Chiefs Todd Haley Press Conference - 10/12

**Tribal Warfare** · 10-12-2009, 05:41 PM

Todd Haley Press Conference - 10/12

Oct 12, 2009, 5:59:29 PM

TODD HALEY: “Feel about the same way I felt yesterday after the game. It was a loss that hurt a bunch. Good team in Arrowhead, but that I thought we had a chance to win. It did not end up that way and those are the ones that are difficult to swallow.

“I thought there were a lot of positives from that game across the board in a lot of different areas - the biggest in my mind being our quarterback and the offense following a deflating event, a game you lead for most of the game or are tied and see that taken away late. Then you get a sack early in (the final) two-minute drive. I was really proud of the guys. I think they pulled together and overcame adversity, overcame some injuries in some key spots to score a touchdown and tie the game and give us a chance to potentially win the game. I think that’s something we definitely as a team have to build on. I think that it’s critical that we recognize positives in the game.”

Q: When you went to bed last night did you replay the decision about going for the two-point conversion? Is that the kind of thing a head coach does?

HALEY: “Yeah, sure. I replayed a lot of that game. I didn’t sleep a whole bunch last night. Sure, you replay that. I was laying there with my wife and I said, ‘you think I should have gone for two?’ It’s two yards to win.

“But again, I stand by the decision I made. We’ve got two opportunities in overtime to win the game and really looked good. The second possession on the second one from the 50 and we’ve got a slant on the first play on Jenkins. I like our chances right there. We catch that ball or execute that play, and there was some action going on over…but we’ve got to make that play. As far as I’m concerned their guy, Miles Austin, made the plays in similar situations. That’s why they won.”

Q: Some of the guys in the locker room talked about how they liked the pace during that two minute drive, saying, ‘that’s a good pace for us.’ Everyone looked comfortable. You’ve talked about playing at a faster pace. Is that something you would consider?

HALEY: “Yeah, like I said, we’ve got to build on that situation in a lot of different ways. That was a tough deal, a tough situation to be put in, like I said, especially with a sack on the second play and a dropped ball on the first ball. Easy to say we’re in trouble.

“We talked about this becoming a team. I told the team, it’s like a symphony orchestra. It’s got to be everybody in unison, together, and I think there were signs of that yesterday.”

Q: Do you think you’ll incorporate the no-huddle a little bit more?

HALEY: “I don’t know. If it’s something that gives us a better chance I would be for that. It’s something I’ve had a lot of experience with. Anything that will give us a chance to play good on either side of the ball we need to do.”

Q: Looking at your running game problems, how much of that is on Larry Johnson?

HALEY: “I think a running back you kind of count on him to get something when there’s nothing there. But that’s easily said. But I thought that Larry ran hard yesterday. I thought that what is a little misleading is we threw a couple of swing passes that ended up being counted as runs and specifically the one for the big loss that there was really nothing he could really do. Those hurt your numbers a little bit and I know that’s discouraging at times. But I think the kid ran hard. He stuck it up in there and he needs a little help to.”

Q: In the situation he’s in, is he getting his job done?

HALEY: “I thought Larry yesterday caught a big ball for us out of the backfield that was a tough catch that resulted in a first down. It was an excellent run after catch. I thought he had two terrific blitz pickups: one where we had a situation where the guard had to come down and he ended up on the three-technique, #99, and cut the guy to the ground and really beat up on him, on another one he cut #93. Those things are positives.

“It wasn’t all great but I think that Larry was an important part of us being in a position to win.”

Q: Your high risk seemed to work yesterday as opposed to the protect-the-ball style. How do you make a decision there?

HALEY: “That’s just part of the deal. You need to, if you’re going no-huddle, there to (have) some runs in there, which there were yesterday that didn’t show up because of some specific looks we got. I think you still have to try to remain balanced. If you are no-huddle that doesn’t mean you throw 100% of the time.”

Q: You ran some draws in critical situations late in the game and some fans reacted with boos. Is that execution or did the opposition just blow them up, or what happened?

HALEY: “I think it was execution yesterday. Execution. We weren’t running into situations that we didn’t want to run into yesterday. We’ve just got to go execute better.”

