Hammock Parties
09-04-2006, 08:37 PM
HERM EDWARDS: “Today was a snapshot of Cincinnati for our football team. You’re just trying to get a hang of certain things they do offensively and defensively. For us, it was sort of getting the “card” team organized (the unit that portrays the opposing team’s offense and defense). Who’s running them, how we’re running them and making sure all the cards are correct. We have to get on the same page.”
Q: Is this the first time you’ve prepared for Cincinnati – the first time you’ve done anything?
EDWARDS: “This is Cincinnati week and we’re preparing for Cincinnati. I’ll leave it at that.”
Q: Did you have a different message? This is for real now?
EDWARDS: “First of all you’re speaking to fewer players – only 61 players, 23 new ones here counting practice squad guys. I said that the first time I took the job over at the Arrowhead Club. I can remember like it was yesterday: there was going to be change because that just happens in this league.
“You’ve got to stay focused now. I told them this: the thing about the opening of the season is there are a lot of distractions all of a sudden. If you’re a young player you’ve gained a lot of new friends because you’ve made a professional team. If you’re a veteran player now the season starts and you now have your ticket requests – your aunts and uncles, your grandma, you cousins who want to come to the game. What you have to realize is you have to prioritize your life now. It has to be important that you stay focused on the job at hand. This is your job, not a hobby. We all chose to do this. You have to make sure your time is allocated in a correct way on and off the football field.
“When you come in this building you have to be prepared to go to work. Period. You have to concentrate on football and that’s it. All that other stuff is fine when you leave the building. There’s only so many days of practice and you have to be prepared to be at your best when you walk into the stadium on Sunday.”
Q: What about Will Shields’ condition?
EDWARDS: “We have the two guards back (Shields and Waters) and that helps your tackles. Casey (Wiegmann) is doing a steady job inside, too.”
Q: Does that mean because he was back at practice today that he’ll play on Sunday?
EDWARDS: “I saw him practicing today and unless he tells me he’s not he’s playing…..the only game he didn’t start was when I was here in ‘93 and we decided not to start him in his first game and he’s been starting ever since. I’m pretty sure he’s going to line up Sunday.”
Q: The Bengals showed a lot of things on offense in the pre-season and the Chiefs didn’t show as many. Does that give you any kind of advantage at all?
EDWARDS: ‘I don’t know that. They did a good job and we were not trying to move the ball offensively, believe it or not. We were trying to score touchdowns. It didn’t look like that.
“They had a good pre-season offensively and defensively. They were big last year and I think they scored 153 points on takeaways. They led the league. Their offense is very, very potent; their quarterback threw for something like 4,000 yards. They’ve got the weapons on offense. They can run it and throw it. They’ve got 11 starters back on offense so they’re polished. Their offense is clicking on all cylinders. Their defense is fast – a very, very fast front. They run around and take the ball away. If you have a team that takes the ball away and an offense that can score that’s a productive tandem for sure.”
Q: You said the other day you were probably not going to use four receivers because you didn’t want to take away Tony Gonzalez. Do you see your fourth guy getting much action at all unless there’s an injury?
EDWARDS: “If Jeff (Webb) has to go in the game as he probably will he’s going to have to play. That’s OK. That’s why he’s on the roster. He’s going to have to play some snaps. I feel very confident whoever we put on the football field is prepared to play.”
Q: What did you think of Kansas City’s receivers as you prepared to play them in last year’s opener with the Jets?
EDWARDS: “I thought they were good receivers – probably not appreciated. Unless you have one of those star receivers then all of a sudden you’re just a guy. You’re a guy that doesn’t have a dance in the endzone, didn’t catch 10 touchdowns a year. The last time I checked these guys have been pretty productive receivers. I think Samie (Parker) has a great upside and I think Kennison has done a good job and Dante Hall, if you get him the ball he can be potent.
“The way I like to play is I like to get the ball around to everybody because when you have gifted players you have the ability to get it to more than one guy. That’s always harder to defend when you’re on defense. When you know they have one guy that you like to get the ball to it’s not easier to defend but you obviously can do some things maybe to combat that. With the ability of these three guys and this good tight end we have the ability to get the ball to a lot of different guys. We’re a formation offense and run a lot of formations to get match-ups.”
Q: Do you have more of an appreciation for these receivers, particularly a guy like Kennison having been around him?
