Tribal Warfare
11-05-2008, 04:57 PM
Q&A with Herm Edwards - 11/5 (http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/11/05/qa_with_herm_edwards__115/)
Nov 05, 2008, 4:35:02 PM
Q: Do you feel like after what happened the last couple weeks that you needed some veterans at corner?
HERM EDWARDS: “Yeah to go in and play. Right now, yeah. It’s hard to get another young guy to go in and play because they don’t know the system. (CB David) Macklin’s been in the system. He was with (Colts head coach) Tony (Dungy) in Indianapolis. He could go play nickel, he could play corner, he’s lined up. He could help us there and he’s going to be up this week.”
Q: Both of those guys?
EDWARDS: “Maybe so, yeah.”
Q: Going to be your three and four?
EDWARDS: “I haven’t figured that out yet, but yeah, maybe. I think we’ve signed 69 guys already.”
Q: Is CB Brandon Flowers ready to go?
EDWARDS: “Yeah. He should be ready to go.”
Q: And LB Derrick Johnson?
EDWARDS: “He’s out. He’s probably going to be out, he’s got a hamstring.”
Q: More severe than Brandon obviously?
EDWARDS: “Yeah. He’ll participate, he didn’t participate today. He pulled it in a game, I don’t know what play.”
Q: You turned up the heat in practice today?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, generally you do that this time of the year, when it gets cooler, you try to turn it up to about 75 degrees in there, because we’re going out to California. Let them sweat. Monday is a day where they just do a little bit of jogging and stretching, Tuesday they’re off. So we try to keep them in condition that way. I thought it worked out good for them today.”
Q: Have they put the Sunday’s game behind them?
EDWARDS: “Yeah. They’re pretty resilient. They’re disappointed. They’re excited about the opportunity again this week, young guys generally are that way. They came out today and practiced good and practiced fast. They had fun practicing. That’s what’s great about them, they’re just trying to get better and trying to find a way together.”
Q: Talk about this division and how close together it is?
EDWARDS: “You wouldn’t think of that early, when everyone was predicting the division. You’d probably think San Diego would have more wins right now, maybe Denver. I would have felt we would have had a few more too. It’s still tight, anything can happen with eight weeks left. Somebody’s got to get hot, Denver plays Thursday against Cleveland so we’ll see what happens there. If you can win two or three games in a row, all of sudden you probably feel pretty good about yourself in the division.”
Q: Are you thinking WR Kevin Robinson and TE Michael Merritt will be up this week?
EDWARDS: “I don’t know that. I think Robinson would probably have the best chance because of his punt return ability. Merritt not yet, but hopefully by the next eight weeks they’re going to be involved in it.”
Q: Will RB Larry Johnson be active when he returns?
EDWARDS: “He’s been out a month. It’s time for him to come back and do what he needs to do to prepare himself to get ready to play football. We’ll see where that’s at.”
Q: Will Larry be able to play after a month off?
EDWARDS: “It’s kind of like last year, in the preseason when he was out, we kind of brought him along slow. We’ve got to bring him back. He’s missed month of playing football. We’ve changed a little bit too, on how we play, so that’s all involved in it too. But yeah, he’s working out, he’s preparing himself to get ready to play and that’s kind of important.”
Q: As an African-American, what are your thoughts on the country electing Barack Obama?
EDWARDS: “I think it’s a big step for America. My Mom was probably more excited than me. She was a war bride. She was married to my Dad in 1953. She tells me the story all the time how they had to go to Washington when they signed the (marriage) papers, it wasn’t valid in the South. You couldn’t have an interracial marriage. So she was excited, no doubt about it. I was excited because of everything that she and my father went through. Some things I learned in the 60s, I grew up in the 60s, I was a 60s guy. There were still some things lingering on at that point in time.
“I woke my daughters up last night. They know who Barack Obama is. It’s about 10 o’clock and we were watching television and they were clapping. I said, ‘he’s the President.’ I wanted them to know that our country is great. You can accomplish anything if you’re just given the opportunity. When they have children, they’ll be able to say ‘I saw that happen, I didn’t read it in a history book.’ So to me, that was important, and I think it’s important for America, how great this country is and what we’re all about. I’m hoping he’ll pull this country together, I think that’s what he’s about. I had the opportunity to meet him and visit with him while he was here, we had a great conversation. I think his ability to do that, to make people accomplish things that sometimes they don’t think they can accomplish, he’ll be that type of president.”
