aturnis
06-04-2008, 04:45 PM
Q&A with HERM EDWARDS - 6/4 (http://kcchiefs.com/news/2008/06/04/qa_with_herm_edwards__64/)
Jun 04, 2008, 4:15:49 PM
VIDEO: Windows | Real | Audio
Q: You’re about halfway through your off-season practice now. Are you getting done what you wanted to get done?
EDWARDS: “Well, I think we’re establishing the tempo that needs to be set on the field. Then, I think we’re also setting that as far as what we want done collectively and individually, being a detailed player and a detailed football team. So, I think at the end of this, all of our offense will be installed as well as our defense so when we get to camp they can worry about competing and not worry about trying to learn something. I thought today was pretty good in the fact that they’ve had five days off. Now they’ll go five days in a row. This will be good for us, the next five days.”
Q: What would LB Derrick Johnson look like if he was turned loose?
EDWARDS: “I think ‘turned loose’ is kind of a vague word. I think what he is really saying is at a lot of times, according to what the game is and how you’re playing the game and the score of the game, you have to play a certain way. When you’re ahead on defense you always have the ability to turn guys loose and go after the quarterback. That’s what we’re talking about. When you put teams in the known downs you can get after them with your athletes. That’s what good defenses do. They play well on first down and they get them in downs where it’s not comfortable to be in on offense and then your talented athletes can take over the football game.”
Q: Do you see him as a pass rusher if you’ve got the right situation defensively?
EDWARDS: “Yes, and we used him some a little bit last year. He can be a tremendous blitzer. He can be very good in pass coverage, too, because he has great ball skills and he has a lot of range. He has height and long arms. He can be a heck of a football player. He’s more focused in now in his career because he’s played a little while now and he kind of gets that part of it. I think he wants to be a more detailed player. And we’ve got to keep him well, too. When he gets nicked all of a sudden he misses some games and that hurts us.”
Q: Do you think he’s handling all those other duties better than he did?
EDWARDS: “Yes, because he’s matured. I think he’s anticipating a good year for us.”
Q: The word he used and QB Brodie Croyle used is consistency. Is that what you want to see out of everybody?
EDWARDS: “The whole football team. It starts with simple things – not beating yourself, penalties, not turning the ball over, those types of things, not committing the stupid fouls on defense. Those are the things that hurt us last year, a lot, and you’ve got to get away from those things. I think these guys understand the importance of doing the little things because when you’re a disciplined football team you’re going to be able to win the close games.”
Q: G Brian Waters and LB Napoleon Harris didn’t work today. Brian last week had a groin injury, what’s Napoleon’s injury?
EDWARDS: “Still the groin (with Waters). Napoleon’s knee is a little sore so we just kept him out. That’s what’s good about being a veteran, really, they practice a lot and they’ll get right back in the swing of things. I think Napoleon will practice this weekend probably. Brian, we’ll wait and see to re-examine.”
Q: What have you noticed with defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Gunther Cunningham and begin passionate about his job?
EDWARDS: “He is. The thing that you do learn when you’re a coordinator or a head coach is when you get away from coaching, you miss it. He’s like a kid in a candy store all of a sudden. He actually gets to coach guys and he’s got a group of guys he can coach. The players are really buying into how disciplined he is and really probably wondering, ‘I wish he was just the coordinator again.’ But, that’s okay because he’s going to do a good job with those guys. They like being around Gun. He’s got a lot of emotion. He’s an intense guy.”
Q: How much more do you expect from Derrick this year because he’s not that young of a guy anymore?
EDWARDS: “Yes, compared to what our team looks like. I just think he’s matured every year. I saw that last year. I think as we get going again this year he’s going to be a bigger player for us and he needs to be because he has that kind of ability.”
Q: How’s the integration of the rookies and the young guys going?
EDWARDS: “I think it’s going good in the fact that there’s so many of them. I think the veteran guys that are here are over that fact. They know they’re going to be in the huddle with them and they’ve got to help them a little bit. They’ve got to coach them up a little faster so they can get ready to play. Our society is changing, young people today are more apt to not worry about the situation they’re in and anticipate, ‘I want to be in that situation. So, I think for these guys it’s not too big for them. It won’t be too big for them playing early. There will be a lot of rookies playing and starting for us. And that’s a good thing.”
Q: Do you have enough time this spring to get done what you wanted to get done going into camp?
EDWARDS: “Yes. You have to allocate the days. Now the only thing about these is you don’t have pads on. When you put pads on you’re going to see a different football player. Some guys will all of a sudden take a step in front of other guys. And that’s the good part about it, when you get to the physical contact of it.”
Q: There were a couple practices this spring you decided not to do.
EDWARDS: “Right. I’ve never taken 14. I just think that when you do that, it all sounds good, but at the end you’ve got to have a plan of what you want to do. A couple days, instead of going out, we stayed in the classroom. Yesterday we stayed in the classroom and got a lot of work done, a lot of film study. They were in there about two-and-a-half hours or so and we had a walk-through. To me that was better than coming out and practicing right away because they can get their mind back into football. And today we started playing football again.”
