DV Q&A 9/16

[Wile_E_Coyote]

Q&A with Dick Vermeil

Sep 16, 2004, 5:09:44 PM


Q: If Vonnie Holliday and Greg Wesley practice on Friday do they have chance to play on Sunday?

DICK VERMEIL: “If they’re alright to go on Friday then they’d be OK on Saturday and probably on Sunday in a limited role. Right now I don’t have a good feel for it.”

Q: So you’re planning to go with….

VERMEIL: “Right now the plan is to go with John Browning, I think, at right end, or Jared Allen. That will be determined tomorrow.”

Q: Either way both guys will play at that spot?

VERMEIL: “Yeah.”

Q: Then you would rotate Lional Dalton in there?

VERMEIL: “Yeah.”

Q: How has John Browning made that adjustment?

VERMEIL: “Well, he played very well when he was there. He can play it very well.”

Q: You feel confident with him?

VERMEIL: “Yeah, but the balance with Vonnie Holliday in there and John Browning inside gives us the four top defensive linemen on the line of scrimmage at the same time and it works real good. But when we take John Browning and put him at right end, then we bring in our backup defensive tackle. Then we have to determine if the backup defensive tackle is better playing in there than our backup right end.”

Q: What were you impressions of Lional Dalton in the preseason?

VERMEIL: “Up and down. I think he had some good days. He played pretty well in the game the other day. He had a couple of things we would like him to do better. There are certain things he can bring to the defensive line. He’s very powerful and quick when he uses it all.”

Q: You brought him in and he knew he wasn’t going to get many more chances in this league. How’s he responded to that?

VERMEIL: “I think very well. He’s worked hard and I think he knows now how we do things and what’s expected of him. I think he’s fit in nicely. I think he’s demonstrated a good work ethic and a pretty consistent tempo. I still think game day there’s a little left for him to play with. I expect to see it Sunday.”

Q: Is he a guy you’d like to keep blockers off your linebackers?

VERMEIL: “Every defense is different, but the first thing he has is gap responsibilities and must hold the line of scrimmage. The other thing he can do is run; he has good quickness and is a good stunt defensive lineman as well. Where he has a problem is when he gets on big guys and gets to standing up. When he gets standing up he’s short and he loses all leverage and then he’s like a big eight-by-eight post standing there.”

Q: On the less serious side, the stools in the locker room are gone and have been replaced by chairs.

VERMEIL: “I just saw that. Must have put it in the budget. I didn’t know about it.”

Q: So, this is not a Vermeil innovation?

VERMEIL: “No, I think this is a (VP of football operations) Lynn Stiles innovation. I know I didn’t put it in the budget.”

Q: You’re screwing around with tradition. Those stools have been there for years.

VERMEIL: “I heard the players talking about it. Casey Wiegmann said he wanted to keep his stool.”

[Rukdafaidas]

Casey Wiegmann said he wanted to keep his stool.”
:Lin:

[Wile_E_Coyote]

Q&A with Trent, with Priest, up now...will post in a minute

http://www.kcchiefs.com/

[Wile_E_Coyote]

Q&A QB Trent Green

Sep 16, 2004, 4:54:28 PM


CAROLINA PRESS CONFERENCE
Q: What do you see this week that gives you confidence the offense will be better than last week?

GREEN: “Well a lot of it has to do with us executing. We didn’t execute well enough and you have to give Denver credit, they did a great job game-planning us and they put us in tough situations. You look at our third-down situations and we were in third and long almost the entire time. I think nine of our third-down conversions were third-and-nine, third-and-eight or longer. We just can’t put ourselves in that position. So that means we have to have more success on first and second down, so we’re not putting ourselves in those situations.”

Q: Is Carolina’s front seven as good as you might face in this league?

