Herm Edwards Press Conference - 11/11

[Tribal Warfare]

Herm Edwards Press Conference - 11/11

Nov 11, 2008, 4:31:48 PM

Highlights

HERM EDWARDS: “I’d like to take a moment to say thank you to all the veterans, all the men and women who serve in our armed forces all around the world. Our prayers go out to them and their families to bring them home safely. We thank them for all they do for us to live in a country where there is opportunity for everyone. You can’t overlook that. My father was in the service for 27 years and I understand what the service was all about.

“The Saints: the number one offense in the league. They can throw it; they can run it. They do a great job of moving the football through the air. They have a lot of rhythm. You don’t hit the quarterback much. They’ve only been sacked eight times and they’ve thrown over 350 passes already. The quarterback is very accurate; the receivers are very good after the catch.

“They’re very explosive and average about 20 first downs a game and lead the league there. They don’t turn the ball over much even though they throw it a lot, only 10 interceptions. They’ve had 40 plays over 20 yards or more and lead the league there. They can dink-and-dunk and throw it down the field as well.

“The defense is pretty good. They’ve taken the ball away. Their return game is pretty god and they’ve scored three touchdowns already and lead the league in punt returns.”

Q: Are all these injuries you’ve suffered just bad luck or it something conditioning-wise?

EDWARDS: “You don’t know why that happens. We’ve just had a rash of them. Most of them we know can get healed. We know they will come back; it’s just a matter of when they come back.

“Lot of starters on that list. The backup guys are going to have to go in and play. What gets you a little bit when you get down to these numbers is practice. It’s not the games so much as it’s practicing because the guys have to take more reps in practice. That can have something to do with it too. You have only so many guys on your roster and to get through practice guys are taking double reps and that always puts a strain on guys, especially this time of year. There are some things we will have to do to adjust during practice.”

Q: Is this kind of a cause and effect thing where you have to work harder in practice and might wear them down?

EDWARDS: “When you go through a practice on a Wednesday there are probably about 120 plays split both ways. Well, when you lose a group of guys at a certain position all of a sudden the guys that were the ‘look team’ are not available because the ‘look guy’ is now the first string guy. So instead of taking 60 reps he might take 80 or 90 reps. You have got to be careful. That can sometimes affect guys if they’ve got to play a lot in the football game.”

Q: What do you do at practice this week? Do you go lighter?

EDWARDS: “They’re in condition. They’re well conditioned. That’s not the problem at all. When you go through practices with only so many bodies it can be counter-productive on game day because of the rest factor. They’re in condition and it doesn’t have anything to do with conditioning at all.”

Q: So are you going to go back to the street again this week to get players?

EDWARDS: “Every Tuesday we always have guys coming in here. Could see some new Chiefs on the horizon. We’ll look at the list again this afternoon and decide what we’re going to do.”

Q: What makes you adjust how you ready a team for a season? Some said Marty worked them too hard, this other guy was too soft. What do you look at? Not tough enough or too tough?

EDWARDS: “These (injuries) are coming in week eight and week nine. That has nothing to do with the season. It’s a little bit of bad luck, I guess. It happens and you don’t why. You always research and wonder why other teams have no one hurt. I’ve gone through seasons where no one gets hurt. This is just one of those years right now.

“These guys want to play. I think if you see the guys that are hurt you know they’re professionals and want to come back and play. A lot of these guys are rookies; they just happen to be starters. They’ll get back. It’s just part of it. We don’t talk about it a whole lot.”

Q: But you must have to simplify things a bit don’t you?

EDWARDS: “No doubt. You know when a guy goes in a game you basically scale it down for that guy when he’s in the game. You do things in practice that you know he’s capable of handling. That’s what you do.

“Now some of these guys you don’t know. A guy comes in from a different system and all of a sudden it’s different now than it would be the first or second game of the season because these guys haven’t been on a team and got cut and been out of football for 10 weeks. Now you’re bringing in a guy and you don’t know where he’s at and you don’t if he’s in condition. You’re hoping he is but he’s not in football shape. You hope if you do bring guys in you hope they’ve been on a roster and just got released. Where it hurts you is on special teams because you’re mixing and matching players and that’s a big deal.”

Q: You’ve got injuries at running back too and what load will Larry Johnson take when he comes back this week?

EDWARDS: “You would think he’s in condition. He’s in condition and has been working out. Now he hasn’t played football in a month so he’s going to have fresh legs. The thing he’s going to have to get used to is getting hit. That’s the first thing. He’ll get hit in practice a little bit. You’re going to give him the ball but he’ll blend into the offense.”