Q: The last couple years you’ve had a more veteran group. Do you think about going out for those last couple practices?
EDWARDS: “We’ve only really missed two. We’re going to have 12 when you look at it. One we didn’t go on the field and the other was the golf tournament. Basically, we’d have 14 when you really want to boil it all down at the end of the day. Most teams now don’t have to run 14. And they way our mini-camp is put in there, five in a row is a lot. You’re not out here to hurt guys and you don’t want to punish them. You’re here to get something done. They’ve got to rest in between and they’ll go three more after that. And then after that the rookies will stay here until the 27th. Then they’ve got to come back a month later.”
Q: Doesn’t the team get more excited as they get closer to fans actually seeing them for the first time?
EDWARDS: “I think a lot of these guys will enjoy walking into the stadium Saturday. That’s a big deal for them, when you think about first-time players in the National Football League and they walk into Arrowhead. They need to understand this is the place that is our home. You want to create a home-field advantage. We have to do something to get that back. Our fans are fantastic here. They’re the 12th man. We’ve got to win home games. That’s important. You have to establish home-field advantage. We have a great venue to play in. We have fantastic fans to get excited about it. A lot of these guys don’t understand that, a lot of these young guys. There’ll be 35 rookies that walk in there Saturday who have never been in Arrowhead and that’s a good thing.”
Q: What’s your practice schedule going to look like in training camp?
EDWARDS: “I think they’ll be more intense. I think they’ll be more drawn out because of the fact that we’ve got some young guys. I anticipate being pretty physical in the morning and being more skillful in the afternoon. Then as the first week goes you’ll figure where they’re at, how many guys need rest. Training camp like anything anymore is going to be a little tougher for everybody because there’s only 80 players. You don’t get the allocation of the one-week players anymore. When you talk about 80, you really don’t have 80, you take four quarterbacks, a couple return guys and a couple kickers, you’re down to 70 players. You’ve got to make sure you can get through training camp and not beat them up too much.”
Q: Any more two-a-days? Any fewer two-a-days?
EDWARDS: “It’s probably about the same when you boil it all down. I think it’ll be good. I think these guys are understanding what we’re going to have to do in training camp. It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be physical because it needs to be because we’re that way. We’re built that way on offense now. We’re going to be built that way on defense. I think they understand that part. Then you don’t want to beat them up too much. You’ve got to rest them. But it’ll be a good way of being physical and working on our speed.”
Jun 04, 2008, 4:15:49 PM
VIDEO: Windows | Real | Audio
Q: You’re about halfway through your off-season practice now. Are you getting done what you wanted to get done?
EDWARDS: “Well, I think we’re establishing the tempo that needs to be set on the field. Then, I think we’re also setting that as far as what we want done collectively and individually, being a detailed player and a detailed football team. So, I think at the end of this, all of our offense will be installed as well as our defense so when we get to camp they can worry about competing and not worry about trying to learn something. I thought today was pretty good in the fact that they’ve had five days off. Now they’ll go five days in a row. This will be good for us, the next five days.”
Q: What would LB Derrick Johnson look like if he was turned loose?
EDWARDS: “I think ‘turned loose’ is kind of a vague word. I think what he is really saying is at a lot of times, according to what the game is and how you’re playing the game and the score of the game, you have to play a certain way. When you’re ahead on defense you always have the ability to turn guys loose and go after the quarterback. That’s what we’re talking about. When you put teams in the known downs you can get after them with your athletes. That’s what good defenses do. They play well on first down and they get them in downs where it’s not comfortable to be in on offense and then your talented athletes can take over the football game.”
Q: Do you see him as a pass rusher if you’ve got the right situation defensively?
EDWARDS: “Yes, and we used him some a little bit last year. He can be a tremendous blitzer. He can be very good in pass coverage, too, because he has great ball skills and he has a lot of range. He has height and long arms. He can be a heck of a football player. He’s more focused in now in his career because he’s played a little while now and he kind of gets that part of it. I think he wants to be a more detailed player. And we’ve got to keep him well, too. When he gets nicked all of a sudden he misses some games and that hurts us.”
Q: Do you think he’s handling all those other duties better than he did?
EDWARDS: “Yes, because he’s matured. I think he’s anticipating a good year for us.”
Q: The word he used and QB Brodie Croyle used is consistency. Is that what you want to see out of everybody?
EDWARDS: “The whole football team. It starts with simple things – not beating yourself, penalties, not turning the ball over, those types of things, not committing the stupid fouls on defense. Those are the things that hurt us last year, a lot, and you’ve got to get away from those things. I think these guys understand the importance of doing the little things because when you’re a disciplined football team you’re going to be able to win the close games.”
Q: G Brian Waters and LB Napoleon Harris didn’t work today. Brian last week had a groin injury, what’s Napoleon’s injury?
