Tribal Warfare
11-06-2008, 03:40 PM
Q&A with Herm Edwards - 11/6 (http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2008/11/06/qa_with_herm_edwards__116/)
Nov 06, 2008, 3:22:04 PM
Q: Did S DaJuan Morgan get hurt in practice yesterday?
HERM EDWARDS: “Yeah. He hurt his leg a little bit, so we’ll see where he’s at.”
Q: What has WR Mark Bradley done to make himself an easy fit for this offense?
EDWARDS: “I think, first, his athletic ability. He’s a very good athlete. He’s got a lot of confidence. I think what happened to him in Chicago, that him getting a second opportunity was key. Sometimes that happens to young guys, they go somewhere and it doesn’t quite work out. Expectations are high, for some reason you get nicked or whatever happens. He was just sitting at home. He came in here, we sat down, had a good talk and kind of told him where he’s at right now with his career. I told him he’s going to get an opportunity and he took advantage of it. We’d see him in practice making plays, we elevated him up, and he got in games and started making plays. He’s gaining confidence, I think he gives (WR Dwayne) Bowe some confidence in saying, ‘hey, you know what okay, I’ve got a guy on the other side.’ (TE) Tony (Gonzalez) understands that too, the quarterbacks are comfortable now throwing to him, especially (QB) Tyler (Thigpen). He feels very comfortable getting him the ball. Now we can spread it around with those three guys, which is good.”
Q: So you think he’s got something to prove?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, he does. Anytime you get cut. He was a pretty high pick. But he got hurt too, and it just didn’t work out. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes guys, they go through that when they’re young. Their second opportunity, sometimes, is the one where the light comes on, and it’s come on so far. We told him and I told him, you’re going to get a great chance here, but you’ve got to take advantage of it. It’s how you work, and he worked his fanny off in practice. That’s what you saw about him right away. He made enough plays in practice where we said we were going to elevate the guy and let him play. He’s played well so far.”
Q: How much easier does this offense run with a reliable second wide receiver?
EDWARDS: “The more weapons you have the better, because then the quarterback’s not just stuck on throwing to one guy or two guys. Now you’ve got to deal with three guys. He has the ability to make plays, and he can throw the ball, that’s another option to have with him.”
Q: You brought him in because of his arm.
EDWARDS: “Yeah, because we knew we needed six quarterbacks. So if anything should happen, he could play quarterback.”
Q: With Bradley, is this a bit faster progression than you were expecting?
EDWARDS: “Well, yeah. You figure a guy, not in the system, not in training camp with us. He’s been in a training camp, so that wasn’t a problem. It’s just how fast you can pick it up. To his credit, he was here late at night with Eric Price, our receivers coach, just trying to figure out what to do. When we elevated him, we didn’t ask him to do a lot in the offense. We asked him, here’s a couple pass plays that you understand you’re going to have to be able to run. We kind of fed him that way, and then the next week we started the guy. He’s been playing pretty well.”
Q: What has DT Glenn Dorsey given you?
EDWARDS: “He’s been very, very consistent on the run. I thought last week was one of his better days in the passing game. He moves a lot better toward the quarterback and puts some pressure there. Those guys are kind of like when you look at (DT) Tank (Tyler) and (DE) Turk (McBride) last year. Everybody was wondering, I know they weren’t picked as high. It’s the same thing. Every week he’s playing against a pretty good guard. He’s not the best player on the field anymore. The guys that he is playing against, a lot of them have way more experience than he does. He’s learning the ropes. I think that he got a lot better last week in rushing the quarterback. He didn’t get a sack, but created a push in the pocket that we want to see. So hopefully he can continue to do that.”
Q: Is he living up to your expectations?
EDWARDS: “Yeah. I think when you look at what he’s done, we’ve started him similar to what we’ve done with (DE) Tamba (Hali), when Tamba was a rookie. He plays with a lot of energy, he plays hard. He just has to learn some things about rushing the passer. That’s part of the process of learning, it’s part of the deal. He’s another young guy that’s playing. Every time he plays, it’s his ninth game playing professional football. His experience he’s gaining every time he lines up and plays, he’ll be better for it.”