Q: Did you think in your lifetime that you’d ever see it?
EDWARDS: “No. It’s great, though.”
Nov 05, 2008, 4:35:02 PM
Q: Do you feel like after what happened the last couple weeks that you needed some veterans at corner?
HERM EDWARDS: “Yeah to go in and play. Right now, yeah. It’s hard to get another young guy to go in and play because they don’t know the system. (CB David) Macklin’s been in the system. He was with (Colts head coach) Tony (Dungy) in Indianapolis. He could go play nickel, he could play corner, he’s lined up. He could help us there and he’s going to be up this week.”
Q: Both of those guys?
EDWARDS: “Maybe so, yeah.”
Q: Going to be your three and four?
EDWARDS: “I haven’t figured that out yet, but yeah, maybe. I think we’ve signed 69 guys already.”
Q: Is CB Brandon Flowers ready to go?
EDWARDS: “Yeah. He should be ready to go.”
Q: And LB Derrick Johnson?
EDWARDS: “He’s out. He’s probably going to be out, he’s got a hamstring.”
Q: More severe than Brandon obviously?
EDWARDS: “Yeah. He’ll participate, he didn’t participate today. He pulled it in a game, I don’t know what play.”
Q: You turned up the heat in practice today?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, generally you do that this time of the year, when it gets cooler, you try to turn it up to about 75 degrees in there, because we’re going out to California. Let them sweat. Monday is a day where they just do a little bit of jogging and stretching, Tuesday they’re off. So we try to keep them in condition that way. I thought it worked out good for them today.”
Q: Have they put the Sunday’s game behind them?
EDWARDS: “Yeah. They’re pretty resilient. They’re disappointed. They’re excited about the opportunity again this week, young guys generally are that way. They came out today and practiced good and practiced fast. They had fun practicing. That’s what’s great about them, they’re just trying to get better and trying to find a way together.”
Q: Talk about this division and how close together it is?
EDWARDS: “You wouldn’t think of that early, when everyone was predicting the division. You’d probably think San Diego would have more wins right now, maybe Denver. I would have felt we would have had a few more too. It’s still tight, anything can happen with eight weeks left. Somebody’s got to get hot, Denver plays Thursday against Cleveland so we’ll see what happens there. If you can win two or three games in a row, all of sudden you probably feel pretty good about yourself in the division.”
Q: Are you thinking WR Kevin Robinson and TE Michael Merritt will be up this week?
EDWARDS: “I don’t know that. I think Robinson would probably have the best chance because of his punt return ability. Merritt not yet, but hopefully by the next eight weeks they’re going to be involved in it.”
Q: Will RB Larry Johnson be active when he returns?
EDWARDS: “He’s been out a month. It’s time for him to come back and do what he needs to do to prepare himself to get ready to play football. We’ll see where that’s at.”
Q: Will Larry be able to play after a month off?
EDWARDS: “It’s kind of like last year, in the preseason when he was out, we kind of brought him along slow. We’ve got to bring him back. He’s missed month of playing football. We’ve changed a little bit too, on how we play, so that’s all involved in it too. But yeah, he’s working out, he’s preparing himself to get ready to play and that’s kind of important.”
Q: As an African-American, what are your thoughts on the country electing Barack Obama?
EDWARDS: “I think it’s a big step for America. My Mom was probably more excited than me. She was a war bride. She was married to my Dad in 1953. She tells me the story all the time how they had to go to Washington when they signed the (marriage) papers, it wasn’t valid in the South. You couldn’t have an interracial marriage. So she was excited, no doubt about it. I was excited because of everything that she and my father went through. Some things I learned in the 60s, I grew up in the 60s, I was a 60s guy. There were still some things lingering on at that point in time.
“I woke my daughters up last night. They know who Barack Obama is. It’s about 10 o’clock and we were watching television and they were clapping. I said, ‘he’s the President.’ I wanted them to know that our country is great. You can accomplish anything if you’re just given the opportunity. When they have children, they’ll be able to say ‘I saw that happen, I didn’t read it in a history book.’ So to me, that was important, and I think it’s important for America, how great this country is and what we’re all about. I’m hoping he’ll pull this country together, I think that’s what he’s about. I had the opportunity to meet him and visit with him while he was here, we had a great conversation. I think his ability to do that, to make people accomplish things that sometimes they don’t think they can accomplish, he’ll be that type of president.”
Q: Did you think in your lifetime that you’d ever see it?
EDWARDS: “No. It’s great, though.”