Q: What is going on with Derrick Johnson? He’s healthy enough to play some on special teams but he can’t seem to get on the field in the other areas?

HALEY: “You’re the Derrick Johnson question guy aren’t you? We’re going to label you the Derrick Johnson question guy. Hey, there’s a lot of factors that go into it. Right now I’d rather you be talking about Demorrio Williams because that guy came out and played a heck of a game. They happen to play the same position and we’re going to play the guys that give us the best chance to win. Period.

Q:Number 53. Talk about him. That guy busted his butt. Made a lot of plays. How many tackles did he have? Do you know?

HALEY: Seven.
HALEY: “Ok, good production. We’ll play the guys that give us the best chance to win. Period.”

Q: If I can follow up, you said last week (Johnson) was nicked up. This week it’s not a nicked up issue then?

HALEY: ”(Williams) got a chance to play for however he got in there and he’s playing well and giving us a chance to win. I thought Demorrio played a game good enough for us to win. He was one of the guys above the line of, ‘did you play good enough to win, did you play somewhere in the middle somewhere and hold the fort, or did you hurt our chances to win’? Demorrio was above that positive line.”

Q: Did you wife think you should go for two?

HALEY: “No, she said, ‘I believe in you honey.’”

Q: How’s Brandon Albert?

HALEY: “Sore today, which we knew. We taped him up a couple of times yesterday. He wanted to come back in and it just wasn’t meant to be. I was proud of the job Wade (Smith) did coming in there and fighting it out and not having a lot of reps at the spot. Brandon was sore today and we’ll have to evaluate him further tomorrow.”

Q: Does Wade get a lot of reps in practice?

HALEY: “Show team. Most of his reps come on the show team which is an important part of their being ready to play.”

Q: Were you nervous at all when Mike Goff went out after Brandon Albert and your backups were few?

HALEY: “I was nervous the whole game. That’s part of that final drive deal that we’ve got to build on. Easy to find a lot of negatives but we’ve got to look for positives and I think that’s a great positive for us to build on.”

Q: Why do you think of at all times the offense worked flawlessly in that two-minute predicament? Linemen are out, lot of pressure.

HALEY: “I think guys used technique; they did it the way we’re coaching them to do. But I think more importantly, they pulled together, sucked it up and it was kind of what we talked about the night before the game: let’s score as many points we have to win this game regardless of the situation. I think they got together in the huddle and it was just them out there and they made the plays work.”

Q: Did they just not over-think?

HALEY: “I don’t know. It’s something I want to build on and move forward with and understand that if we’re capable of doing that as an offense we surely ought to be capable of scoring enough points to win.”

Q: Have you looked at the tape on the Austin plays? Was Brown late in coming over? Or should have Maurice Leggett not gambled?

HALEY: “We just got to make the tackle. The completion is all right. They’re third-and-six or seven. We’ve got to tackle. Period. Whether it’s Maurice or Mike Brown or someone else, we’ve got to be running to the football at all times. That’s what we’re taught. We’ve got to get him down. The game can’t end in that situation. That’s just too difficult to swallow.”

Q: Was it same coverage both times?

HALEY: “No. Two totally different. It ended being a corner in a one-on-one situation but two totally different.”

Q: You seemed to have a nice moment with Dwayne Bowe on the touchdown grab. For you, after how much you two worked in the off-season, can you talk about that?

HALEY: “It’s a huge play. Fourth down and you can’t get any more difficult, in traffic, between safeties and you know you’re going to get hit. Big-time play. I think for Dwayne that’s a play he has to build on if he wants to help pull and push this team to where it needs to get to. He’ll be a key factor in that, hopefully. Guys who want to be big- time players I’ve always believed make big-time plays in big-time games. That was our biggest situation to date and he made the play. That’s something to build on.”

Q: How much progress has he made?

HALEY: “I think Dwayne is much further along as far as understanding me, understanding us and what we’re trying to get done here. I think that’s positive. He’s making progress and he definitely has a chance to be a big-time player. We need the Dwayne Bowe’s and those guys to help pull this team to where we need to get to.”

Q: Did you see any of the Denver game and are you going to celebrate the way their coach did?

