Chiefs Teicher:Prodded by Andy Reid, Chiefs QB Alex Smith learning to be more aggressive - Page 25

**Tribal Warfare** · 06-05-2013, 06:26 PM

Prodded by Andy Reid, Chiefs QB Alex Smith learning to be more aggressive
By ADAM TEICHER
The Kansas City Star
One of the qualities the Chiefs like in new quarterback Alex Smith is his recent history with few turnovers. Smith threw just 10 interceptions in his last 25 games for the San Francisco 49ers, a stat that looks extremely pretty in Kansas City after Chiefs quarterbacks committed 27 turnovers last season.

Smith’s low turnover rate was due at least in part by his reluctance to throw the ball down the field. He was referred to by frustrated 49ers fans as Captain Checkdown for his habit of throwing shorter patterns to receivers for shorter gains.

Smith is in the process of being reprogrammed by Andy Reid, his new coach. Reid doesn’t want to turn Smith into a turnover machine but wants him to be more aggressive, particularly during offseason practice.

“You want to get a feel for the offense now, particularly when you’re new at it (and) if there are close throws, challenge it, see what you can get away with,” Reid said. “If it ends up being an interception, OK, it’s an interception. You learn from it. These are smart guys so they learn from it and once they get into the season, they’re not experimenting with it on game day and they know what they can get away with and know what they can’t.

“It’s a new offense. I would tell any quarterback that comes in new that that’s what you need to do. I’ve told them all that. Go ahead and take your shots and see what you can get away with, within reason. But if it’s a close throw, there are going to be a few of those in the National Football League on game day so you need to know what you can get away with on each route.”

Smith and the other Chiefs quarterbacks were rewarded with several long completions in Wednesday’s practice. Smith had three such plays, including two to Jon Baldwin, while Tyler Bray and Ricky Stanzi had one apiece.

Wednesday’s barrage of big passing plays isn’t necessarily an indication the deep ball is back in the Chiefs’ offense. But since such plays have been scarce for the Chiefs in each of the past two seasons, they’re taking it as an encouraging sign.

“We’re just kind of continuing to press to see what we can do … finding out what we’re capable of,” Smith said. “You’ve got to find that out at some point. This is what the practice field is for.”

Smith was the NFL’s highest-rated passer last season before he was injured, missed a start and then replaced by Colin Kaepernick as San Francisco’s starting quarterback. Smith was completing more than 70 percent of his passes, a high rate, and had just five interceptions.

Still, he had just 30 touchdown passes in his final 25 starts for the 49ers. While that’s a good number as a ratio with his 10 interceptions, it still represents a shortage of big plays.

Smith won’t turn into a mad bomber overnight, if he ever does.

“You want to stay aggressive,” Smith said. “But in the end I’m always trying to make the right read and throw where the defense is telling me to throw. You don’t come out here and predetermine anything, like ‘Oh, I’m going to chuck it deep on this play.’ I’m constantly trying to just trust my eyes and what I’m seeing out there, trust my reads and what I’ve prepared for and then come out here and throw good balls.”

For his part, Reid might be OK with that. But for now, when an interception costs the Chiefs nothing, he would prefer Smith be more of a gambler.

“Everybody is all on board (with Smith),” Reid said. “He’s a good football player. He’s showing that (along with) good leadership. I’m asking him to do a ton of things. He’s handling it. We’ve had an interception here or there but that’s all part of this thing. You’ve got to find out about the offense and you can’t do it with your hands in your pocket. You’ve got to go out and try things and experiment. That’s what he’s doing now.

“It’s just good stuff. He’s staying aggressive with the ball, and I appreciate that.”

The final offseason practice is today. The Chiefs won’t get together again as a group until training camp begins in July at Missouri Western State University.

Smith indicated he may try to throw to some Chiefs receivers during their downtime in an effort to stay sharp.

“We’re heads and shoulder above where we were a couple of months ago,” he said. “But that’s a never-ending thing. I don’t think it’s something like, ‘We’ve got a good feel for each other so we don’t need to work anymore.’ You’re constantly working at it. This is our job, this is our craft. Every single day, it’s coming out here and pushing to get better.”

-King- · 06-19-2013, 01:58 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sorter

One could potentially argue this

Harbaugh
Harbaugh
Payton
Belichick
Coughlin
McCarthy
Tomlin
Shanarat
Carroll
Fisher

Now, I'm not sure that I'd put Fisher above Reid. Additionally, I'd rather group them into tiers rather than a 1-10 list.

I wouldn't put Fisher or McCarthy ahead of Reid.

Any coach can look good with Aaron Rodgers at QB. The Crennel led Chiefs would have had 9-12 wins last year with Aaron Rodgers at QB.