EDWARDS: “When you’re closer to him rather than coaching against him you watch him practicing and you appreciate him a lot more. I just think the system has allowed them to be very, very productive but sometimes they go unnoticed. The quarterback’s the same way. There are some players here who are good football players and maybe in some people’s eyes they’re not the top guys, but teams win. I keep saying that. That’s how I like it and how I coach it.”
Q: Is this the first time you’ve prepared for Cincinnati – the first time you’ve done anything?
EDWARDS: “This is Cincinnati week and we’re preparing for Cincinnati. I’ll leave it at that.”
Q: Did you have a different message? This is for real now?
EDWARDS: “First of all you’re speaking to fewer players – only 61 players, 23 new ones here counting practice squad guys. I said that the first time I took the job over at the Arrowhead Club. I can remember like it was yesterday: there was going to be change because that just happens in this league.
“You’ve got to stay focused now. I told them this: the thing about the opening of the season is there are a lot of distractions all of a sudden. If you’re a young player you’ve gained a lot of new friends because you’ve made a professional team. If you’re a veteran player now the season starts and you now have your ticket requests – your aunts and uncles, your grandma, you cousins who want to come to the game. What you have to realize is you have to prioritize your life now. It has to be important that you stay focused on the job at hand. This is your job, not a hobby. We all chose to do this. You have to make sure your time is allocated in a correct way on and off the football field.
“When you come in this building you have to be prepared to go to work. Period. You have to concentrate on football and that’s it. All that other stuff is fine when you leave the building. There’s only so many days of practice and you have to be prepared to be at your best when you walk into the stadium on Sunday.”
Q: What about Will Shields’ condition?
EDWARDS: “We have the two guards back (Shields and Waters) and that helps your tackles. Casey (Wiegmann) is doing a steady job inside, too.”
Q: Does that mean because he was back at practice today that he’ll play on Sunday?
EDWARDS: “I saw him practicing today and unless he tells me he’s not he’s playing…..the only game he didn’t start was when I was here in ‘93 and we decided not to start him in his first game and he’s been starting ever since. I’m pretty sure he’s going to line up Sunday.”
Q: The Bengals showed a lot of things on offense in the pre-season and the Chiefs didn’t show as many. Does that give you any kind of advantage at all?
EDWARDS: ‘I don’t know that. They did a good job and we were not trying to move the ball offensively, believe it or not. We were trying to score touchdowns. It didn’t look like that.
“They had a good pre-season offensively and defensively. They were big last year and I think they scored 153 points on takeaways. They led the league. Their offense is very, very potent; their quarterback threw for something like 4,000 yards. They’ve got the weapons on offense. They can run it and throw it. They’ve got 11 starters back on offense so they’re polished. Their offense is clicking on all cylinders. Their defense is fast – a very, very fast front. They run around and take the ball away. If you have a team that takes the ball away and an offense that can score that’s a productive tandem for sure.”
Q: You said the other day you were probably not going to use four receivers because you didn’t want to take away Tony Gonzalez. Do you see your fourth guy getting much action at all unless there’s an injury?
EDWARDS: “If Jeff (Webb) has to go in the game as he probably will he’s going to have to play. That’s OK. That’s why he’s on the roster. He’s going to have to play some snaps. I feel very confident whoever we put on the football field is prepared to play.”
Q: What did you think of Kansas City’s receivers as you prepared to play them in last year’s opener with the Jets?
EDWARDS: “I thought they were good receivers – probably not appreciated. Unless you have one of those star receivers then all of a sudden you’re just a guy. You’re a guy that doesn’t have a dance in the endzone, didn’t catch 10 touchdowns a year. The last time I checked these guys have been pretty productive receivers. I think Samie (Parker) has a great upside and I think Kennison has done a good job and Dante Hall, if you get him the ball he can be potent.
“The way I like to play is I like to get the ball around to everybody because when you have gifted players you have the ability to get it to more than one guy. That’s always harder to defend when you’re on defense. When you know they have one guy that you like to get the ball to it’s not easier to defend but you obviously can do some things maybe to combat that. With the ability of these three guys and this good tight end we have the ability to get the ball to a lot of different guys. We’re a formation offense and run a lot of formations to get match-ups.”
Q: Do you have more of an appreciation for these receivers, particularly a guy like Kennison having been around him?
EDWARDS: “When you’re closer to him rather than coaching against him you watch him practicing and you appreciate him a lot more. I just think the system has allowed them to be very, very productive but sometimes they go unnoticed. The quarterback’s the same way. There are some players here who are good football players and maybe in some people’s eyes they’re not the top guys, but teams win. I keep saying that. That’s how I like it and how I coach it.”