Donger
09-05-2007, 03:24 PM
http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2007/09/05/qa_with_herm_edwards__95/
HERM EDWARDS: “Today I thought our practice went pretty well. Our guys were focused pretty much on what we need to do. We had some energy, which is good.”
Q: How did McIntosh do today in practice?
EDWARDS: “He practiced. It’s a day by day deal. If I had to list him right now I’d list him as questionable. But he practiced and we’ll see where he’s at come Sunday.”
Q: Did you guys take a look at Byron Leftwich or have an interest in him at all?
EDWARDS: “We’re just going to go down the road we’re going down right now. I just think it’s best for this organization to stay pat where we’re at. He’s a veteran quarterback but when you get into that you just send a lot of different messages to people and we don’t need to do that. We need to be focused as a team. Damon Huard is our starting quarterback. We have two other young quarterbacks. That’s the road we’re headed right now.”
Q: When you drafted Dwayne Bowe as a number one last year did that create a sense of urgency in your other wide receivers?
EDWARDS: “Anytime you can create competition…. That was one that opened a lot of eyes. We hadn’t drafted a receiver number one since Carlos Carson. It was good for them and we feel pretty good with Bowe. We know what Eddie [Kennison] can bring to the table, Sammie [Parker]. Webb is a guy that we like. So, those four guys all of a sudden are in the rotation. That helps you.”
Q: But did it catch some of the veteran guys’ attention?
EDWARDS: “Oh yeah, anytime you’re a veteran football player and you draft the number one pick at your position it raises eyes. It’s no different at any position. At that position we’ve got some talent and now we’ve got to find a way to get them the ball and simplify some things for some of them so they can play.”
Q: What is Bowe’s role going to be?
EDWARDS: “His role’s going to be he’s in the rotation. He’s going to play a lot along with [Jeff] Webb. All four of those guys are going to play. Now, we’ll do different things and as we start playing you’ll see it all come to fruition. We’ve got to block ‘em when we throw them the ball and when we throw it they’ve got to catch it too. He’s involved in the offense. He and Webb will be involved in the offense, no doubt about it. They need to be. No different than the two defensive players we drafted. They’re involved in our defense. They’re in our rotation. I think you’ve got to do that with this football team at this point. When you’ve got some talent and you draft guys you’ve got to let them play.”
Q: When will Bowe be ready for more than a place in the rotation?
EDWARDS: “We’ll see. As the thing goes on it’s about production, who’s producing. When you start playing games it becomes a part of your legacy. It’s hooked on to your back. If guys are productive and playing well they get to play more.”
Q: What do you expect from Jimmy Wilkerson?
EDWARDS: “Just to be Jimmy Wilkerson. He doesn’t need to be anybody else. That’s good enough. I always tell players don’t try to be somebody you’re not because when you do that you end up not playing very well. That’s what all these guys have to realize. You just need to be the player you are. They don’t have to try to be an all-pro player or all-this. Just be who you are and that’s good enough. If you play within yourself you’ll play well. When you don’t play within yourself you end up making a lot of errors. In real games you can’t afford errors because games are usually tight. They’re very close and you don’t want to make an error because you’re trying to do something you can’t do.
“Everyone knows their talent level. I always tell players play to your skill level. Don’t try to do anything more than that because you get all out of whack.”
Q: You elected captains today. [Jon] McGraw is one of them.
EDWARDS: “The team elected captains and that’s a big deal when your team elects you as captain. He’s our special teams captain and it shows what type of player he is. He knows his role. When he came here he was going to be a back-up safety and a special teams’ player. He’s taken that by the horns.”
Q: The seasonal captains is a bigger deal right? It’s more than just for a game.
EDWARDS: “We’ve always done that and the league has made a big deal out of it with the patch the players can wear if they choose to do so. All teams are not going to wear that patch. The three guys that were elected from us: Brian [Waters], Donnie [Edwards] and Jon [McGraw] say they want to and they can. It’s quite an honor.
“I’ve always done it this way where the team voted for the players. The offense votes for the offense, the defense for the defense and the special teams for special teams. It’s better that way. It’s not a popularity contest or a guy that has 20 years in the league or who’s your best friend. It’s about choosing the right guy. They chose these players and they’re well deserved to represent this organization, the National Football League and this team.”
Q: Is it odd for an offensive lineman to be captain?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, but I’ve been on teams where you see that. It’s the guy that they feel represents them the best and puts his ego aside. I always say captains are not just the captain of that one group. You’re really a spokesman for the whole team. That’s good. Those guys interact with everybody on the team. It’s a heck of a position.”
Q: You were kind of searching for leaders last year. What does it say for Donnie Edwards who comes here and in a few months he’s named captain?
EDWARDS: “That didn’t surprise me. I had penciled the guy in and we had a straw poll going upstairs and I said these were going to be guys right here. No question. As you look at your football team and you watch guys interact, these are the guys you’re going to vote for. I always go back to when I was a football player, these are the guys who you’re going to vote for.”
Q: Why does the league want to get involved in this captain thing?
