Chiefs Pantalones
09-07-2006, 03:52 PM
Q&A WITH HERM EDWARDS - 9/7
Sep 07, 2006, 3:09:06 PM
HERM EDWARDS: “I thought practice went pretty well for the most part. There are still a lot of things we have to do between now and Sunday to prepare. I think our players have a good mindset about Sunday and the team we’re facing – a playoff football team that has won a lot of games on the road.
Q: How much work does Kevin Sampson need to get to start Sunday?
EDWARDS: “Well, if he doesn’t really practice a lot tomorrow I don’t know if he’ll play. If he can’t move around like I need him to move around you’re in kind of a predicament because I hate to dress guys that hadn’t practiced all week. You only have the ability to dress 45 players and you want to make sure that the guys that are active can play. You don’t want to dress guys who are hurt.”
Q: Does John Welbourn have a place here after he finishes his suspension?
EDWARDS: “We’ll just see what happens. I don’t know where that fits and Carl (Peterson) has to comment on all that. That’s not my forte. When something like that happens to a player I work for two other people, so they have to make the decision on where that lies.”
Q: But as a coach, what do you think?
EDWARDS: “Well, as a coach you’re always looking for good players but you never want to put the team in harm’s way. That’ll be discussed by Carl and he can answer better than I can.”
Q: On a broader front, do you think steroid abuse is worse than one might imagine in the NFL?
EDWARDS: “No, I just think it gets magnified if you talk about 2,000 players on (NFL) rosters. It’s like in society, you can say that one or two people don’t make your society. I don’t think one or two incidents in the National Football League make it an epidemic. Maybe they do it at times because they’re hurt trying to come back from an injury. I really don’t know. But I think if you put things in your body there are consequences. And if they’re things you’re not supposed to put there and you’re tested there are consequences. But I don’t think there’s an epidemic at all. I just think some players make bad decisions without knowing they made a bad decision. It doesn’t necessarily make a guy a bad guy. Sometimes you never know why. I don’t know all the answers.”
Q: This is the first time you’ve had all the offensive line practicing with Sampson just missing. Are you concerned about that?
EDWARDS: “It’s really the first time in a long time. It’s really the first time in a long time our offensive team has played together. We’re waiting for this guy to get well, this guy is missing, that guy is missing. So, the guys we are anticipating to play are all in the flow to play.”
Q: Does Sampson have enough time to get ready?
EDWARDS: “It’s going to have to be because we don’t have any more. That’s it. They start the game at 12 Sunday.”
Q: When you signed Ron Edwards and James Reed did you imagine they would be starting on opening day for you?
EDWARDS: “I imagined that we were going to create competition and that’s what you need. Thus far those have been the guys that have done the best job of being consistent. That doesn’t mean that it’s set in stone at that position but right now they are the guys that have done the better things that we’ve asked them to do. They’ve been very, very consistent. They’ve been available and the two guys that are there with them are guys who have played better and are going to have to help us in this game especially against a team that runs some hurry-up and gets off a lot of plays. You’re going to need your defensive linemen.”
Q: So that’s it, their consistency?
EDWARDS: “And they’re doing some things that we want them to do. But there’s always going to be competition there. The more you have them competing it helps you get better.”
Q: Are they giving you things you weren’t going to get from the other guys?
EDWARDS: “I didn’t have an opinion one way or the other when I took this job. When you go on other people’s opinion on how they feel about other players…I don’t buy into that. I try to start off on an even playing field and let them compete. You find out. At this point there are two guys that are going to go out there with the starting 11 but as the game goes you’ll see there will be a rotation system. You dress 22 defensive players and out of those 22 there will probably be between 15 and 16 guys that play a lot on our defense because of what we do. That’s important even with the guys that aren’t going to play a lot because every guy needs a role. Once you have a role you have to understand your role, don’t get comfortable whether you’re starting or a backup guy. You always need to try and improve. I always say if you want to play more be a productive player. If you do good on the field you’re going to play more.
Q: Is that the same competition you have between Kendrell Bell and Keyaron Fox?
EDWARDS: “When you’re a starter you have to lose the position. Someone has to take it from you. At this point we have two good ‘backers there and we have four good ‘backers that we feel really good about that can play in rotation. That’s one of the strengths of our defenses. I think we have seven linebackers that we really like.”
Q: Taking what you said about the linebackers, were Reed and Edwards head and shoulders above the other guys on the defensive line?
EDWARDS: “Like I said before, they were more consistent and they did the things we thought at the end of the day put them (starting). Like I said, that can always change. That’s a constant change if you let it. Like I always tell players, if you’re the starter stay the starter. If you’re the guy behind, then take it away from him if you want to be the starter.”
Q: Is there a key to taking one element away from the Bengals since they have so much that can hurt you?
EDWARDS: “They’re very, very balanced and that’s what makes them very, very good. I just think they play well together as a football team. Their offense does a good job of making big plays through the air and running the football. Their defense does a good of taking the ball away.
“The best way you stop high-powered offenses is your offense plays. The more your offense is on the field the other team doesn’t have the ball and that’s a good thing.”
