HEAD COACH ANDY REID
OPENING STATEMENT: “I feel a bit like I did last night after watching the tape. The same comments that I felt from the postgame interview there. I thought we did some real nice things defensively – especially in crucial times. The same players that I mentioned yesterday whether it was Chris Jones on a fourth down and whether it was a big play on the backend (or) the linebacker flying around. (Drue) Tranquill ends up with the 10 tackles and I just – all the way around I thought they (the defense) took (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) Spags’ gameplan and they executed it and did a great job with that against a team – I mean, you’ve got to give the Chargers credit. Their quarterback (Chargers QB Justin Herbert) was banged up a bit and he stuck it out all the way through and did a nice job for them. Which is a big step, I know, for (Chargers Head Coach) Jim (Harbaugh) going forward and building that thing. As far as the offense goes, there were some good things (and) there are a bunch of things that we’ve got to work on and get ourselves better at. I felt like in the first half we were shooting ourselves in the foot, continually, whether it was penalties or sacks or interceptions. Those are all self-inflicted wounds that you can’t have and play consistent ball, they’re drive stoppers. Once you take a step back in this league, the percentage of scoring goes way now so you’ve really got to stay on top of that part and make sure we take care of business there. I thought (in) the second half we settled down a little (and we) had a big play mixed in there. I thought Xavier (Worthy) showed what he could do. He had a couple other potential opportunities there that we weren’t quite able to get to him, but you got a chance to at least see him operate out there and do some nice things as one of the primary receivers. Then, (Travis) Kelce had a nice day, and it was good to see that – which we knew was going to happen somewhere along here. They (the Chargers) played quite a bit of zone so (they) allowed Kelce to work in zones and they weren’t squeezing him on that. Kareem (Hunt), getting him into the mix, I thought, was good. I mean, we still have confidence in the other two guys too. Carson’s (Steele) got to hang onto the ball, that’s the obvious one. He traditionally hadn’t been a fumbler but – you know, we actually saw this with Kareem when he was young so if that’s any positive to it. He’s (Carson Steele) got to figure that part out and make sure that he hangs onto the football. Special teams-wise, I thought (Matt) Araiza had a big day with his punts. He did a great job of keeping the ball inside the 20 (yard line). Special teams, in general, I thought played well. Between (Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy) Nags and (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) Spags and (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Dave Toub, I thought they had good plans going into this thing and Nags was so positive on the sideline. Just focusing in on these guys (and) challenging them to get rid of the mistakes and good things are going to happen. Spags, I thought, did a good job of after that first drive that they had of just kind of (saying), ‘Hey, let’s tighten this thing up and keep attacking here and do it just a little bit better,’ so that took place. Then, as far as Rashee’s (Rice) injury goes, we’re still testing him on things here, so I don’t have a definite (answer) for you right now, but we will get it to you. He’s not going to be available, obviously, this week so we’re going to make sure we get all the tests that need to be done, done and then we’ll let you know on that. Alright, with that, time’s yours.”
Q: How realistic is it to expect that Xavier Worthy can give you even more than he’s given you right now and how do you make this happen?
REID: “We’ll see how he (Xavier Worthy) does. I mean, we’ve got guys here that have the experience of playing in the game so it’s not that he’s the only one. (He) doesn’t have to be the only one. We’ve got a good group of guys there that we can utilize. We normally spread the ball around and that’s what we’ll continue to strive to do.”
Q: Do you see any help from the three receivers on the practice squad?
REID: “You know what, I haven’t sat down with (General Manager) Brett (Veach) yet so I’m going to just kind of hold off on that, but he and I will get together here a little bit later.”
Q: Can you give us an update on where you guys are at with Clyde Edwards-Helaire?
REID: “Again, let me get with (General Manager) Brett (Veach) and we’ll be able to give you more on that. I don’t want to say anything now that I don’t have a definite on.”
Q: Where do you guys stand with Skyy Moore?
REID: “Skyy’s (Moore) a good football player. He’s given us some good downs. He had the one drop yesterday on the third down (that) he knows he has to make, but he’s given us some good downs over these four games so we’re okay there.”
