Tribal Warfare
10-30-2008, 06:07 PM
Q&A with TYLER THIGPEN - 10/30 (http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/10/30/qa_with_tyler_thigpen__1030/)
Oct 30, 2008, 3:27:09 PM
Q: Does last week raise your confidence level?
TYLER THIGPEN: “It was definitely a big confidence booster, for myself and also for the offense. Not necessarily just for myself, but it shows that our offense is capable of being explosive and we’re capable of moving the ball down the field. It’s definitely a big confidence booster.”
Q: What do you see in the Bucs defense?
THIGPEN: “That’s one thing that we’ve seen, when we look at them, is their speed. They fly around and make plays. They’re not very big, but that’s one thing with it, that’s the kind of defense they have. They want to sit back and use their speed to let us get balls underneath and come up and make a tackle and keep us short of a first down.”
Q: Do you take the underneath stuff if they give it to you?
THIGPEN: “Yeah, just keep chopping away at it, you know, dinking and dunking. You’re just going to have to patient with their defense. You can’t force anything.”
Q: Do you have to make adjustments or keep doing what you did last week?
THIGPEN: “We definitely put some different things in than what we did last week. We did that Red Ball thing where we kind of did a slow no-huddle. We understand the plays and we’re putting more plays in there. It’s tough for a defense when they come out there and they’re not able to sub in and out for those guys. They’re not able to get their nickel in when they’re in base. That’s just the kind of things where we can keep the defense off-guard.”
Q: Do you feel relieved from last week?
THIGPEN: “I guess you could say that. But the thing is, is he going to do it two weeks in a row? That’s the biggest thing. You have one good week and that’s what we want to do is carry it over to this week. Keep building on that and keep improving on it offensively.”
Q: Do you feel like you’re putting pressure on yourself?
THIGPEN: “No. Not at all. I don’t want to put any extra added pressure. That’s what I thought maybe I did the first week when I started against Atlanta. And last week I was just more relaxed going into the game. I’d been there once so I knew what to expect. That’s the mindset we have for this week.”
Q: Lots of people wanted the Chiefs to throw last week in the fourth quarter. Do you think that’s something you have to earn the right to do, to change those plays?
THIGPEN: “I’m not exactly sure. That’s the coach’s call and we as players, we have to live with it. We’re going out there to execute the coach’s play and get a first down. They’re coaches for a reason and we’re players for a reason. When they make a decision or a call, we have to go with it and make the most of it.”
Q: Is that not a situation where you could change the play at the line?
THIGPEN: “No. Not at all. You don’t want to go up there and take a chance on accidentally jumping offsides when we’re doing a dummy cadence. That’s just a huddle call and getting up to the line and executing the best we can.”
Q: As a quarterback, is there part of you that wants to throw the ball then?
THIGPEN: “Definitely as a quarterback, you want the ball in your hands in any situation like that. But when the coach makes the call, it’s over your head for you to trump his call and call something else, especially me being a second-year quarterback. Maybe a (Jets QB) Brett Favre might do something like that. We believe in our coaches, we trust them, and we know that they’re going to get us in the best possible situation.”
Q: How much spread did you guys run at Coastal Carolina?
THIGPEN: “My first three years we were more of a running team, then my senior year in the spring we put in the spread and I went through my whole senior year running that. It’s just nice, that’s kind of a change of pace. It’s nice to be able to bring that here and spread out the defense. It just helps the young guy when he can spread the field out. Not necessarily a young guy, but any quarterback, it just helps when you can spread the defense out and you can see where the blitz is coming from. That definitely helps out a lot.”
Q: Can you put a ballpark guess on what percentage of the plays were four-wide last week?
THIGPEN: “It really wasn’t much four-wide. It was two tight ends, two receivers and a running back. But they were in a four-wide receiver set. Maybe I’d say 50 percent of it, but I’m not exactly sure. I didn’t really look at the statistics.”
Q: Who would have told you at Coastal Carolina that you’d be running the spread with two tight ends?
THIGPEN: “Well we’ve got two good tight ends.”
Q: How excited are you to get a start at Arrowhead Stadium?
THIGPEN: “It’s definitely exciting. After coming off a good game offensively, we’re definitely wanting to bring that home, that intensity offensively to bring it back to Arrowhead and play well here.”
Q: Have you thought about what kind of position you’re putting yourself in for the future with these nine remaining games?
THIGPEN: “This is one game at a time, that’s the way we’re going to look at it and we don’t want to look past any games. This week we’re preparing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that’s what we’re focusing on, the task at hand.”
Q: How has your timing improved with WR Dwayne Bowe and did you know he could rap?
THIGPEN: “He’s usually doing that when the media isn’t in there, but I guess he wanted to show you all a little something today. But definitely, the timing with everybody, especially with Dwayne and the other receivers, it’s coming along. And the tight ends as well. It’s definitely coming along a lot better than what it was the first week I went out there.”
Q: Do you realize that everyone is waiting to see which game was real?
THIGPEN: “What news crew isn’t? They’re definitely looking to see it happen two weeks in a row. We’re excited for the opportunity. Tampa Bay has a good defense. Offensively we feel like we’ve got some things in that can catch them off-guard and hopefully get a win.”