Q: Is he your starter?

EDWARDS: “He’s going to be in the mix.”

Q: Is there anything you can do scheme-wise to help the defense or just wait it out?

EDWARDS: “Well, you’ve kind of got to wait it out because there’s not a whole lot you can do in three days. If you bring some new guys in they’re going to practice tomorrow, Thursday, Friday and then they’ve got to go play Sunday.

“The terminology is the thing that is probably different from where they’ve been. Hopefully, some of it matches. A veteran guy, a guy who has played, he can understand that. A younger guy it might be a little bit bothersome to him. That’s just part of the process of coaching. It’s hard for the signal-caller because as he’s getting ready to call this series of defenses he needs to know who’s in the game.”

Q: How did your new street guys handle it last Sunday with so little practice? You had a safety with one day of practice.

EDWARDS: ”(Oliver) Celestin had one day of practice and played on special teams and did a good job. You know I had him in New York so some things were familiar for him defensively. The end, (Wallace) Gilberty, was the last man standing (at defensive end). Boone was the other guy we put out there to get through. But Gilberty did a pretty good job and hadn’t played in a game since pre-season.

“The corners did okay. We didn’t ask them to do a lot. The one we were in man-to-man and we had to put him in position where he had to cover that guy. But they did okay. John McGraw was the one who had the toll on him because he was playing safety, playing nickel back, and then he was playing corner. He had to play all three positions according to what the position groups were. He was the one with the mental burden on him. I thought he did a really good job.

“Linebacker-wise, Rocky Boiman had to go play ‘Mike’ linebacker which he’s not accustomed to playing. (Wes) Dacus had to go play. I thought those guys did a pretty good job. Dacus is a rookie and Boiman has played some but he hadn’t played ‘Mike.’ We had certain guys playing nickel, ‘Mike’, ‘Will’ and ‘Base’ (linebacker positions) and we had guys playing ‘Mike,’ Will,’ and ‘Sam.’ When they were in different personnel groups they had to flip their brain. (Defensive coordinator) Gun (Cunningham) did a good job.”

Q: How was Gunther on the sideline during this?

EDWARDS: “The worst thing that happened to him, and we talked about it at the owner’s meeting, was the helmet to defensive players system. On offense it goes to the quarterback. On defense you only have two. We talked at the owner’s meeting what if two guys get hurt on defense who are wearing the microphones? Then what do you do?

“Well, the rule is that’s it. You don’t get to use the helmet anymore. You’re out of luck. Well, guess what? It happened to us. Sure. So, Gun is screaming at the equipment guy, almost having a heart attack hollering at the guy, ‘get the microphone in this guy’s helmet now.’ I had to walk over and say, ‘Gun, it’s against the rules. You can’t do that.’

“We give hand signals anyway but that’s one of those things that came about. You generally never think you’ll lose two guys in a game. First it was (Pat) Thomas and DJ (Derrick Johnson) and then it was Donnie (Edwards) and Thomas. If it can happen it’ll happen to us.”

Q: Who will be the guy(s) wearing the microphone this time?

EDWARDS: “That’s a good question. We haven’t decided yet.”

Q: Your offense has had pretty good chemistry these last couple of weeks. What part might Larry Johnson play now that he’s back?

EDWARDS: “He’ll be part of it. I think he understands that. He knows that is what we do now. It’s nothing against him, nothing against anybody. I think you adjust to what your players do well. I think what we had to learn, and what we knew all the time even in the pre-season, is that the quarterback felt comfortable in that situation. If it’s about the system and not the players you end up going down the wrong road. You start out with a system but the system has to be adjusted to the players you have. I’ve always felt that. Tyler (Thigpen) feels very comfortable in what he’s doing and I think has given us the best opportunity to move the ball, get first downs and score. We’re rolling that way and not turning back.”

Q: How does Larry fit in now?

EDWARDS: “He’ll be fine. He’s a good runner and we’ll do some things with him in the backfield. He’s another offensive weapon for him. We’re not going to change what we do for the next seven weeks and hopefully we’ll improve on it.”

[the Talking Can]

I think what we had to learn, and what we knew all the time even in the pre-season, is that the quarterback felt comfortable in that situation. If it’s about the system and not the players you end up going down the wrong road. You start out with a system but the system has to be adjusted to the players you have. I’ve always felt that. Tyler (Thigpen) feels very comfortable in what he’s doing and I think has given us the best opportunity to move the ball, get first downs and score. We’re rolling that way and not turning back.”

wow....herm says something that doesn't make me want to shoot myself in the face....