GREEN: “Definitely. Their linebackers have a lot of speed but their front four is kind of what makes that defense run. Their not only big guys in terms of stopping the run and stuffing the holes, but they all have speed. They all are able to, even the inside guys are able to run and able to move so that makes it difficult. When you have defensive ends like (Mike) Rucker and (Julius) Peppers like they have, big, physical guys that are athletic it definitely presents a lot of problems. It’s a great test for our offensive line.”

Q: Green Bay had a lot of success against the defense. What did you take from that?

GREEN: “I thought Green Bay had a great gameplan going in. Not only did they run the ball well, which helped a lot, but what they did with Brett (Favre) was they moved him around. A lot of his throws weren’t just standing back, dropping back in the pocket, they were either play action or they were moving the pocket, rolling our right all the way outside the tackle where they chopped down Peppers and sealed the back side. So they were moving him around a lot rather than having him be a target and stand in there. Obviously a lot of that was tied to the running game. They wouldn’t have been able to do those things with the play action if they hadn’t been able to run the ball as effectively as they did. That kind of points us in direction, hopefully, that we’ll have to establish the same type of thing because their defense is too good to stand back there and let them come flying at us.”

Q: What does (DT Chris) Jenkins give them as a defensive threat down the middle of the field?

GREEN: “If he’s not the best, he’s one of the best defensive tackles in the league. And not only because of his size at stopping the run, like you said his ability to shoot the gaps and cause pressure. A lot of times where you have the two fast outside guys like Rucker and Peppers you can step up into the pocket and there’s a nice little pocket formed around you, but when have a penetrating guy like Jenkins and a wall like (Brentson) Buckner who is there to stuff the run, it poses problems.”

Q: Coach Vermeil mentioned Priest Holmes in practice has been on a whole other level. Do you notice the difference in Priest this year?

GREEN: “Well I think there’s a couple of different factors. One, he’s healthier than he was a year ago. He was able to spend the time in the off-season doing football things instead of rehabbing. The other thing is the doctors and trainers and coaches have been incredible in terms of monitoring his reps. He didn’t take a lot of reps in training camp, didn’t take a lot of reps in the preseason. During the week of practice the limit the number of reps he gets. He’s very fresh. It’s very similar to what we did with Marshall (Faulk) in ‘99, 2000 and I think Mike (Martz) continues to do it now. When you have a guy who’s going to carry the load in terms of number of touches, not only in carries but catches out of the backfield. When you have someone touching the ball that much it only makes since to monitor how many touches he gets in training camp, preseason and during the week because you know you’re going to have to rely on him to be healthy for Sundays. I think they’ve done a great job at that. When he is in there, when he does get those few touches that he does during the week, he’s very explosive and is doing a good job of finishing. I think all of it falls back on they’re doing a great job on monitoring how many snaps he takes.”

Q: Do you think you’re getting in tune with your receivers?

GREEN: “I hope so. It’s been a long training camp and preseason with just so many different faces in there. The more that Johnnie (Morton) is able to practice I think that will come along more and more. The more that we ask Dante (Hall) to do hopefully from a health standpoint – you know he took an incredible shot in that game against Denver – for somebody of his stature, you’re not going to be able to take a ton of those hits. So we’ve got to find ways to not only get him the ball but keep him protected. That’ll come along further. I thought Eddie (Kennison) played very well in the Denver game. He did some good things and we’re coming along. Maybe this is the week we’ll ask more of Richard (Smith) or Samie (Parker) now that he’s back practicing. There may have to be some younger guys who step up and play well, or play more just because of the hit Dante’ took and how much we rely on him in other phases.”

Q: Do you see the other team putting a corner back on Tony Gonzalez being a more common thing?

GREEN: “With the five-yard bump rule, there are going to be teams banging him off the bat, in that first five-yard area. Some bang past the five-yard area. It’s going to be something where he’s going to have to deal with that all year. Maybe what they do is use their defensive ends and linebackers to bang him for a couple of yards, then they pass it over to a DB who can cover him. Weather or not that throws off the timing, if you’re going to commit a couple of people to him, then obviously its going to open up a couple of other things for some other people. Now those other people have to step up. At some point in time we have find a way to get him the ball, he’s too good not to. I think defenses are definitely going to focus on him. It only makes sense.”