EDWARDS: “Still the groin (with Waters). Napoleon’s knee is a little sore so we just kept him out. That’s what’s good about being a veteran, really, they practice a lot and they’ll get right back in the swing of things. I think Napoleon will practice this weekend probably. Brian, we’ll wait and see to re-examine.”
Q: What have you noticed with defensive coordinator/linebackers coach Gunther Cunningham and begin passionate about his job?
EDWARDS: “He is. The thing that you do learn when you’re a coordinator or a head coach is when you get away from coaching, you miss it. He’s like a kid in a candy store all of a sudden. He actually gets to coach guys and he’s got a group of guys he can coach. The players are really buying into how disciplined he is and really probably wondering, ‘I wish he was just the coordinator again.’ But, that’s okay because he’s going to do a good job with those guys. They like being around Gun. He’s got a lot of emotion. He’s an intense guy.”
Q: How much more do you expect from Derrick this year because he’s not that young of a guy anymore?
EDWARDS: “Yes, compared to what our team looks like. I just think he’s matured every year. I saw that last year. I think as we get going again this year he’s going to be a bigger player for us and he needs to be because he has that kind of ability.”
Q: How’s the integration of the rookies and the young guys going?
EDWARDS: “I think it’s going good in the fact that there’s so many of them. I think the veteran guys that are here are over that fact. They know they’re going to be in the huddle with them and they’ve got to help them a little bit. They’ve got to coach them up a little faster so they can get ready to play. Our society is changing, young people today are more apt to not worry about the situation they’re in and anticipate, ‘I want to be in that situation. So, I think for these guys it’s not too big for them. It won’t be too big for them playing early. There will be a lot of rookies playing and starting for us. And that’s a good thing.”
Q: Do you have enough time this spring to get done what you wanted to get done going into camp?
EDWARDS: “Yes. You have to allocate the days. Now the only thing about these is you don’t have pads on. When you put pads on you’re going to see a different football player. Some guys will all of a sudden take a step in front of other guys. And that’s the good part about it, when you get to the physical contact of it.”
Q: There were a couple practices this spring you decided not to do.
EDWARDS: “Right. I’ve never taken 14. I just think that when you do that, it all sounds good, but at the end you’ve got to have a plan of what you want to do. A couple days, instead of going out, we stayed in the classroom. Yesterday we stayed in the classroom and got a lot of work done, a lot of film study. They were in there about two-and-a-half hours or so and we had a walk-through. To me that was better than coming out and practicing right away because they can get their mind back into football. And today we started playing football again.”
Q: The last couple years you’ve had a more veteran group. Do you think about going out for those last couple practices?
EDWARDS: “We’ve only really missed two. We’re going to have 12 when you look at it. One we didn’t go on the field and the other was the golf tournament. Basically, we’d have 14 when you really want to boil it all down at the end of the day. Most teams now don’t have to run 14. And they way our mini-camp is put in there, five in a row is a lot. You’re not out here to hurt guys and you don’t want to punish them. You’re here to get something done. They’ve got to rest in between and they’ll go three more after that. And then after that the rookies will stay here until the 27th. Then they’ve got to come back a month later.”
Q: Doesn’t the team get more excited as they get closer to fans actually seeing them for the first time?
EDWARDS: “I think a lot of these guys will enjoy walking into the stadium Saturday. That’s a big deal for them, when you think about first-time players in the National Football League and they walk into Arrowhead. They need to understand this is the place that is our home. You want to create a home-field advantage. We have to do something to get that back. Our fans are fantastic here. They’re the 12th man. We’ve got to win home games. That’s important. You have to establish home-field advantage. We have a great venue to play in. We have fantastic fans to get excited about it. A lot of these guys don’t understand that, a lot of these young guys. There’ll be 35 rookies that walk in there Saturday who have never been in Arrowhead and that’s a good thing.”
Q: What’s your practice schedule going to look like in training camp?
EDWARDS: “I think they’ll be more intense. I think they’ll be more drawn out because of the fact that we’ve got some young guys. I anticipate being pretty physical in the morning and being more skillful in the afternoon. Then as the first week goes you’ll figure where they’re at, how many guys need rest. Training camp like anything anymore is going to be a little tougher for everybody because there’s only 80 players. You don’t get the allocation of the one-week players anymore. When you talk about 80, you really don’t have 80, you take four quarterbacks, a couple return guys and a couple kickers, you’re down to 70 players. You’ve got to make sure you can get through training camp and not beat them up too much.”
Q: Any more two-a-days? Any fewer two-a-days?
EDWARDS: “It’s probably about the same when you boil it all down. I think it’ll be good. I think these guys are understanding what we’re going to have to do in training camp. It’s going to be physical. It’s going to be physical because it needs to be because we’re that way. We’re built that way on offense now. We’re going to be built that way on defense. I think they understand that part. Then you don’t want to beat them up too much. You’ve got to rest them. But it’ll be a good way of being physical and working on our speed.”