Sorter · 06-19-2013, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by -King-

I wouldn't put Fisher or McCarthy ahead of Reid.

Any coach can look good with Aaron Rodgers at QB. The Crennel led Chiefs would have had 9-12 wins last year with Aaron Rodgers at QB.

That's fair. I was trying to play devil's advocate.

NinerDoug · 06-19-2013, 02:03 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Maverick91579

And again. Joe Flacco, 28 tds, and 3800 yards. Those are franchise qb numbers? What won in the end for The ravens last year? Hmmmm? Their defense and special teams won that game for them.

The blueprint for the Chiefs, is very similar to the ravens.

When was the last time that Tom Brady won a super bowl? And in the year that the packers won the super bowl, in case you have forgotten, it was their DEFENSE that carried them to the title. Not THEIR OFFENSE. To win it all, which should be the goal, you have to have a COMPLETE TEAM. Alex Smith, is NOT trent dilfer bad, not even close.

There is no comparison there. Dilfer was Dan Marino immobile without the rocket arm.

mcaj22 · 06-19-2013, 02:15 PM

Mike McCarthy is absolutely 100x better than Andy Reid

you are talking about a guy that was a QB coach and got the best out of turds like Rich Gannon, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, etc then went to the Saints to run the offense with Aaron Brooks, Joe Horn, Duece McAlister/Ricky Williams

His only bad year was when he had to be the offensive coordinator for shitty Alex Smith's rookie season.

Andy Reid has only ever had ONE QB do all of his success for him besides 1 good Vick year. Mike McCarthy has had success with multiple (shitty) QBs.

RunKC · 06-19-2013, 02:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcaj22

Mike McCarthy is absolutely 100x better than Andy Reid

you are talking about a guy that was a QB coach and got the best out of turds like Rich Gannon, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, etc then went to the Saints to run the offense with Aaron Brooks, Joe Horn, Duece McAlister/Ricky Williams

His only bad year was when he had to be the offensive coordinator for shitty Alex Smith's rookie season.

Andy Reid has only ever had ONE QB do all of his success for him besides 1 good Vick year. Mike McCarthy has had success with multiple (shitty) QBs.

Reid brought in Jeff Garcia and went on a run to get to the playoffs. Oh and he even won a playoff game with Garcia as well.

I'd say that counts.

**BossChief** · 06-19-2013, 03:40 PM

Reid made AJ Feeley look good and had Vick, McNabb and Garcia play arguably the best football of their careers.

Marcellus · 06-19-2013, 03:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcaj22

Andy Reid has only ever had ONE QB do all of his success for him besides 1 good Vick year. Mike McCarthy has had success with multiple (shitty) QBs.

You obviously have zero knowledge of Andy Reid's past.

I could have stopped after the 5th word.

milkman · 06-19-2013, 03:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by BossChief

Reid made AJ Feeley look good and had Vick, McNabb and Garcia play arguably the best football of their careers.

Jeff Garcia was a pretty damn good QB in San Francisco.

Reid runs a QB friendly system, and he's good at putting his QBs in position to succeed.

I believe he could have done the same for Cassel.

But unlike a Sean Payton or a Mike McCarthy, he's not developing these guys into outstanding QBs.

He just does a good job of masking the deficiencies, much like Charlie Weis.

On another note, to the idiot that suggested that the Packer defense fueled that Packer SB run.

You are ****ing dumbass.

Marcellus · 06-19-2013, 03:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman

Jeff Garcia was a pretty damn good QB in San Francisco.

Reid runs a QB friendly system, and he's good at putting his QBs in position to succeed.

I believe he could have done the same for Cassel.

But unlike a Sean Payton or a Mike McCarthy, he's not developing these guys into outstanding QBs.

He just does a good job of masking the deficiencies, much like Charlie Weis.

On another note, to the idiot that suggested that the Packer defense fueled that Packer SB run.

You are ****ing dumbass.

Who besides Rodgers and Breese have these guys "developed" into outstanding QB's?

chiefzilla1501 · 06-19-2013, 03:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by milkman

Jeff Garcia was a pretty damn good QB in San Francisco.

Reid runs a QB friendly system, and he's good at putting his QBs in position to succeed.

I believe he could have done the same for Cassel.

But unlike a Sean Payton or a Mike McCarthy, he's not developing these guys into outstanding QBs.

He just does a good job of masking the deficiencies, much like Charlie Weis.

On another note, to the idiot that suggested that the Packer defense fueled that Packer SB run.

You are ****ing dumbass.