Q: How do you find a balance between making a play and making a bad play when you are forced to scramble or leave the pocket?

GREEN: “A lot of what I talk about with Coach (Vermeil) and (offensive coordinator) Al (Saunders) is game management. There’s times to do it and times not to do it. The pick the other night (by Champ Bailey), if I were to do it again I’d probably throw the ball again. I mean that was an incredible interception. We’ve watched the film again and again to see how Champ did it and I don’t know if there are too many people in the league who can make that play. What we’ve got to work better on and we addressed it today it that we’ve been spoiled. Everybody’s been spoiled; I’ve been spoiled and our receivers. I’m normally in the pocket making throws, but on the occasion where I do have to scramble, we’ve made some notice and talked about it this week, that we need to get more of a reaction from the receivers to react to me moving around as opposed to just standing in the pocket and running the routes. So maybe that can help things out, help angles out better, help them coming back to the ball or it they’re in a certain situation down the field or it they’re in the backfield and cross over – we just don’t do a lot of that because that’s not what this offense is.”

Q: Is there a rule receivers go by when you take off?

GREEN: “A little bit. You try to have organized chaos but it depends on the route, if I’m flushing one way and the whole route is going the other it makes it kind of difficult. But you want like a ladder system. You want a guy short, medium and long; that’s what you’d really like. And depending where those receivers are on the field, if you can coordinate that, that’s good. We’re going to try to spend some more time on that this week so that if that does happen again we can be better spaced. Because the other night we were kind of clumped together and that was why Champ was able to (pick off the pass). He felt we had one guy short and a guy stacked right behind him and because of the spacing there he was able to make that play. As incredible a play as it was, maybe had we been spaced better maybe it never would’ve happened.”

Q: Is it exciting to be coming home and playing in front of the Arrowhead fans?

GREEN: “I think it is. Especially with the way our season went last year and being undefeated at home, it is great home field advantage. Even talking with Peyton (Manning) and some of the players at the Pro Bowl, they cannot believe the home field advantage we have and the noise and the effect when the other team pulls in the parking lot and sees everyone there tailgating. From two hours before kickoff when opposing players pull in they know they’re in for a little bit of a different atmosphere than they see around the country. It is a huge advantage for us and one that we hope to continue. We’re going to need it this weekend; Carolina’s going to come in here pretty ticked off because the lost their home opener and they don’t want to start 0-2. Neither one of us wants to start 0-2, so hopefully that home field advantage can give us the extra edge that we need.”

[Wile_E_Coyote]

Q&A RB Priest Holmes

Sep 16, 2004, 4:52:42 PM


Q: Can you clear up question of what your goals are for this year?


HOLMES: “I’ve only set one goal. My only goal for this year is to have more than one run of 30 yards. I would have to get two to break it from last year. Last year I only had one.”

Q: Can you take us through your 33-yard TD run at Denver?

HOLMES: “It was basically an outside run. We haven’t had much success with that particular play, but we’ve been looking at it this entire off-season as a play that would actually spring us to have a long gain. It was one of those things where it just worked out perfect where the defense played in the right positions that allowed for the offensive line and T-Rich (Tony Richardson) and Tony Gonzalez to get on their men.”

Q: At what point of the play is it really on you for success?

HOLMES: “Well, it really starts with me from the very beginning. With that particular play there is footwork that takes place before the play even really gets started. Unless I have the correct footwork it’s going to mess up the entire play, and it starts from the very beginning.”

Q: Can you evaluate how you feel after one week?

HOLMES: “I think one full year removed from my injury I really believed that I would have more success. Mentally I’d be thinking about different things in terms of my approach to football. Physically I feel pretty good. One of the things that I don’t have to worry about running down the field is ‘Is somebody going to catch me with my foot stuck in the ground.’ Now I believe that I am a year removed and I feel very confident that my leg is going to pull through.”

