefs. Between the RBs (we're deep there, by the way) including the FB, the TEs, and Bowe we have targets. I can envision us using the play action in combination with the bootleg to potentially do some serious damage.

FAX

[smittysbar]

Dane and Herm settin in a tree K I S S I.....................

[Otter]

Not one thin dime till this guy and the person who hired him to be a head coach is gone.

[ChiefsFanatic]

Originally Posted by mikey23545

Wow, you're quite the idiot.
TG's self-centered tantrum has absolutely no place in team sports. He should have kept is arrogant mouth shut.

You'll probably never be able to grasp the idea unless masturbation becomes a team sport.

I am an idiot? TG has done nothing but give to the team, Chiefs fans, and this organization. He could have demanded a trade, left this team and left this fan base for a chance to win a championship, but chose to stay here.

Have you ever been proud when they talked about TG being the best tight end ever? Were you glad he was a Chief?

If you were, then you should have wanted him to get the record at home, like he wanted.

I bet you would have been one of the morons booing DT at the end of his career. I am an idiot? I am a Chiefs fan, and TG is one of the greatest Chiefs.

And it would not have hurt our chances for winning at all. Unless Croyle or Thigpen was under center.

[CoMoChief]

Originally Posted by smittysbar

At the end of this, Herm was asked something about the QB position. He replied something along the lines of, he won a game, hopefully he can win another, then if he does then it will get interesting after the bye. Stay tuned, and took off.


I swear to god, if he throws another season away on Huard, I am done!

If Huard helps us get to the playoffs then leave him in.

The best thing for this young team long term down the road is to learn how to win in this league, and learn how to win without particularly a QB. Learn how to take over a game in the running game or defensively. Learn how to take over the game on ST. These young players all around need to learn how to win and the best way for them to win is with the best players on the field. Right now our best QB, the one with most experience and the one that's been most successful is Huard. Whether you like it or not he's the best that we got. He's not long term obviously but right now we don't have a long term solution. I think the coaches are realizing the fact that Croyle is fragile and that it isn't anything new. Some just get injured too much to really have an impact on the field. Thats just the way it goes sometimes. I mean Croyle dropped into the 3rd round because he was inj too often in college with surgeries etc. It's not like it's anything new and his physique isn't anything to be excited about when someone slams him into the turf like in NE.

I'm not saying we are gonna make the playoffs. But I sure as hell want to try and win every game possible and not just tank ****ing games because we need higher draft picks. There are going to be good draftees in the first round regardless. We just need to learn how to draft better in late rounds. That's the key. We had our huge foundation draft this season. Now we need to look a little in FA and add 3-4 more starters through the draft and this team can compete. Getting a QB in next seasons offseason is a MUST FIRST PRIORITY though.

Can Huard lead us to the playoffs? I can't say. I would bet no, but he also went 5-3 and led us to the playoffs when everyone thought our season was over when Green went out. When our running game can bust loose this team can hang with almost anyone. Now the defense is better, we have more speed, and I think the big win at DEN kinda opened up the eyes of the younger players on defense and may have given them more confidence and swagger, which is what these players need at this point, especially what has happend the first 3 games with the shitty play. I think the players started to lose faith in themselves coaches everyone, and started to believe that they were the worse team in the league.

What I do know is that thie season Huard gives us the best chance to win. The players need to know the coaching staff is doing eveything they can to put them in positions to win. with Thigpen the players looked hopeless, they looked tired, like they just wanted to quit and looked like they didnt have a chance to win. Rightfully so as the Thigpen experiment in the reg season is just a giant slap in the players faces. How the **** can this team have ANY success on offense or defense at all when he's starting for the first time against first teamers when the game is so much faster than what he's been used to. You make those decisions in preseason, not when real games are at stake.

These players need to know how to win games. That is the best thing for this team right now. Huard doesn't need to lead us to glory with huge stats, he just needs to not make mistakes and make the throws when he needs to make them. He was VERY efficient last week for the most part. YPP needs to increase and it will with better playcalling. Just put the best players in position to make plays and this team can compete. The best thing that could happen for this young team is to make a run at the playoffs. That would set a lot in stone for years to come.



I've been smoking a lot of pot tonite so I've just decided to have a positive post once in a while. Since this place deserves one.

[DaneMcCloud]

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

I am an idiot? TG has done nothing but give to the team, Chiefs fans, and this organization. He could have demanded a trade, left this team and left this fan base for a chance to win a championship, but chose to stay here.

Really? Where was he going to go?

Could he predict that the NY Giants would win the Super Bowl in 2008? The Colts in 2007? The Steelers in 2006?

Tony Gonzalez could have left the Chiefs after his contract expired but he'd need knowledge from the future in order to "win a championship".

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

Have you ever been proud when they talked about TG being the best tight end ever? Were you glad he was a Chief?

Proud, because a I'm a fan of team? Are you ****ing kidding? Should all the Patriots fans across the country be "proud" of Tom Brady? Or Randy Moss? Give me a ****ing break.

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

If you were, then you should have wanted him to get the record at home, like he wanted.

There's no "I" in team.

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

I bet you would have been one of the morons booing DT at the end of his career. I am an idiot? I am a Chiefs fan, and TG is one of the greatest Chiefs.

I'm sure you'll be cheering for Larry Johnson to get a few carries to put him in the record books as well, I take it?

Originally Posted by ChiefsFanatic

And it would not have hurt our chances for winning at all. Unless Croyle or Thigpen was under center.

According to 90% of the jokers that post here, the Chiefs can't game plan for shit.

What makes you think they can gameplan for a "special" Tony Gonzalez play?

And why should they?

Is Tony Gonzalez above the team?