There was a mic'd up segment with Andy Reid coaching McNabb and I really liked what I saw. I don't think he just masked McNabb's deficiencies. He did a pretty tremendous job of turning an inaccurate running QB into a really good pocket passer. And arguably, you can credit Reid for a lot of Hasselbeck's development.

Reid's a very good and experienced QBs coach, and think it helps that we have a dedicated QBs coach and an offensive coordinator who's QB-minded. Think the bigger problem is his history of evaluating QBs has been really shaky.

chiefzilla1501 · 06-19-2013, 04:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcaj22

Mike McCarthy is absolutely 100x better than Andy Reid

you are talking about a guy that was a QB coach and got the best out of turds like Rich Gannon, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, etc then went to the Saints to run the offense with Aaron Brooks, Joe Horn, Duece McAlister/Ricky Williams

His only bad year was when he had to be the offensive coordinator for shitty Alex Smith's rookie season.

Andy Reid has only ever had ONE QB do all of his success for him besides 1 good Vick year. Mike McCarthy has had success with multiple (shitty) QBs.

I hope you're not being serious. McCarthy's a hell of a coach, but pumping up his Kansas City resume with Gannon/Bono/Grbac and a pretty mediocre Saints resume with Aaron Brooks. And then downplaying that Reid coached Favre/Hasselbeck in Green Bay and coached a Vick and Garcia led team to the playoffs?

It's ridiculous that anyone would undermine Reid as an offensive coach. He's a terrific offensive coach. The reason why McCarthy is a better coach is because he's 100x the game manager than Reid, not because of the ability to handle QBs or run an offense.

Marcellus · 06-19-2013, 04:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I hope you're not being serious. McCarthy's a hell of a coach, but pumping up his Kansas City resume with Gannon/Bono/Grbac and a pretty mediocre Saints resume with Aaron Brooks. And then downplaying that Reid coached Favre/Hasselbeck in Green Bay and coached a Vick and Garcia led team to the playoffs?

It's ridiculous that anyone would undermine Reid as an offensive coach. He's a terrific offensive coach. The reason why McCarthy is a better coach is because he's 100x the game manager than Reid, not because of the ability to handle QBs or run an offense.

Mark Brunnel was also developed by Reid.

**BigMeatballDave** · 06-19-2013, 04:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by mcaj22

Mike McCarthy is absolutely 100x better than Andy Reid

you are talking about a guy that was a QB coach and got the best out of turds like Rich Gannon, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, etc then went to the Saints to run the offense with Aaron Brooks, Joe Horn, Duece McAlister/Ricky Williams

His only bad year was when he had to be the offensive coordinator for shitty Alex Smith's rookie season.

Andy Reid has only ever had ONE QB do all of his success for him besides 1 good Vick year. Mike McCarthy has had success with multiple (shitty) QBs.

Steve Bono and Aaron Brooks?

mcaj22 · 06-19-2013, 04:19 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by chiefzilla1501

I hope you're not being serious. McCarthy's a hell of a coach, but pumping up his Kansas City resume with Gannon/Bono/Grbac and a pretty mediocre Saints resume with Aaron Brooks. And then downplaying that Reid coached Favre/Hasselbeck in Green Bay and coached a Vick and Garcia led team to the playoffs?

It's ridiculous that anyone would undermine Reid as an offensive coach. He's a terrific offensive coach. The reason why McCarthy is a better coach is because he's 100x the game manager than Reid, not because of the ability to handle QBs or run an offense.

That was the original point. The argument was "Any coach can look good with Rodgers at QB." I was simply pointing out McCarthy knows QBs just as much as Reid does PLUS he can actually manage the game. That's why McCarthy has a Super Bowl win with his good QB and why Reid does not with all the good QBs hes had season success with.

It's like saying "Anyone can coach that San Antonio Spurs roster and win"

milkman · 06-19-2013, 04:26 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Marcellus

Who besides Rodgers and Breese have these guys "developed" into outstanding QB's?

You are right.

It's a small sample size to suggest that they actually did the development.

The point is, however, that the QBs, including McNabb, who I always said was overrated, that Reid has "developed" have never been great.

I have always also argued that Reid is overrated, as well.