Q: What is your evaluation of JuJu Smith-Schuster and is he a guy who could take a bigger load with Rashee Rice out?
REID: “Yeah, for sure. I think he (JuJu Smith-Schuster) – he’s played quite a bit up to this point and I think he’s in good shape, Pete (Sweeney). I don’t think that’s the problem. Pat’s (Mahomes) got a lot of trust in him and he’s still a good football player.”
Q: What are the difficulties if you do end up trying to trade for a veteran receiver and implementing him in the offense midway through the season?
REID: “It would depend on who the guy is. I mean, that’s the obvious. If he’s experienced in the offense then it’s not too bad but it takes somebody a little bit of time to get himself involved and get the terminology down, but it’s a lot easier now than it is during training camp when they have to learn a kazillion plays. Here, they just have the game week to learn, but getting on the same page with the quarterback and the timing and all that, that’s a bigger issue, normally.”
Q: What impressed you the most about Kareem Hunt and where do you think his role could grow with more opportunities?
REID: “I thought he (Kareem Hunt) ran hard, and I thought he was pretty accurate with the holes that he hit. He did well. He had a couple receptions there so – and then an opportunity from even a couple others, we had a screen there called for him. I think we all have a lot of trust in Kareem since he had been here and we kind of know how he’s wired, and he’s been able to pick stuff up pretty quick. I think we’re okay there increasing him. I’m sure he’s pretty sore today, so it’s – he had a lot of carries there.”
Q: What stood out on the last third down conversion that you had to ice the game and what led to your execution of it?
REID: “(It was a) man coverage spot. That’s a good man play – very similar to the one we ran the week before. Travis (Kelce) kept it high in the right position there so that was the biggest difference.”
Q: Patrick Mahomes checked to that play in Atlanta, was that a play you called from the sideline or was that something he saw again in the defense?
REID: “It’s an alert play so it’s – we’ve got a couple things that we can do, we give them two calls. He’s (Patrick Mahomes) got the primary call and then he’s got an alert to it and that’s the alert that he did.”
Q: On Wanya Morris’ performance.
REID: “He (Wanya Morris) did some good things – I thought the best thing he did was he battled through. That’s a good player he was going against majority of the time, but he hung in there and battled and did some good things and he’s got a couple things that he can learn from too. I thought overall he put up a good fight there.”
Q: Passing numbers are down across the league, do you think this is due to how the defense is playing the offense or are there other reasons that offenses are struggling?
REID: “I mean teams are playing a little bit more shell coverage on you and trying not to give up the big shots. I think the pass rush – I think guys are – we’ve got some good defensive players in this league right now that are really good pass rushers so you’ve got to get the ball out on time and quicker so the routes end up being a little bit shorter the majority of the time. Then, you’ve also got some pretty good quarterbacks on the other hand, and you want to keep those guys on the bench and so teams feel that if they run the ball a little bit more, they can keep those guys off the field.”
Q: On Patrick Mahomes’ interception.
REID: “He (Patrick Mahomes) was trying to get the ball to (Travis) Kelce there, just right out of the break. He didn’t see 7 (Chargers CB Kristian Fulton) back there kind of playing almost a grey area. He was tempting you to throw it in there and we had Xavier (Worthy) over the top so that probably would’ve ended up being the throw if you’re going to have a throw there.”
Q: On General Manager Brett Veach’s 200th career win as a front office member.
REID: “(General Manager) Brett’s (Veach) done a phenomenal job with the personnel and we appreciate his energy that he brings every day. The players, they see that, and they see the competition and depth that we have on the team and how Brett goes about his business. Pat (Patrick Mahomes) ended up presenting him the game ball and it’s saying something when a player does that, more so than either the front office or the coach. I think that he’s got that respect. That’s a tough position to be in because you’re not only bringing guys in but you’re also letting guys go so you can be the good cop and the bad cop (laughter). It’s a tough position to balance but he’s very real with people and how he goes about his business there. He’s going to let you know kind of (the) where and why’s of what he does.”