I agree with Herm. Lets run the ball every play.
Sep 07, 2006, 3:09:06 PM
HERM EDWARDS: “I thought practice went pretty well for the most part. There are still a lot of things we have to do between now and Sunday to prepare. I think our players have a good mindset about Sunday and the team we’re facing – a playoff football team that has won a lot of games on the road.
Q: How much work does Kevin Sampson need to get to start Sunday?
EDWARDS: “Well, if he doesn’t really practice a lot tomorrow I don’t know if he’ll play. If he can’t move around like I need him to move around you’re in kind of a predicament because I hate to dress guys that hadn’t practiced all week. You only have the ability to dress 45 players and you want to make sure that the guys that are active can play. You don’t want to dress guys who are hurt.”
Q: Does John Welbourn have a place here after he finishes his suspension?
EDWARDS: “We’ll just see what happens. I don’t know where that fits and Carl (Peterson) has to comment on all that. That’s not my forte. When something like that happens to a player I work for two other people, so they have to make the decision on where that lies.”
Q: But as a coach, what do you think?
EDWARDS: “Well, as a coach you’re always looking for good players but you never want to put the team in harm’s way. That’ll be discussed by Carl and he can answer better than I can.”
Q: On a broader front, do you think steroid abuse is worse than one might imagine in the NFL?
EDWARDS: “No, I just think it gets magnified if you talk about 2,000 players on (NFL) rosters. It’s like in society, you can say that one or two people don’t make your society. I don’t think one or two incidents in the National Football League make it an epidemic. Maybe they do it at times because they’re hurt trying to come back from an injury. I really don’t know. But I think if you put things in your body there are consequences. And if they’re things you’re not supposed to put there and you’re tested there are consequences. But I don’t think there’s an epidemic at all. I just think some players make bad decisions without knowing they made a bad decision. It doesn’t necessarily make a guy a bad guy. Sometimes you never know why. I don’t know all the answers.”
Q: This is the first time you’ve had all the offensive line practicing with Sampson just missing. Are you concerned about that?
EDWARDS: “It’s really the first time in a long time. It’s really the first time in a long time our offensive team has played together. We’re waiting for this guy to get well, this guy is missing, that guy is missing. So, the guys we are anticipating to play are all in the flow to play.”
Q: Does Sampson have enough time to get ready?
EDWARDS: “It’s going to have to be because we don’t have any more. That’s it. They start the game at 12 Sunday.”
Q: When you signed Ron Edwards and James Reed did you imagine they would be starting on opening day for you?
EDWARDS: “I imagined that we were going to create competition and that’s what you need. Thus far those have been the guys that have done the best job of being consistent. That doesn’t mean that it’s set in stone at that position but right now they are the guys that have done the better things that we’ve asked them to do. They’ve been very, very consistent. They’ve been available and the two guys that are there with them are guys who have played better and are going to have to help us in this game especially against a team that runs some hurry-up and gets off a lot of plays. You’re going to need your defensive linemen.”
Q: So that’s it, their consistency?
EDWARDS: “And they’re doing some things that we want them to do. But there’s always going to be competition there. The more you have them competing it helps you get better.”
Q: Are they giving you things you weren’t going to get from the other guys?
EDWARDS: “I didn’t have an opinion one way or the other when I took this job. When you go on other people’s opinion on how they feel about other players…I don’t buy into that. I try to start off on an even playing field and let them compete. You find out. At this point there are two guys that are going to go out there with the starting 11 but as the game goes you’ll see there will be a rotation system. You dress 22 defensive players and out of those 22 there will probably be between 15 and 16 guys that play a lot on our defense because of what we do. That’s important even with the guys that aren’t going to play a lot because every guy needs a role. Once you have a role you have to understand your role, don’t get comfortable whether you’re starting or a backup guy. You always need to try and improve. I always say if you want to play more be a productive player. If you do good on the field you’re going to play more.
Q: Is that the same competition you have between Kendrell Bell and Keyaron Fox?
EDWARDS: “When you’re a starter you have to lose the position. Someone has to take it from you. At this point we have two good ‘backers there and we have four good ‘backers that we feel really good about that can play in rotation. That’s one of the strengths of our defenses. I think we have seven linebackers that we really like.”
Q: Taking what you said about the linebackers, were Reed and Edwards head and shoulders above the other guys on the defensive line?
EDWARDS: “Like I said before, they were more consistent and they did the things we thought at the end of the day put them (starting). Like I said, that can always change. That’s a constant change if you let it. Like I always tell players, if you’re the starter stay the starter. If you’re the guy behind, then take it away from him if you want to be the starter.”
Q: Is there a key to taking one element away from the Bengals since they have so much that can hurt you?
EDWARDS: “They’re very, very balanced and that’s what makes them very, very good. I just think they play well together as a football team. Their offense does a good job of making big plays through the air and running the football. Their defense does a good of taking the ball away.
“The best way you stop high-powered offenses is your offense plays. The more your offense is on the field the other team doesn’t have the ball and that’s a good thing.”
I agree with Herm. Lets run the ball every play.