[KCUnited]

LJ did Herm and the Chiefs a huge favor. Stubborn ass Herm was never going to go away from him, but since LJ took himself out of the mix, Herm has legs to stand on to limit his role.

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

wow....herm says something that doesn't make me want to shoot myself in the face....

Sounds like Herm isn't convinced that Thigpen's not the QBOTF

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

wow....herm says something that doesn't make me want to shoot myself in the face....

This whole Thigpen situation has been causing me to re-evaluate my feelings about Herm.

Granted, their hand has been absolutely forced, but this team has completely changed its philosophy to fit the players, and some credit should be given to that. I'd previously thought that, even if this team had Peyton Manning, Herm wouldn't let him play to his potential. Now, I don't think that's accurate at all.

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by KCUnited

LJ did Herm and the Chiefs a huge favor. Stubborn ass Herm was never going to go away from him, but since LJ took himself out of the mix, Herm has legs to stand on to limit his role.

Kind of. Herm doesn't want any part of LJ, so when he opened the door a crack by ****ing up, Herm slammed it open and sat LJ's ass down.

Without the screw up, it would have been tough to justify (primarily to the owner) b/c of the contract situation.

[the Talking Can]

Originally Posted by Tribal Warfare

Sounds like Herm isn't convinced that Thigpen's not the QBOTF

i have a hard time understanding double negatives

do you mean that herm thinks thigpen is our qbotf?

[Reerun_KC]

Good Ol Flustrated....

[Pasta Little Brioni]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

This whole Thigpen situation has been causing me to re-evaluate my feelings about Herm.

Granted, their hand has been absolutely forced, but this team has completely changed its philosophy to fit the players, and some credit should be given to that. I'd previously thought that, even if this team had Peyton Manning, Herm wouldn't let him play to his potential. Now, I don't think that's accurate at all.

Something like 40 passes and 20 runs against the Chargers in a close game throughout. Who would have that that he'd allow the team to play that way?

[the Talking Can]

Originally Posted by DeezNutz

This whole Thigpen situation has been causing me to re-evaluate my feelings about Herm.

Granted, their hand has been absolutely forced, but this team has completely changed its philosophy to fit the players, and some credit should be given to that. I'd previously thought that, even if this team had Peyton Manning, Herm wouldn't let him play to his potential. Now, I don't think that's accurate at all.

nah.....herm is going to be years of teasing mediocrity....don't be fooled, thigpen or no thigpen.....


this is all my worst fear....thigpen and herm will super charge carl and the true fans into another 5-6 years of the same crap.....all this losing will be for naught...

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by PGM

Something like 40 passes and 20 runs against the Chargers in a close game throughout. Who would have that that he'd allow the team to play that way?

Hum its puzzling to say the least.....

Maybe change or be fired?

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by PGM

Something like 40 passes and 20 runs against the Chargers in a close game throughout. Who would have that that he'd allow the team to play that way?

It's been a year or two ago, but I heard an interview Herm gave where he said that if a team had a QB who was capable of winning a game, you put the ball in his hands and tell him to go win it. He was referring to an elite-level player, Manning, Brady, etc.

At the time, I called BS. Now...well...seems pretty accurate.

[Tribal Warfare]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

i have a hard time understanding double negatives

do you mean that herm thinks thigpen is our qbotf?

The way, I tried to verse my last comment was trying to exclaim that Herm isn't convinced that Mr. Tyler Thigpen is the true QBOTF.

[Reerun_KC]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

nah.....herm is going to years of teasing mediocrity....don't be fooled, thigpen or no thigpen..


this is all my worst fear....thigpen and herm will super charge carl and the true fans into another 5-6 years of the same crap.....all this losing will be for naught...

Same here.... I can see several 9-7 seasons, where the true fans scream, we are one or two players away or its not Herms fault so and so got hurt and caused us to lose games.. Blah blah blah...

If this happens we are in for some very long painful years... Worse than losin 18 out of 19 games...

[DeezNutz]

Originally Posted by the Talking Can

nah.....herm is going to be years of teasing mediocrity....don't be fooled, thigpen or no thigpen.....


this is all my worst fear....thigpen and herm will super charge carl and the true fans into another 5-6 years of the same crap.....all this losing will be for naught...

I think Carl gets canned regardless. If this team continues to progress, what it could mean is that Bill CooHairIck gets promoted for a year, to give Herm one more crack at it.