Q: What’s he doing for this defense?
EDWARDS: “He’s controlling his gap for sure. It’s hard to double-team him and get him out of there. He’s got a pretty good feel for blocks. At times he’s penetrated some. He’s made some plays in the backfield, he made a couple last week which were very good. He’s good that way. That’s what he knows, he was taught that in college, that’s his deal. He’s always thinking run, run, run. He’s got to get his brain on, okay, now he’s got to rush the quarterback some too. He has the ability to do that and he’s getting better.”
Q: You would think the transition from a two-gap college player to a two-gap pro would be easier?
EDWARDS: “Thematically it sounds easier, but the problem is, I keep saying, he’s playing against some pretty good guards. He’s playing against guys with experience and that’s a big difference in this league. When you play inside like that, you’re dealing with the guard, center, you’re playing with some guys with experience. You’re not the strongest powerful guy like you were in college. There you’re playing against a guy that, basically, after his college career he’s going to be a doctor or a lawyer. He’s not going to be a professional football player. Those are most of the guys he plays against in college. These guys are professional football players, they have a lot of experience, they have a lot of knowledge. That’s the difference, he’s learning that. He’s learning how to be a professional football player.”
Q: What’s been going on with the Chargers?
EDWARDS: “Well they still score points, 34 a game at home. So they’re very explosive on offense, the quarterback is one of the top-rated quarterbacks in the league. Their receivers, (WR Vincent) Jackson and those guys are averaging almost 17 yards a catch, somewhere right around in there. They’re an explosive offense. (RB Darren) Sproles is doing very well on the returns and then when he gets in the game on screens and some runs. (RB) LaDainian (Tomlinson) is, you know, he’s made some big plays, but the expectations for him are so high that if he’s not just lighting it up everyone thinks he’s not having a good year. Him and the tight end (Antonio Gates) are playing well. Their defense is a little bit different in this sense. They’ve given up some big plays. Last year they had a lot of interceptions, I know (CB Antonio) Cromartie had 10 or 11. They don’t have as many interceptions, so that has something to do with them not getting off the field. All of a sudden, that changes. Then they lost a pretty good player, in (LB Shawne) Merriman. He’s a difference, he’s a difference. No doubt about it. Just like we lost (DE) Jared Allen, there’s a difference with those guys like that. They make players around you better, that’s what they can do. His presence, the way he played, when you lose a guy like that, it’s hard.”
Q: Defenses are down in the entire division. Is that a matter of teams losing key players or something else?
EDWARDS: “I don’t know. I don’t look at them all that hard, I look at them for three or four games. I don’t study their personnel that much. I don’t study every game because you don’t watch every game. We’re trying to play better, and I think the thing we’ve done halfway decent, is taking the ball away. We’ve taken the ball away 18 times, one team has taken it away more, Chicago. They’ve taken it away 19. Our problem is third downs. We didn’t have some big runs last week, so we improved that way. We’ve been plus-three the last two weeks in the turnover ratio. Generally you win games that way. If you can keep playing that way on offense, don’t turn the ball over and the defense keep taking it away, you’ve got a chance to win some games down the stretch. Hopefully we can keep on doing that.”
Q: Do you notice the confidence of the team in Tyler Thigpen?
EDWARDS: “It’s the first time this whole year that the quarterback’s actually played three games in a row. So that’s good. Hopefully he can continue to play consistent, like he has. That helps you. That’s why we’ve been very competitive down the stretch. Hopefully we can do that, and if we stay competitive like we have the last two weeks, we’ll be in games and then the players have got to make a play. In the end if the players make one more play we might be sitting at 3-5. I’m talking about one more, or don’t let the play happen to you.”
Q: It’s certainly a long way from being down 34-0?
EDWARDS: “Oh yeah, it’s much improved from the Tennessee, Carolina deals. And a lot of it has to do, in my opinion in how the quarterback plays. Anytime you move the ball, it helps everybody. It makes you feel like you’re in the game. Three-and-outs are deflating. We got into some games where we got down early, then in the third quarter we were dropping back throwing the ball all over the place. You don’t want to do that. You’d like to play like we did last week some.”
