Thursday, September 5, 2019
(Opening Statement) “It’s great to see everybody, I hope everyone’s having a great day. Obviously, our players have handled the situation that they’ve been dealt professionally like we knew they would. Obviously, it’s not ideal but it’s the way it goes sometimes and that’s the NFL, ever changing and ever adapting. We have a big game Sunday against our home crowd and we’re looking forward to that opportunity.”
(On what challenge Chiefs DE Frank Clark presents) “He’s a tremendous player. He’s really active in terms of he has power moves, he has spin moves, he has speed to power moves. So, it’s not just like he’s dominant in one specific move, he’s really perfected the art of rushing the passer. So, we’re going to have to really keep an eye on him obviously on Sunday.”
(On if the Chiefs defense has improved since last year) “It’s hard for me. You look at the personnel they have, and you really don’t compare and contract situations to me in anything in the NFL because teams change. And obviously [Chiefs Defensive Coordinator] Coach [Steve] Spagnuolo [is there], I’ve gone against him a few times when I was in the NFC East. Not as a coordinator but as a quarterback’s coach, and I’ve known him for a long, long time. He recruited me back when I was in high school, he was coaching at Rutgers. I’ve known him since I was 17, 18 years old. He’s a fantastic coach, we have our hands full. He likes to blitz, he likes to bring a lot of pressure and we’re going to have to do a good job of calming the storm early.”
(On why he didn’t sign with Rutgers when he was being recruited to play there) “I wasn’t good enough. If you want the honest answer. I wasn’t good enough to play Division-I A football, so I was fortunate enough to get a scholarship to JMU, [James Madison University].”
(On if he feels QB Nick Foles is equipped to win a shootout style game] “The way I look at it is this: Our job as an offense is to go out and score at least one more point than the other team and however we have to do that, we’re prepared to do that. Whether it be throw it a bunch, whether it be run it a bunch, whether it be ball control offense. We’ve talked about all of those situations as a staff going into this game. At least we are going to be prepared for pretty much whatever type of game it turns into on Sunday.”
(On Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid saying that Foles’ best asset is exploiting other teams’ weaknesses and on what he believes Foles greatest asset is) “I would agree with that. Whenever you go into a first game of a season, especially as unique as this week was from a preparation standpoint, I think you really need to do a good job of keeping a simple mindset and I think that’s one of the things that Nick does best is he keeps it simple. We’re going to try not to get too fancy out there from a schematic standpoint in terms of what we’re trying to do and things that he does well and our offense does well. So, when you treat this as almost like a short week, when you’re getting ready for almost like a Thursday game. When you have a day of practice that you don’t get you try to keep it as simple as you can and do what your players do well.”
(On the youth of the running backs room behind Leonard Fournette) “That’s the nature of the deal. As I was getting back to ever changing in the NFL, you have to go with the guys you have and I’m confident in ‘Rock ‘[Ryquell Armstead] and the guys we have. I thought he ran it hard in the preseason and we expect him to run it hard again Sunday. Leonard’s probably going to play a lot of football. Obviously, it’s going to be hot on Sunday, so I’m sure all three of those guys will get some time.”
(On how his expectations of Dede Westbrook have changed since coming to Jacksonville) “I think it’s pretty well documented, my feelings on Dede. I’m really impressed with him. Now, whether he goes out and has two catches or 12 on Sunday you never know, but I anticipate him going out and playing well. I think he’s a tough kid, a tremendous route runner. I think he’s a good character person. He’s a ‘keep your mouth shut and work’ type of player which usually, those guys have a way of consistently getting better. Usually when you keep your mouth shut, and work, and enjoy football and love playing, usually you have a way of just keep getting better, and better and better. And I love the way he approaches practice every day in terms of just looking at one thing to get better at each day and he’s had a solid camp for us no doubt.”
(On Westbrook being targeted a lot by Foles in the Week 3 preseason game at Miami speaks to their comfort level) “Yeah, sure. And I think you kind of have a feeling where the ball’s going at times, but a lot of times the defense will take that away from you. So, there’s a lot of times the ball doesn’t go exactly where you expect it, so there were a few times where Dede was not the first progression against Miami when he was targeted all those times, and Nick got off them and went to the second progression that happened to be him. So, I think a lot of times people think it’s a lot easier said then done, I’m just feeding a guy a football, because you just don’t know what the defense is going to do to try to take away what they view you do well also.”
(On if he’s seen enough of the five starting offensive linemen together) “I think. Obviously, you wish all those guys were together from the beginning of training camp no doubt. Again, those were the hands we were dealt and I’m confident in all five of those guys. And obviously the quicker we can gel, and get things going offensively, I think that’ll be a help for not only our offense but our team and I’m confident in all five of those guys that are going to be playing up front Sunday.”
(On where the swing tackle situations falls if Cedric Ogbuehi can’t play on Sunday) “That’s a great question. The one thing in my whole career, I’ve always given my injury questions to the head coach. Just kind of differed those to the head coach. And we have a few, we’re ready for everything. We’re ready if Ced[ric] has to play, we’re ready if Ced doesn’t play. But when it comes to playing time, and injuries and those things, I kind of let [Jaguars Head] Coach Marrone handle those.”
(On if he feels comfortable about the depth behind Cedric Ogbuehi) “Yeah, no doubt. There’s a lot of guys up front that can play that position and we’re confident in our depth up front on the O-Line.”
(On if he think any of the players the team was awarded via waivers will make contributions early) “Yeah, I just happened to memorize all of those guy’s names today. I didn’t mean to make light of your question – I actually was at San Jose State Tyler Ervin’s freshman year, so I know Tyler. So I kind of know what he can do. But to think that those guys are going to come in here and be a huge piece of what you’re going to do after these guys have been here six weeks, I think it’s hard. It’s hard on our offense, it’s hard on the team. Will they play? Absolutely. Those guys are going to be expected to go out and play and play well. These next two days will be great for us and for me to be able to see what those guys can do when they run around. I know Seth [DeValve] that’s from Princeton, he jumped in the other day and he was smart as heck, so I think those guys will help us no doubt.”
(On how challenging this week has been with the hurricane changing the team’s schedule) “To be honest with you, we’re all creatures of habit. Coaches, players, we like routine. That’s how we function. We function in routine. Short yardage goes in on this day, third down goes in on this day, red zone on this day. And I think it’s always a fight, and I tell the players all the time, when I tell them something usually I’m talking to myself a lot of times. And it’s what it is, and there’s nothing you can do. We’re just really looking forward to playing the Chiefs on Sunday and you roll with the punches. That’s all you can do.”
(On how critical it is to utilize and get good play from your tight ends) “I think it’s always critical, because there are times … It’s hard in this league. The corners in this league are really good, and I’m not saying safeties aren’t, but a lot of times you have to play this game from inside-out instead of outside-in sometimes just depending on the team you’re playing. I mean, if you’re playing the Arizona Cardinals and Patrick Peterson, or you’re going against the Jacksonville Jaguars and have to go against Jalen Ramsey, that’s a hard matchup if you don’t have a real guy on the outside. I’m not saying that we don’t, but I’m just saying, I’m talking philosophical football here. So, there’s times where that’s the matchup of the game, a [running] back on a [line]backer, or a tight end on a safety. And those are the matchups that you need to exploit for that week and so it’s important. And whether you play a dominant defensive backfield or not you always want great play from your tight ends, not only in the run game and in the pass game.”