HALEY: “I was eating myself into oblivion last night, trying to eat away the pain and heartache and then suffered through the night because of it. I know the result. Obviously, they are in our division and it puts us another game further back. But it’s a long season and we’ve got to continue to fight and claw back and try to close the distance.”

Q: Is it any easier in preparing for Washington to have lost the way you did as opposed to getting blown out?

HALEY: “A loss is a loss. Easier isn’t even in my vocabulary right now just having gone through yesterday. Let’s regroup and find ways to get a little bit better every day.”

Q: But does it make you feel like you’re closer because of the game yesterday? Would you rather go into the Washington week after that kind of loss?

HALEY: “I don’t think it really matters. We’ve had a chance to win three games, a real opportunity and haven’t come out on top. This is just another opportunity to go out and get a little bit better, execute a little better, work together a little better as a team and make enough plays to win. When that happens then I’ll feel like we’ll be able to take the next step.”

Q: When last week you stressed negative plays and you had 15 this week, how frustrating is that?

HALEY: “It’s very frustrating and it’s not all the players. A couple calls I regret ended up being minus plays. The ones that we can prevent we have to prevent. There are going to be times when the defense makes a play but we have to cut that number down. Sacks are part of the game and we have to eliminate sacks.

“There were some situations where we’ve got to get rid of the football. There are situations where we’ve got to be on the same page up front to not allow penetration and then there are some spots where we put the players in a position that was probably unfair. All those have to be analyzed and that’s what we’re doing to try and eliminate them.

“But when the game ended I didn’t feel like it was that big of a number. When I counted them legitimately in my head it was 12 that were things that we could be better with.”

Q: When we talk to the opponent’s coach each week the guy that they constantly bring up and say to be the best defensive player is #91 (Tamba Hali) and the Cowboys said the same thing and the broadcast this past week said he was the best pass rusher they were going to up against this year. It doesn’t seem his production is what everybody is saying he is? Are they attacking him differently?

HALEY: “I think the case in point is Ware (Cowboys). Last year he was unstoppable and going into our game he had no sacks. Sometimes that isn’t always reflected in sacks because it does make people keep backs in, keep tight ends in, line up certain ways. I don’t think that is always reflected in sack totals.”