Nov 06, 2008, 3:22:04 PM
Q: Did S DaJuan Morgan get hurt in practice yesterday?
HERM EDWARDS: “Yeah. He hurt his leg a little bit, so we’ll see where he’s at.”
Q: What has WR Mark Bradley done to make himself an easy fit for this offense?
EDWARDS: “I think, first, his athletic ability. He’s a very good athlete. He’s got a lot of confidence. I think what happened to him in Chicago, that him getting a second opportunity was key. Sometimes that happens to young guys, they go somewhere and it doesn’t quite work out. Expectations are high, for some reason you get nicked or whatever happens. He was just sitting at home. He came in here, we sat down, had a good talk and kind of told him where he’s at right now with his career. I told him he’s going to get an opportunity and he took advantage of it. We’d see him in practice making plays, we elevated him up, and he got in games and started making plays. He’s gaining confidence, I think he gives (WR Dwayne) Bowe some confidence in saying, ‘hey, you know what okay, I’ve got a guy on the other side.’ (TE) Tony (Gonzalez) understands that too, the quarterbacks are comfortable now throwing to him, especially (QB) Tyler (Thigpen). He feels very comfortable getting him the ball. Now we can spread it around with those three guys, which is good.”
Q: So you think he’s got something to prove?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, he does. Anytime you get cut. He was a pretty high pick. But he got hurt too, and it just didn’t work out. Sometimes that happens. Sometimes guys, they go through that when they’re young. Their second opportunity, sometimes, is the one where the light comes on, and it’s come on so far. We told him and I told him, you’re going to get a great chance here, but you’ve got to take advantage of it. It’s how you work, and he worked his fanny off in practice. That’s what you saw about him right away. He made enough plays in practice where we said we were going to elevate the guy and let him play. He’s played well so far.”
Q: How much easier does this offense run with a reliable second wide receiver?
EDWARDS: “The more weapons you have the better, because then the quarterback’s not just stuck on throwing to one guy or two guys. Now you’ve got to deal with three guys. He has the ability to make plays, and he can throw the ball, that’s another option to have with him.”
Q: You brought him in because of his arm.
EDWARDS: “Yeah, because we knew we needed six quarterbacks. So if anything should happen, he could play quarterback.”
Q: With Bradley, is this a bit faster progression than you were expecting?
EDWARDS: “Well, yeah. You figure a guy, not in the system, not in training camp with us. He’s been in a training camp, so that wasn’t a problem. It’s just how fast you can pick it up. To his credit, he was here late at night with Eric Price, our receivers coach, just trying to figure out what to do. When we elevated him, we didn’t ask him to do a lot in the offense. We asked him, here’s a couple pass plays that you understand you’re going to have to be able to run. We kind of fed him that way, and then the next week we started the guy. He’s been playing pretty well.”
Q: What has DT Glenn Dorsey given you?
EDWARDS: “He’s been very, very consistent on the run. I thought last week was one of his better days in the passing game. He moves a lot better toward the quarterback and puts some pressure there. Those guys are kind of like when you look at (DT) Tank (Tyler) and (DE) Turk (McBride) last year. Everybody was wondering, I know they weren’t picked as high. It’s the same thing. Every week he’s playing against a pretty good guard. He’s not the best player on the field anymore. The guys that he is playing against, a lot of them have way more experience than he does. He’s learning the ropes. I think that he got a lot better last week in rushing the quarterback. He didn’t get a sack, but created a push in the pocket that we want to see. So hopefully he can continue to do that.”
Q: Is he living up to your expectations?
EDWARDS: “Yeah. I think when you look at what he’s done, we’ve started him similar to what we’ve done with (DE) Tamba (Hali), when Tamba was a rookie. He plays with a lot of energy, he plays hard. He just has to learn some things about rushing the passer. That’s part of the process of learning, it’s part of the deal. He’s another young guy that’s playing. Every time he plays, it’s his ninth game playing professional football. His experience he’s gaining every time he lines up and plays, he’ll be better for it.”
Q: What’s he doing for this defense?