EDWARDS: “They think it’s important and when you think about it, it’s a great honor to be the captain of your football team, or any team. Most of these guys have never been captains, especially a lineman who is hardly ever voted captain. That’s why I have honorary [captains]. I always try to send every starter out there as an honorary captain over the course of the season. Most guys have never been out there for a coin toss.”
Q: Did your Eagles teams have captains and were you one?
EDWARDS: “I was a captain once. I talked my way into it.”
Q: You are still going to have honorary game captains too then?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, I try to get all the starters on offense, defense and special teams.”
Q: You had Jon McGraw in New York. Did you seek him out or did the organization do it or did he come to you?
EDWARDS: “The wives started talking again. My wife knew his wife. It’s kind of ironic and this is a true story and the kind of kid Jon McGraw is and his family is. My wife was pregnant with our first child and his wife came over to the hospital and stayed with my wife for about 20 hours. But the story’s better: we traded Jon McGraw to Detroit. He was going to Detroit and his wife is staying with my wife at the hospital. That’s the kind of people they are. That’s what you’re getting with Jon McGraw and his wife.
“When it all transpired and he was going to be a free agent and Detroit was trying to get him back, the wives spoke and I was going to Indianapolis to the [scouting] Combine and he was packing his car to go back to Detroit. My wife said, ‘you’ve got to call him.’ I said, OK, and I called Jon and talked to him and asked him what he was doing.. I said, ‘you’re not going back’ and now he’s here.”
Q: He’s a guy you really root for since he was a walk-on at K-State?
EDWARDS: “He’s a great kid and good football player. His first couple of years he got nicked a lot. He stayed injury-free last year. He’s been injury-free so far with us. He’s a team guy. He’s got his priorities right. He’s about football. Some of the guys didn’t even know who he was when they voted for him.”
Q: Is there any more to winning the first game on the road in a season, particularly in the opening game?
EDWARDS: “You get one on the road, that’s big, really big. It can set the stage for you and gives you a lot of momentum, especially if you’re on the road and you’re the underdog and you win. That’s even better. This is a big game for us, no doubt about it, but it’s not the only game. I just think that you don’t put too much into them. I’ve seen a lot of coaches and if they talk the whole off-season about that one game they’re about to play and they don’t win….you’ve used up all your bullets and you’ve got 15 games left. You used up all your bullets on the first game. If you lose your second, third or fourth the first one doesn’t mean anything any more.”
Q: Will these first two games tell you what your team is made of because they’re both on the road?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, and one team is vastly improved and they’re excited and the other team is pretty good. They were in the Super Bowl last year. Any time you can win on the road it’s big.”
HERM EDWARDS: “Today I thought our practice went pretty well. Our guys were focused pretty much on what we need to do. We had some energy, which is good.”
Q: How did McIntosh do today in practice?
EDWARDS: “He practiced. It’s a day by day deal. If I had to list him right now I’d list him as questionable. But he practiced and we’ll see where he’s at come Sunday.”
Q: Did you guys take a look at Byron Leftwich or have an interest in him at all?
EDWARDS: “We’re just going to go down the road we’re going down right now. I just think it’s best for this organization to stay pat where we’re at. He’s a veteran quarterback but when you get into that you just send a lot of different messages to people and we don’t need to do that. We need to be focused as a team. Damon Huard is our starting quarterback. We have two other young quarterbacks. That’s the road we’re headed right now.”
Q: When you drafted Dwayne Bowe as a number one last year did that create a sense of urgency in your other wide receivers?
EDWARDS: “Anytime you can create competition…. That was one that opened a lot of eyes. We hadn’t drafted a receiver number one since Carlos Carson. It was good for them and we feel pretty good with Bowe. We know what Eddie [Kennison] can bring to the table, Sammie [Parker]. Webb is a guy that we like. So, those four guys all of a sudden are in the rotation. That helps you.”
Q: But did it catch some of the veteran guys’ attention?
EDWARDS: “Oh yeah, anytime you’re a veteran football player and you draft the number one pick at your position it raises eyes. It’s no different at any position. At that position we’ve got some talent and now we’ve got to find a way to get them the ball and simplify some things for some of them so they can play.”
Q: What is Bowe’s role going to be?
EDWARDS: “His role’s going to be he’s in the rotation. He’s going to play a lot along with [Jeff] Webb. All four of those guys are going to play. Now, we’ll do different things and as we start playing you’ll see it all come to fruition. We’ve got to block ‘em when we throw them the ball and when we throw it they’ve got to catch it too. He’s involved in the offense. He and Webb will be involved in the offense, no doubt about it. They need to be. No different than the two defensive players we drafted. They’re involved in our defense. They’re in our rotation. I think you’ve got to do that with this football team at this point. When you’ve got some talent and you draft guys you’ve got to let them play.”
Q: When will Bowe be ready for more than a place in the rotation?
EDWARDS: “We’ll see. As the thing goes on it’s about production, who’s producing. When you start playing games it becomes a part of your legacy. It’s hooked on to your back. If guys are productive and playing well they get to play more.”
Q: What do you expect from Jimmy Wilkerson?