10-12-2009, 05:41 PM	Topic Starter
Tribal Warfare Man of Culture Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $-3027187	Todd Haley Press Conference - 10/12 Todd Haley Press Conference - 10/12 Oct 12, 2009, 5:59:29 PM TODD HALEY: “Feel about the same way I felt yesterday after the game. It was a loss that hurt a bunch. Good team in Arrowhead, but that I thought we had a chance to win. It did not end up that way and those are the ones that are difficult to swallow. “I thought there were a lot of positives from that game across the board in a lot of different areas - the biggest in my mind being our quarterback and the offense following a deflating event, a game you lead for most of the game or are tied and see that taken away late. Then you get a sack early in (the final) two-minute drive. I was really proud of the guys. I think they pulled together and overcame adversity, overcame some injuries in some key spots to score a touchdown and tie the game and give us a chance to potentially win the game. I think that’s something we definitely as a team have to build on. I think that it’s critical that we recognize positives in the game.” Q: When you went to bed last night did you replay the decision about going for the two-point conversion? Is that the kind of thing a head coach does? HALEY: “Yeah, sure. I replayed a lot of that game. I didn’t sleep a whole bunch last night. Sure, you replay that. I was laying there with my wife and I said, ‘you think I should have gone for two?’ It’s two yards to win. “But again, I stand by the decision I made. We’ve got two opportunities in overtime to win the game and really looked good. The second possession on the second one from the 50 and we’ve got a slant on the first play on Jenkins. I like our chances right there. We catch that ball or execute that play, and there was some action going on over…but we’ve got to make that play. As far as I’m concerned their guy, Miles Austin, made the plays in similar situations. That’s why they won.” Q: Some of the guys in the locker room talked about how they liked the pace during that two minute drive, saying, ‘that’s a good pace for us.’ Everyone looked comfortable. You’ve talked about playing at a faster pace. Is that something you would consider? HALEY: “Yeah, like I said, we’ve got to build on that situation in a lot of different ways. That was a tough deal, a tough situation to be put in, like I said, especially with a sack on the second play and a dropped ball on the first ball. Easy to say we’re in trouble. “We talked about this becoming a team. I told the team, it’s like a symphony orchestra. It’s got to be everybody in unison, together, and I think there were signs of that yesterday.” Q: Do you think you’ll incorporate the no-huddle a little bit more? HALEY: “I don’t know. If it’s something that gives us a better chance I would be for that. It’s something I’ve had a lot of experience with. Anything that will give us a chance to play good on either side of the ball we need to do.” Q: Looking at your running game problems, how much of that is on Larry Johnson? HALEY: “I think a running back you kind of count on him to get something when there’s nothing there. But that’s easily said. But I thought that Larry ran hard yesterday. I thought that what is a little misleading is we threw a couple of swing passes that ended up being counted as runs and specifically the one for the big loss that there was really nothing he could really do. Those hurt your numbers a little bit and I know that’s discouraging at times. But I think the kid ran hard. He stuck it up in there and he needs a little help to.” Q: In the situation he’s in, is he getting his job done? HALEY: “I thought Larry yesterday caught a big ball for us out of the backfield that was a tough catch that resulted in a first down. It was an excellent run after catch. I thought he had two terrific blitz pickups: one where we had a situation where the guard had to come down and he ended up on the three-technique, #99, and cut the guy to the ground and really beat up on him, on another one he cut #93. Those things are positives. “It wasn’t all great but I think that Larry was an important part of us being in a position to win.” Q: Your high risk seemed to work yesterday as opposed to the protect-the-ball style. How do you make a decision there? HALEY: “That’s just part of the deal. You need to, if you’re going no-huddle, there to (have) some runs in there, which there were yesterday that didn’t show up because of some specific looks we got. I think you still have to try to remain balanced. If you are no-huddle that doesn’t mean you throw 100% of the time.” Q: You ran some draws in critical situations late in the game and some fans reacted with boos. Is that execution or did the opposition just blow them up, or what happened? HALEY: “I think it was execution yesterday. Execution. We weren’t running into situations that we didn’t want to run into yesterday. We’ve just got to go execute better.” Q: What is going on with Derrick Johnson? He’s healthy enough to play some on special teams but he can’t seem to get on the field in the other areas? HALEY: “You’re the Derrick Johnson question guy aren’t you? We’re going to label you the Derrick Johnson question guy. Hey, there’s a lot of factors that go into it. Right now I’d rather you be talking about Demorrio Williams because that guy came out and played a heck of a game. They happen to play the same position and we’re going to play the guys that give us the best chance to win. Period. Q:Number 53. Talk about him. That guy busted his butt. Made a lot of plays. How many tackles did he have? Do you know? HALEY: Seven. HALEY: “Ok, good production. We’ll play the guys that give us the best chance to win. Period.” Q: If I can follow up, you said last week (Johnson) was nicked up. This week it’s not a nicked up issue then? HALEY: ”(Williams) got a chance to play for however he got in there and he’s playing well and giving us a chance to win. I thought Demorrio played a game good enough for us to win. He was one of the guys above the line of, ‘did you play good enough to win, did you play somewhere in the middle somewhere and hold the fort, or did you hurt our chances to win’? Demorrio was above that positive line.” Q: Did