*Injury Update: Cornerback Phillip Gaines tore his ACL and will be placed on Injured Reserve, ending his season. Wide receiver Albert Wilson has a sore shoulder.*
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid
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Head coach Andy Reid addressed where he's placing his attention after the loss on Monday night.
"You go back and you have your focus on fundamentals," he said. "As coaches you go back and focus in on making sure you're putting guys in good positions."
Reid highlighted the fact that the Chiefs never gave up as one of the primary positives he took away from Monday night against the Packers.
"I thought one of the primary positives from that game was that the players battled all the way through," he said. "They easily could've shut it down, I didn't feel that they did that at all. It's a tribute to their character. I could work with that, and that's where I tell you that I've got to do a better job. I've got guys with big hearts and I've got to make sure I'm putting them into the right position to make plays."
Reid said that they would figure out how they would replace Gaines at practice this week.
"We've got a variety of personnel groups that we can use and we'll go through those today and look at them and see how things work out there."
Cornerback Sean Smith returning to the lineup would help with that, Reid said.
"Sean Smith will step in," he said. "That will happen [Wednesday], too."
Quarterback Alex Smith
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Quarterback Alex Smith first explained that experience helps with a game like the Chiefs had on Monday night.
"I think you're better at it the more you play and the more you've been around you've been in situations like this before. I think when you're young, you feel like the sky is falling on you. It's early, we're three games into this, we've got our fourth here ahead of us. Sometimes I think the natural reaction is to overreact. I think the focus needs to be on the little things and the details of what we're doing. Refocusing in on all those little things through the week and on Sunday that will take us over the edge."
Smith said the team's focus headed into Cincinnati would be improving upon what he calls "the little things."
"We have to go out there and make plays and I think it comes down to the little things," he said. "I think when you look on film, we all sit there and take our turns of having our mistakes. When you do that, all of the sudden it adds up. We all had our turn. Before you know it, we're playing a good team and you're in a hole. You just have to do a better job of consistently executing, consistently doing your job and it's all 11 guys doing that."
Smith discussed what he's seen from the Bengals on tape.
"They're good, they're really good," he said. "They've been playing good this year, so far on defense. A veteran group, they know what they're doing. They play fast, really, really good up front. I think they're good outside in the secondary as well. Like I said, a pretty veteran group, they play fast, they tackle well."
Linebacker Derrick Johnson
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Linebacker Derrick Johnson commented again on becoming the all-time Chiefs career tackle reader.
"It's bittersweet," he said. "You always want to win and you play this game to win. After going home and laying in bed thinking about it, man, it's a great accomplishment. I think about it, I haven't been as grateful as I should. I remember in the past, I said something about, 'oh, I missed a year, I was benched one year,' and this is my story. I got the record, I earned the record, it's been standing from Gary Spani since '87, since I was five years old, so I'm grateful to that. I give thanks to God for having mercy on me and keeping me healthy. My main focus is to help the team win. That's always my main focus, but as I go home and lay in bed, I can thank God for the accomplishment of getting the tackle record."
Johnson said the positive for him is that he's been through rough starts in the past and as a veteran leader, he can explain to the rest of the team that there's plenty of time left.
"I've been through it," he said. "I've been through the ups and downs, the peaks and valleys through my 11 years here and it's early. That's the main focus that I'm telling the team – it's early. But, you don't want to get to that point where it's mid-season and you're still trying to preach that it's early, and it's not. The things we need to change—we don't need to go out and get anybody—right here, in our own house, family issues on the field. It can be resolved. It's not panic mode for us right now."
Johnson spoke to the challenge of facing three very good quarterbacks in a row in Peyton Manning, Aaron Rodgers and Andy Dalton.
"It's probably the top five quarterbacks right now early in the season," he said. "It's tough, each week is going to be tough for us. Every week is going to have its own hard task and this week, they have a really explosive offense and Andy Dalton is one of the young, up-and-coming quarterbacks that has a pretty dynamic receiver that he's throwing the ball to. Running game is going good for them. That team is 3-0. That's hard to do in this league, even though it's early. Coming into their house, it's going to be even harder to beat them, but we have to turn some things around here and that's what we have to do."