EDWARDS: “Just to be Jimmy Wilkerson. He doesn’t need to be anybody else. That’s good enough. I always tell players don’t try to be somebody you’re not because when you do that you end up not playing very well. That’s what all these guys have to realize. You just need to be the player you are. They don’t have to try to be an all-pro player or all-this. Just be who you are and that’s good enough. If you play within yourself you’ll play well. When you don’t play within yourself you end up making a lot of errors. In real games you can’t afford errors because games are usually tight. They’re very close and you don’t want to make an error because you’re trying to do something you can’t do.
“Everyone knows their talent level. I always tell players play to your skill level. Don’t try to do anything more than that because you get all out of whack.”
Q: You elected captains today. [Jon] McGraw is one of them.
EDWARDS: “The team elected captains and that’s a big deal when your team elects you as captain. He’s our special teams captain and it shows what type of player he is. He knows his role. When he came here he was going to be a back-up safety and a special teams’ player. He’s taken that by the horns.”
Q: The seasonal captains is a bigger deal right? It’s more than just for a game.
EDWARDS: “We’ve always done that and the league has made a big deal out of it with the patch the players can wear if they choose to do so. All teams are not going to wear that patch. The three guys that were elected from us: Brian [Waters], Donnie [Edwards] and Jon [McGraw] say they want to and they can. It’s quite an honor.
“I’ve always done it this way where the team voted for the players. The offense votes for the offense, the defense for the defense and the special teams for special teams. It’s better that way. It’s not a popularity contest or a guy that has 20 years in the league or who’s your best friend. It’s about choosing the right guy. They chose these players and they’re well deserved to represent this organization, the National Football League and this team.”
Q: Is it odd for an offensive lineman to be captain?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, but I’ve been on teams where you see that. It’s the guy that they feel represents them the best and puts his ego aside. I always say captains are not just the captain of that one group. You’re really a spokesman for the whole team. That’s good. Those guys interact with everybody on the team. It’s a heck of a position.”
Q: You were kind of searching for leaders last year. What does it say for Donnie Edwards who comes here and in a few months he’s named captain?
EDWARDS: “That didn’t surprise me. I had penciled the guy in and we had a straw poll going upstairs and I said these were going to be guys right here. No question. As you look at your football team and you watch guys interact, these are the guys you’re going to vote for. I always go back to when I was a football player, these are the guys who you’re going to vote for.”
Q: Why does the league want to get involved in this captain thing?
EDWARDS: “They think it’s important and when you think about it, it’s a great honor to be the captain of your football team, or any team. Most of these guys have never been captains, especially a lineman who is hardly ever voted captain. That’s why I have honorary [captains]. I always try to send every starter out there as an honorary captain over the course of the season. Most guys have never been out there for a coin toss.”
Q: Did your Eagles teams have captains and were you one?
EDWARDS: “I was a captain once. I talked my way into it.”
Q: You are still going to have honorary game captains too then?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, I try to get all the starters on offense, defense and special teams.”
Q: You had Jon McGraw in New York. Did you seek him out or did the organization do it or did he come to you?
EDWARDS: “The wives started talking again. My wife knew his wife. It’s kind of ironic and this is a true story and the kind of kid Jon McGraw is and his family is. My wife was pregnant with our first child and his wife came over to the hospital and stayed with my wife for about 20 hours. But the story’s better: we traded Jon McGraw to Detroit. He was going to Detroit and his wife is staying with my wife at the hospital. That’s the kind of people they are. That’s what you’re getting with Jon McGraw and his wife.
“When it all transpired and he was going to be a free agent and Detroit was trying to get him back, the wives spoke and I was going to Indianapolis to the [scouting] Combine and he was packing his car to go back to Detroit. My wife said, ‘you’ve got to call him.’ I said, OK, and I called Jon and talked to him and asked him what he was doing.. I said, ‘you’re not going back’ and now he’s here.”
Q: He’s a guy you really root for since he was a walk-on at K-State?
EDWARDS: “He’s a great kid and good football player. His first couple of years he got nicked a lot. He stayed injury-free last year. He’s been injury-free so far with us. He’s a team guy. He’s got his priorities right. He’s about football. Some of the guys didn’t even know who he was when they voted for him.”
Q: Is there any more to winning the first game on the road in a season, particularly in the opening game?
EDWARDS: “You get one on the road, that’s big, really big. It can set the stage for you and gives you a lot of momentum, especially if you’re on the road and you’re the underdog and you win. That’s even better. This is a big game for us, no doubt about it, but it’s not the only game. I just think that you don’t put too much into them. I’ve seen a lot of coaches and if they talk the whole off-season about that one game they’re about to play and they don’t win….you’ve used up all your bullets and you’ve got 15 games left. You used up all your bullets on the first game. If you lose your second, third or fourth the first one doesn’t mean anything any more.”
Q: Will these first two games tell you what your team is made of because they’re both on the road?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, and one team is vastly improved and they’re excited and the other team is pretty good. They were in the Super Bowl last year. Any time you can win on the road it’s big.”