Q: Did you ever think after the hip injury that you would be this close breaking RB Christian Okoye’s career franchise rushing record?

HOLMES: “I think just with the success I’ve had with the offensive line and definitely keeping most of our offensive line intact it would give me the possibility to break the record. We know we have, I believe 157 yards to break the record and if it doesn’t come this week it will come before the end of the season.”“My goals change up every year. I’m very specific about my goals and it’s not that I don’t look at other goals, but when I set my mind to do one thing I believe it allows me to break records in other areas that I didn’t look at.”

Q: If you get runs of 30 yards or more every game could you break Eric Dickerson’s single-season rushing record?

HOLMES: “That second goal could happen with me setting the first goal. When you’re setting goals you need to be very realistic. I always use the situation that when I was young if I tried to be like Shaquille O’Neal it would be very difficult, but by trying to mimic myself after Tony Dorsett it’s been very easy to achieve the things I’ve done my entire life.”

Q: Is there a certain individual on the Panthers defense that you always need to be aware of?

HOLMES: “I would always say the down four would be the first group of individuals that I look at because they can cause so much havoc. If you can’t get past that first line of defense it’s going to make it a very tough day. Their front four have had a lot of success even after this past year, Super Bowl contender. They’re going to be fired up and ready to play even with that first loss this past week.”

Q: What did Ahman Green and the Packers do well against Carolina last week?

HOLMES: “Well, I think they ran downhill very well. Even when we played them last year it was very difficult to stop the run because of the fact that when they’re trap blocking one of the defensive linemen and they’re pulling another linemen down it’s very difficult to get a running back down when he gets his shoulders straight ahead.”

Q: Is there a better front seven (defensively) in the league today?

HOLMES: “When I was with Baltimore it would have been Tennessee. But that was three and a half years ago. Now I’ve changed divisions and I’ve gotten very familiar with the people that we play in this division. It’s not that they’re difficult, but they do have certain challenges when we play them.”

Q: Do you feel extra pressure to score more points based on the play of the defense?

HOLMES: “No I don’t think so. With the defense, the thing that they’re going to do doing is improving each week in terms of learning the system and buying into it and then being able to attack and not have to worry about it. I think they’ll be doing a lot better. Even with my injury last year I constantly thought about my injury and my leg. ‘Is it going to support me?’ And the same way I’m pretty sure the defense is thinking right now, ‘We’re buying into this system, but is it going to work?’ As they keep going and continue to play games they’ll definitely buy into it.”

Q: What does it mean to you to be considered the best running back in the history of the Chiefs?

HOLMES: “Growing up it was always one of my goals in my position to be the best player I could possibly be. I’ve played along side great talent so there was never any reason or any doubt in my mind that I couldn’t achieve the things that I am doing right now. It just made for a perfect situation when Coach Vermeil arrived here and he called me personally. It goes all the way back to when I was in college that he happened to see one of my games when he was a commentator at the time and he decided that if he had the opportunity to pick me up he would.”

Q: What will the record mean to you in the larger scheme of things?

HOLMES: “That I had an excellent offensive line. Personally that’s what it means and it’s something I believe they can take as they leave this game as something they were able to achieve. Me personally, that’s just one of the things you come about when you have a great line. It wasn’t really one of my goals in terms of trying to break that particular one when I came here, but in terms of touchdowns, being productive and making long runs, those are my goals.”

Q: Did you ever want to be Christian Okoye (KC’s all-time leading rusher) when you were growing up?

HOLMES: “No, not growing up in Texas. It was either the Dallas Cowboys or the Houston Oilers.”

Q: Have you had an opportunity to meet Okoye much?

HOLMES: “At a few functions we’ve been introduced. But outside of that I’ve never really had an opportunity to talk to him about his tenure while he was here running the ball.”