DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR MIKE CALDWELL
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2022
(On the impact of DL Dawuane Smoot) “I think his versatility really speaks for itself; he’s a guy that can
play inside, can play outside. He can drop into coverage; he can rush the quarterback. He does so many
things for us that we just have to get him on the field and let him go.”
(On the importance of getting DL Dawuane Smoot more snaps) “Yeah, definitely important to get him on
the field. There are certain situations where we want to try to get him more reps, and once he’s out
there, he’s performing well and doing a great job. He’s really motivating other guys to do the same
thing. We’re really excited about it.”
(On the decision to play CB Tre Herndon and CB Montaric Brown last week) “I thought it was just
options. We were really wanting to get Buster [CB Montaric Brown] some reps, it’s been a while since he
had played. He’d been doing a good job at practice, we just wanted to see how he would fair. He went
out there and he did a good job. Tre [CB Tre Herndon] made a big play on one of the third downs. They
both did a good job of coming in there and really playing the other side away from Tyson [CB Tyson
Campbell], away from D-Will [CB Darious Williams]. Just another option for the defense to be able to
throw another guy out there.”
(On plans to alternate CB Tre Herndon and CB Montaric Brown throughout the season) “Well, right now,
we’re just trying to see and just allow those guys to continue to grow, especially Buster [CB Montaric
Brown], allow him to grow. Then, Tre [CB Tre Herndon], we know how he plays and what he does for us.
So, it’s just options to be able to play different opponents.”
(On facing a strong quarterback like Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes when you don’t know what he’ll do)
“It’s tough; you really don’t. He’s one of those ones that nothing really is by the book, everything is on
his time schedule. He does a great job of facilitating his offense and buying time for them when pressure
is brought. Ran well also, against zones. It’s really tough, but we just got to go out there and play our
game and try to disrupt him as much as we can.”
(On how the Chiefs attack defenses without WR Tyreek Hill) “It really hasn’t, the thing you see is
because you don’t have that one name, you have a bunch of names that are really, really performing
well together. He’s spreading the ball around and it makes it that much more difficult on the defense,
when you really have to focus on everybody that’s out there on the field.”
(On insight on how Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid may play call) “I think going back to when I was a
player and playing for him, watching the offenses, and playing different quarterbacks, we had Doug
[former Eagles QB Doug Pederson] and then we had Donovan [former Eagles QB Donovan McNabb]. You
kind of remember some of the things that they did, but it’s been so long, and the game has changed so
much. You just know that he’s going to have his guys prepared and he’s going to put his offense in
position to make plays. We just have to use that to go out there and be ready to defend it.”
(On who the best tight end was he went against in his playing career) “The best tight end I ever went
against? You got me hurting my memory right here. That’s going back. I’m going to say the first tight end
I remember going against was Eric Green [former NFL tight end Eric Green], Pittsburgh. I covered him on
a stop route, and they threw the ball to him and I had him covered. I tried to reach around him, but he
was so big, I couldn’t get around him.”
(On talent of Chiefs TE Travis Kelce) “Well really, when you look at it, I really don’t talk about rankings,
but he’s a guy that has changed the position. When you have a guy that is that talented and making that
many plays for you from the tight end position, it is special. You go back and talk about Tony Gonzalez
[former NFL tight end Tony Gonzalez], people like that who did it. He’s doing it but he’s a guy that is
almost like a receiver, similar to the one we faced last week. A guy that you have to pay attention to the
fact that the offense runs through him and it’s tough. Going back and talking about Devin [LB Devin
Lloyd], we’re not going to put Devin on him by himself, we’ll have multiple guys being able to cover him.
It’s going to be a team effort; it won’t just be one guy going out there and trying to stop one person. It’ll
be a team effort and we will have multiple guys we’ll try to throw at him and try to slow him down.”
(On putting a cornerback on Chiefs TE Travis Kelce) “In certain situations, you can do that. We have
bigger corners and we have safeties that can cover. Again, as we talked about earlier, this offense is not
just one person. This offense has a bunch of weapons. Those weapons will need to be handled also. We
have different options to be able to use to try to cover Travis Kelce and we will do that.”
(On if the defense switched how they covered WR Davante Adams in the first half and the second half)
“It really wasn’t. It was really just execution. You saw in the first half, Tyson was in great shape on the go
ball down the sideline and Davante made the play. In the second half, we are in great shape and we
knocked the ball away. It is just different techniques, better execution. The one deep pass, we were
better with our eyes as the game went on. The eyes kind of messed us up on one play. We executed
better and that was the result.”
(On what was learned about how to slow down running quarterbacks) “The thing about mobile
quarterbacks is you have to account for them. Especially in the pass game. You get back there, if it’s his
zone read, you can scheme up and have someone accountable for the zone read. Typically, when you’re
in coverage, they have five offensive linemen, and you have four guys rushing. That’s to their advantage,
there’s six gaps up there and a mobile quarterback can get out. We just have to have a plan and execute
the proper plan, as far as containing him, trying to keep him in the pocket as much as possible. Then
from there, just be aggressive; don’t be shy and play tentative. Go after him or go after him with the
game plan and through your rush lanes.”
(On if younger players are able to play aggressively at this point in the season) “That’s the thing with
young guys. After they’ve played awhile and they’re rookies no longer. They’re guys that have played a
bunch of plays and they understand the game is just starting to slow down for them. With their study
habits, the way they study the game off the field, that also helps out.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR PRESS TAYLOR
MEDIA AVAILABILITY
THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 10, 2022
(On how well the offensive line has been playing) “They’ve done a great job. It hasn’t been easy,
obviously, Ben Bartch (OL) going down with injury and Shat (OL Tyler Shatley) coming in and filling in
that spot, kind of changes the dynamics of things. Shat’s a guy who’s been around here, has great
chemistry with everybody he plays next to. It’s really all those guys getting on the same page. When we
all know what we’re doing, where we’re going to, who we’re going to, and communicate really well,
which they’ve done, it gives us the best chance for success. It’s not just them. It’s the quarterback
playing on time, the receivers being where they’re supposed to be when they’re supposed to be there,
then the backs identifying things as well. They’re a big part of our pass protection as well as tight ends,
then the skill players being open when we are throwing the ball on the right timing, staying in favorable
situations for us. All of it plays together to allow us to have that kind of success.”