EDWARDS: “He’s controlling his gap for sure. It’s hard to double-team him and get him out of there. He’s got a pretty good feel for blocks. At times he’s penetrated some. He’s made some plays in the backfield, he made a couple last week which were very good. He’s good that way. That’s what he knows, he was taught that in college, that’s his deal. He’s always thinking run, run, run. He’s got to get his brain on, okay, now he’s got to rush the quarterback some too. He has the ability to do that and he’s getting better.”
Q: You would think the transition from a two-gap college player to a two-gap pro would be easier?
EDWARDS: “Thematically it sounds easier, but the problem is, I keep saying, he’s playing against some pretty good guards. He’s playing against guys with experience and that’s a big difference in this league. When you play inside like that, you’re dealing with the guard, center, you’re playing with some guys with experience. You’re not the strongest powerful guy like you were in college. There you’re playing against a guy that, basically, after his college career he’s going to be a doctor or a lawyer. He’s not going to be a professional football player. Those are most of the guys he plays against in college. These guys are professional football players, they have a lot of experience, they have a lot of knowledge. That’s the difference, he’s learning that. He’s learning how to be a professional football player.”
Q: What’s been going on with the Chargers?
EDWARDS: “Well they still score points, 34 a game at home. So they’re very explosive on offense, the quarterback is one of the top-rated quarterbacks in the league. Their receivers, (WR Vincent) Jackson and those guys are averaging almost 17 yards a catch, somewhere right around in there. They’re an explosive offense. (RB Darren) Sproles is doing very well on the returns and then when he gets in the game on screens and some runs. (RB) LaDainian (Tomlinson) is, you know, he’s made some big plays, but the expectations for him are so high that if he’s not just lighting it up everyone thinks he’s not having a good year. Him and the tight end (Antonio Gates) are playing well. Their defense is a little bit different in this sense. They’ve given up some big plays. Last year they had a lot of interceptions, I know (CB Antonio) Cromartie had 10 or 11. They don’t have as many interceptions, so that has something to do with them not getting off the field. All of a sudden, that changes. Then they lost a pretty good player, in (LB Shawne) Merriman. He’s a difference, he’s a difference. No doubt about it. Just like we lost (DE) Jared Allen, there’s a difference with those guys like that. They make players around you better, that’s what they can do. His presence, the way he played, when you lose a guy like that, it’s hard.”
Q: Defenses are down in the entire division. Is that a matter of teams losing key players or something else?
EDWARDS: “I don’t know. I don’t look at them all that hard, I look at them for three or four games. I don’t study their personnel that much. I don’t study every game because you don’t watch every game. We’re trying to play better, and I think the thing we’ve done halfway decent, is taking the ball away. We’ve taken the ball away 18 times, one team has taken it away more, Chicago. They’ve taken it away 19. Our problem is third downs. We didn’t have some big runs last week, so we improved that way. We’ve been plus-three the last two weeks in the turnover ratio. Generally you win games that way. If you can keep playing that way on offense, don’t turn the ball over and the defense keep taking it away, you’ve got a chance to win some games down the stretch. Hopefully we can keep on doing that.”
Q: Do you notice the confidence of the team in Tyler Thigpen?
EDWARDS: “It’s the first time this whole year that the quarterback’s actually played three games in a row. So that’s good. Hopefully he can continue to play consistent, like he has. That helps you. That’s why we’ve been very competitive down the stretch. Hopefully we can do that, and if we stay competitive like we have the last two weeks, we’ll be in games and then the players have got to make a play. In the end if the players make one more play we might be sitting at 3-5. I’m talking about one more, or don’t let the play happen to you.”
Q: It’s certainly a long way from being down 34-0?
EDWARDS: “Oh yeah, it’s much improved from the Tennessee, Carolina deals. And a lot of it has to do, in my opinion in how the quarterback plays. Anytime you move the ball, it helps everybody. It makes you feel like you’re in the game. Three-and-outs are deflating. We got into some games where we got down early, then in the third quarter we were dropping back throwing the ball all over the place. You don’t want to do that. You’d like to play like we did last week some.”