you wife think you should go for two? HALEY: “No, she said, ‘I believe in you honey.’” Q: How’s Brandon Albert? HALEY: “Sore today, which we knew. We taped him up a couple of times yesterday. He wanted to come back in and it just wasn’t meant to be. I was proud of the job Wade (Smith) did coming in there and fighting it out and not having a lot of reps at the spot. Brandon was sore today and we’ll have to evaluate him further tomorrow.” Q: Does Wade get a lot of reps in practice? HALEY: “Show team. Most of his reps come on the show team which is an important part of their being ready to play.” Q: Were you nervous at all when Mike Goff went out after Brandon Albert and your backups were few? HALEY: “I was nervous the whole game. That’s part of that final drive deal that we’ve got to build on. Easy to find a lot of negatives but we’ve got to look for positives and I think that’s a great positive for us to build on.” Q: Why do you think of at all times the offense worked flawlessly in that two-minute predicament? Linemen are out, lot of pressure. HALEY: “I think guys used technique; they did it the way we’re coaching them to do. But I think more importantly, they pulled together, sucked it up and it was kind of what we talked about the night before the game: let’s score as many points we have to win this game regardless of the situation. I think they got together in the huddle and it was just them out there and they made the plays work.” Q: Did they just not over-think? HALEY: “I don’t know. It’s something I want to build on and move forward with and understand that if we’re capable of doing that as an offense we surely ought to be capable of scoring enough points to win.” Q: Have you looked at the tape on the Austin plays? Was Brown late in coming over? Or should have Maurice Leggett not gambled? HALEY: “We just got to make the tackle. The completion is all right. They’re third-and-six or seven. We’ve got to tackle. Period. Whether it’s Maurice or Mike Brown or someone else, we’ve got to be running to the football at all times. That’s what we’re taught. We’ve got to get him down. The game can’t end in that situation. That’s just too difficult to swallow.” Q: Was it same coverage both times? HALEY: “No. Two totally different. It ended being a corner in a one-on-one situation but two totally different.” Q: You seemed to have a nice moment with Dwayne Bowe on the touchdown grab. For you, after how much you two worked in the off-season, can you talk about that? HALEY: “It’s a huge play. Fourth down and you can’t get any more difficult, in traffic, between safeties and you know you’re going to get hit. Big-time play. I think for Dwayne that’s a play he has to build on if he wants to help pull and push this team to where it needs to get to. He’ll be a key factor in that, hopefully. Guys who want to be big- time players I’ve always believed make big-time plays in big-time games. That was our biggest situation to date and he made the play. That’s something to build on.” Q: How much progress has he made? HALEY: “I think Dwayne is much further along as far as understanding me, understanding us and what we’re trying to get done here. I think that’s positive. He’s making progress and he definitely has a chance to be a big-time player. We need the Dwayne Bowe’s and those guys to help pull this team to where we need to get to.” Q: Did you see any of the Denver game and are you going to celebrate the way their coach did? HALEY: “I was eating myself into oblivion last night, trying to eat away the pain and heartache and then suffered through the night because of it. I know the result. Obviously, they are in our division and it puts us another game further back. But it’s a long season and we’ve got to continue to fight and claw back and try to close the distance.” Q: Is it any easier in preparing for Washington to have lost the way you did as opposed to getting blown out? HALEY: “A loss is a loss. Easier isn’t even in my vocabulary right now just having gone through yesterday. Let’s regroup and find ways to get a little bit better every day.” Q: But does it make you feel like you’re closer because of the game yesterday? Would you rather go into the Washington week after that kind of loss? HALEY: “I don’t think it really matters. We’ve had a chance to win three games, a real opportunity and haven’t come out on top. This is just another opportunity to go out and get a little bit better, execute a little better, work together a little better as a team and make enough plays to win. When that happens then I’ll feel like we’ll be able to take the next step.” Q: When last week you stressed negative plays and you had 15 this week, how frustrating is that? HALEY: “It’s very frustrating and it’s not all the players. A couple calls I regret ended up being minus plays. The ones that we can prevent we have to prevent. There are going to be times when the defense makes a play but we have to cut that number down. Sacks are part of the game and we have to eliminate sacks. “There were some situations where we’ve got to get rid of the football. There are situations where we’ve got to be on the same page up front to not allow penetration and then there are some spots where we put the players in a position that was probably unfair. All those have to be analyzed and that’s what we’re doing to try and eliminate them. “But when the game ended I didn’t feel like it was that big of a number. When I counted them legitimately in my head it was 12 that were things that we could be better with.” Q: When we talk to the opponent’s coach each week the guy that they constantly bring up and say to be the best defensive player is #91 (Tamba Hali) and the Cowboys said the same thing and the broadcast this past week said he was the best pass rusher they were going to up against this year. It doesn’t seem his production is what everybody is saying he is? Are they attacking him differently? HALEY: “I think the case in point is Ware (Cowboys). Last year he was unstoppable and going into our game he had no sacks. Sometimes that isn’t always reflected in sacks because it does make people keep backs in, keep tight ends in, line up certain ways. I don’t think that is always reflected in sack totals.”
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