(On the upcoming challenge of facing the Chief’s defensive line) “Honestly, it feels like every single week
there’s somebody on the defensive line. If there’s not one guy, there’s two guys you’re aware of, we
know are impact players. Chris Jones (DT) is certainly that type of guy, and he plays all over the line for
them. It’s a matter of identifying where he is, making sure we’re in favorable situations. You can’t get
yourself in second and twelve, behind the sticks, where everybody knows you’re throwing the football
and expect to win all your one-on-ones against them. You want to stay on schedule. You want to stay
where the whole playbook is available to you. You can keep them guessing. You can keep them out of
pass rush situations, but he’s certainly a guy we have to be aware of at all times just because he is an
impact player for them.”
(On QB Trevor Lawrence’s performance in the second half Sunday) “I thought he did a great job. Early
on, he missed a slant, I think, on third down, but beyond that, I thought he did a great job being
accurate, being decisive with the football, guys getting open for him. Again, that’s what it comes down
to. You have nowhere to throw the ball if nobody can get open or you can’t keep a clean pocket, so it’s
really everybody playing in conjunction has that success for the offense. He was definitely locked in. It’s
one of those things you don’t really notice it. You’re just continuing to be efficient and effective and
moving the football, and by the time you look at it, somebody points out, you just hit 10 in a row,
whatever he’s hit. That’s what you want it to be. You don’t want to a surprise that you’re throwing these
completions. You want to be, you call plays, they execute them well, you roll, and by the time you look
up, your numbers are productive. We’re not concerned with his numbers. It’s more, as an offense, we
want to score points. That’s what we’re trying to do. We’re trying to put our team in the best position to
win the game at the end of the day.”
(On if a game like that is what a quarterback needs to get rolling) “Absolutely. There’s been games that
he’s done that. There’s been a couple games that he’s really kind of caught fire, he’s taken what the
defense has given him and been effective in our offense. Then there’s been games that he hasn’t
performed as well, so you’re trying to eliminate the roller coaster of a season, but it’s going to happen.
We just want the consistency, the growth from him that he’s been able to show. As an offense, we need
to be more consistent over time. That’s kind of us taking the next step as an offensive unit.”
(On the balance of playing RB Travis Etienne Jr. a lot and protecting him from so many hard hits) “You
definitely don’t want to take away a guy’s instincts and the way he carries the ball, and that’s part of the
reason he’s been such an explosive runner for us. At the same time, we understand it’s grueling game.
It’s a very physical game. There’s going to be nicks and bruises, so whatever we can do to help him learn
to protect himself in all those situations, understand when the down’s over when maybe another hit’s
not necessary for a yard or whatever that may be based on the situation. That can also go with the way
we manage him. He had 30-something touches the other night. Long-term, is that the right way to
handle it? It’s hard to say we’re not going to give one of our best players the football as much as we can,
but doing it the right way, making sure that he’s handling things the right way. He’s very professional in
his approach, does a great job with his recovery. Our strength staff does a great job of getting all these
guys. I think that’s why you’ve seen the health play out throughout the year. Certainly, something we’re
aware of and will continue to coach with him.”
(On if it is also a challenge to rein in the coaching staff’s instincts to keep going to the hot guy) “I don’t
know that you want to rein in going away from the hot guy, but yeah, there’s certainly the long-term
vision of the season and the touches we envision in a game, but ultimately it comes down to doing
what’s best for the team to win that game. If that’s riding the hot had at that time, if that’s spreading
the ball around based on carries, touches, whatever that may be, then that’s what we’re going to do to
give us a chance to win the game.”
(On the amount of pressure the Chiefs offense can put on the Jaguars offense to maximize possessions
and use the clock) “There’s definitely certain ways to approach it. You know you need points against
these guys. They’re the number one scoring offense. We’re aware of that. I think one of the biggest
things with these guys is they’re never out of the game. If you build a lead, or you’re sitting there, it’s
not something where, alright we can just run some clock and we’re okay with three-and-out and punting
the ball. They can score in a hurry. We saw it all last year. We saw it through this season so far.
Obviously, the playoff game last year is very memorable. They had 13 seconds or whatever it was, and
they were able to go down and score. It’s something you can never take your foot off the gas with these
guys and the offensive system that they have because they’re capable of scoring. At the same time, we
never go into a drive thinking we’re not going to score. We’re always trying to score, it’s just we’ve got
to do a great job as our offense of eliminating the unforced errors that we’ve had. We’ve put the ball on
the ground. The other day, the one turnover was completely unforced. It was a ball-handling exchange
with the quarterback-running back. You can’t have things like that. That’s the kind of things that I think
has hindered us a little bit as an offense. We eliminate those things, we expect to continue to climb and
improve as a group.”
(On if he sees QB Trevor Lawrence getting more comfortable running as the season has progressed) “Yes
and no. I think that’s always been a little bit of him. I think he’s understood that, I think the other day
the way it happened, he didn’t even blink. He just took off. He saw an opening in the defense,
understood the situation, took off. That’s something certainly that he’s a great athlete, so getting him
out in space, letting him run, use his speed, that’s something that definitely benefits us. If he’s able to
create with his legs whether it’s first down, second down, or even third down, it’s a huge advantage for
us.”