Oct 30, 2008, 3:27:09 PM
Q: Does last week raise your confidence level?
TYLER THIGPEN: “It was definitely a big confidence booster, for myself and also for the offense. Not necessarily just for myself, but it shows that our offense is capable of being explosive and we’re capable of moving the ball down the field. It’s definitely a big confidence booster.”
Q: What do you see in the Bucs defense?
THIGPEN: “That’s one thing that we’ve seen, when we look at them, is their speed. They fly around and make plays. They’re not very big, but that’s one thing with it, that’s the kind of defense they have. They want to sit back and use their speed to let us get balls underneath and come up and make a tackle and keep us short of a first down.”
Q: Do you take the underneath stuff if they give it to you?
THIGPEN: “Yeah, just keep chopping away at it, you know, dinking and dunking. You’re just going to have to patient with their defense. You can’t force anything.”
Q: Do you have to make adjustments or keep doing what you did last week?
THIGPEN: “We definitely put some different things in than what we did last week. We did that Red Ball thing where we kind of did a slow no-huddle. We understand the plays and we’re putting more plays in there. It’s tough for a defense when they come out there and they’re not able to sub in and out for those guys. They’re not able to get their nickel in when they’re in base. That’s just the kind of things where we can keep the defense off-guard.”
Q: Do you feel relieved from last week?
THIGPEN: “I guess you could say that. But the thing is, is he going to do it two weeks in a row? That’s the biggest thing. You have one good week and that’s what we want to do is carry it over to this week. Keep building on that and keep improving on it offensively.”
Q: Do you feel like you’re putting pressure on yourself?
THIGPEN: “No. Not at all. I don’t want to put any extra added pressure. That’s what I thought maybe I did the first week when I started against Atlanta. And last week I was just more relaxed going into the game. I’d been there once so I knew what to expect. That’s the mindset we have for this week.”
Q: Lots of people wanted the Chiefs to throw last week in the fourth quarter. Do you think that’s something you have to earn the right to do, to change those plays?
THIGPEN: “I’m not exactly sure. That’s the coach’s call and we as players, we have to live with it. We’re going out there to execute the coach’s play and get a first down. They’re coaches for a reason and we’re players for a reason. When they make a decision or a call, we have to go with it and make the most of it.”
Q: Is that not a situation where you could change the play at the line?
THIGPEN: “No. Not at all. You don’t want to go up there and take a chance on accidentally jumping offsides when we’re doing a dummy cadence. That’s just a huddle call and getting up to the line and executing the best we can.”
Q: As a quarterback, is there part of you that wants to throw the ball then?
THIGPEN: “Definitely as a quarterback, you want the ball in your hands in any situation like that. But when the coach makes the call, it’s over your head for you to trump his call and call something else, especially me being a second-year quarterback. Maybe a (Jets QB) Brett Favre might do something like that. We believe in our coaches, we trust them, and we know that they’re going to get us in the best possible situation.”
Q: How much spread did you guys run at Coastal Carolina?
THIGPEN: “My first three years we were more of a running team, then my senior year in the spring we put in the spread and I went through my whole senior year running that. It’s just nice, that’s kind of a change of pace. It’s nice to be able to bring that here and spread out the defense. It just helps the young guy when he can spread the field out. Not necessarily a young guy, but any quarterback, it just helps when you can spread the defense out and you can see where the blitz is coming from. That definitely helps out a lot.”
Q: Can you put a ballpark guess on what percentage of the plays were four-wide last week?
THIGPEN: “It really wasn’t much four-wide. It was two tight ends, two receivers and a running back. But they were in a four-wide receiver set. Maybe I’d say 50 percent of it, but I’m not exactly sure. I didn’t really look at the statistics.”
Q: Who would have told you at Coastal Carolina that you’d be running the spread with two tight ends?
THIGPEN: “Well we’ve got two good tight ends.”
Q: How excited are you to get a start at Arrowhead Stadium?
THIGPEN: “It’s definitely exciting. After coming off a good game offensively, we’re definitely wanting to bring that home, that intensity offensively to bring it back to Arrowhead and play well here.”
Q: Have you thought about what kind of position you’re putting yourself in for the future with these nine remaining games?
THIGPEN: “This is one game at a time, that’s the way we’re going to look at it and we don’t want to look past any games. This week we’re preparing for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers and that’s what we’re focusing on, the task at hand.”
Q: How has your timing improved with WR Dwayne Bowe and did you know he could rap?
THIGPEN: “He’s usually doing that when the media isn’t in there, but I guess he wanted to show you all a little something today. But definitely, the timing with everybody, especially with Dwayne and the other receivers, it’s coming along. And the tight ends as well. It’s definitely coming along a lot better than what it was the first week I went out there.”
Q: Do you realize that everyone is waiting to see which game was real?
THIGPEN: “What news crew isn’t? They’re definitely looking to see it happen two weeks in a row. We’re excited for the opportunity. Tampa Bay has a good defense. Offensively we feel like we’ve got some things in that can catch them off-guard and hopefully get a win.”