06-05-2013, 06:26 PM
Tribal Warfare Man of Culture Join Date: Aug 2000 Location: Far Beyond Comprehension Casino cash: $-2997187	Teicher:Prodded by Andy Reid, Chiefs QB Alex Smith learning to be more aggressive Prodded by Andy Reid, Chiefs QB Alex Smith learning to be more aggressive By ADAM TEICHER The Kansas City Star One of the qualities the Chiefs like in new quarterback Alex Smith is his recent history with few turnovers. Smith threw just 10 interceptions in his last 25 games for the San Francisco 49ers, a stat that looks extremely pretty in Kansas City after Chiefs quarterbacks committed 27 turnovers last season. Smith’s low turnover rate was due at least in part by his reluctance to throw the ball down the field. He was referred to by frustrated 49ers fans as Captain Checkdown for his habit of throwing shorter patterns to receivers for shorter gains. Smith is in the process of being reprogrammed by Andy Reid, his new coach. Reid doesn’t want to turn Smith into a turnover machine but wants him to be more aggressive, particularly during offseason practice. “You want to get a feel for the offense now, particularly when you’re new at it (and) if there are close throws, challenge it, see what you can get away with,” Reid said. “If it ends up being an interception, OK, it’s an interception. You learn from it. These are smart guys so they learn from it and once they get into the season, they’re not experimenting with it on game day and they know what they can get away with and know what they can’t. “It’s a new offense. I would tell any quarterback that comes in new that that’s what you need to do. I’ve told them all that. Go ahead and take your shots and see what you can get away with, within reason. But if it’s a close throw, there are going to be a few of those in the National Football League on game day so you need to know what you can get away with on each route.” Smith and the other Chiefs quarterbacks were rewarded with several long completions in Wednesday’s practice. Smith had three such plays, including two to Jon Baldwin, while Tyler Bray and Ricky Stanzi had one apiece. Wednesday’s barrage of big passing plays isn’t necessarily an indication the deep ball is back in the Chiefs’ offense. But since such plays have been scarce for the Chiefs in each of the past two seasons, they’re taking it as an encouraging sign. “We’re just kind of continuing to press to see what we can do … finding out what we’re capable of,” Smith said. “You’ve got to find that out at some point. This is what the practice field is for.” Smith was the NFL’s highest-rated passer last season before he was injured, missed a start and then replaced by Colin Kaepernick as San Francisco’s starting quarterback. Smith was completing more than 70 percent of his passes, a high rate, and had just five interceptions. Still, he had just 30 touchdown passes in his final 25 starts for the 49ers. While that’s a good number as a ratio with his 10 interceptions, it still represents a shortage of big plays. Smith won’t turn into a mad bomber overnight, if he ever does. “You want to stay aggressive,” Smith said. “But in the end I’m always trying to make the right read and throw where the defense is telling me to throw. You don’t come out here and predetermine anything, like ‘Oh, I’m going to chuck it deep on this play.’ I’m constantly trying to just trust my eyes and what I’m seeing out there, trust my reads and what I’ve prepared for and then come out here and throw good balls.” For his part, Reid might be OK with that. But for now, when an interception costs the Chiefs nothing, he would prefer Smith be more of a gambler. “Everybody is all on board (with Smith),” Reid said. “He’s a good football player. He’s showing that (along with) good leadership. I’m asking him to do a ton of things. He’s handling it. We’ve had an interception here or there but that’s all part of this thing. You’ve got to find out about the offense and you can’t do it with your hands in your pocket. You’ve got to go out and try things and experiment. That’s what he’s doing now. “It’s just good stuff. He’s staying aggressive with the ball, and I appreciate that.” The final offseason practice is today. The Chiefs won’t get together again as a group until training camp begins in July at Missouri Western State University. Smith indicated he may try to throw to some Chiefs receivers during their downtime in an effort to stay sharp. “We’re heads and shoulder above where we were a couple of months ago,” he said. “But that’s a never-ending thing. I don’t think it’s something like, ‘We’ve got a good feel for each other so we don’t need to work anymore.’ You’re constantly working at it. This is our job, this is our craft. Every single day, it’s coming out here and pushing to get better.”
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06-19-2013, 02:15 PM	#364
mcaj22 MVP Join Date: Feb 2010 Casino cash: $10014454	Mike McCarthy is absolutely 100x better than Andy Reid you are talking about a guy that was a QB coach and got the best out of turds like Rich Gannon, Steve Bono, Elvis Grbac, etc then went to the Saints to run the offense with Aaron Brooks, Joe Horn, Duece McAlister/Ricky Williams His only bad year was when he had to be the offensive coordinator for shitty Alex Smith's rookie season. Andy Reid has only ever had ONE QB do all of his success for him besides 1 good Vick year. Mike McCarthy has had success with multiple (shitty) QBs.
Posts: 11,886

06-19-2013, 03:40 PM	#366
BossChief SuperBowl or bust Join Date: Dec 2008 Location: BF Iowa Casino cash: $-1755912	Reid made AJ Feeley look good and had Vick, McNabb and Garcia play arguably the best football of their careers. __________________ Dreams do come true... http://www.chiefsplanet.com/BB/showp...postcount=1407
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