During the 30 minutes in between the North and South teams' practices Wednesday afternoon at the Senior Bowl here in Mobile, Alabama, both Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach as well as head coach Andy Reid took some time away from talking with their staffs to give a few updates on what's going on with the team right now.
Here's a quick snapshot of some of Reid's other media availability on Wednesday:
On expectations moving forward:
"We reached a certain expectation in our organization and the city that, OK, we're working, now let's go, let's get it up another notch here. That's why the players were so disappointed after that game, and so they fought through the injuries and all that stuff so now let's go and put in a great offseason. We have a good nucleus of players coming back, and Brett [Veach] will bring in new guys and let's roll. Let's go."
On what his staff is doing between now and NFL Scouting Combine (March 2-8):
"We go through and do year-end evaluations on the players, and then we start in on our self-scout, so we have it all mapped out by the day. We break the day in half, so the first half of the day up through lunch is your scheme evaluation, and then the second half is personnel. We go about the day that way, get ready for the draft and free agency in the afternoons, and then in the morning, we're going through the scheme evaluations. We're very detailed and hard on ourselves, and have a lot of days to take care of it, but it's a chance to slow it down and grind and get better."
On second-year guys having a big opportunity to develop this offseason:
"That's where you see a jump. They get into your lifting program, and they can afford to eat well, especially the ones from smaller schools, they eat well and get more of a regiment, and then they come in and they understand, they've walked in those moccasins. They understand what's expected of them and where they need to go. Normally you see a jump there, probably the biggest jump of their career happens right in that area between that first and second year, and then into that third year you see a nice leap, so that's what I expect from them."
Thoughts on where the team is right now:
"I think overall as a team we've got to get better in some areas, and we'll continue to work on that and every position we can do that this offseason. We try to never rest on our laurels or anything. There are a lot of good things that I thought we did this year in a lot of areas, and then we'll have an influx of guys coming in (to try and help) next year."
On approaching everything the same way going into next season:
"That's why we've been successful the past five years. We just need to take it up a couple more notches."
On new offensive coordinator, Eric Bieniemy:
"I love Eric Bieniemy. He's a really good football coach. Someday he's going to be sitting in the same position as some of these other guys that have sat in that chair. He's got a great feel for the whole game. Things that I like best about him are his overall knowledge of the game—all the way from the offensive line on up through protections, the pass game—he's got a great understanding of the complete game on the offensive side. I love his energy, his leadership ability; he's been a team captain all the way from high school through college and the National Football League."
On how being a running backs' coach benefits him in this position:
"Let's take it back to when Mike Holmgren moved me to quarterbacks' coach, I had previously been an offensive line and tight end coach, but running backs and tight ends are very similar position because you kind of have to know the whole deal and Mike felt comfortable elevating me to receivers, and everyone is like, 'Woof, what are they doing?' Well, that's kind of the same way I feel about Eric is that he's got that feel for it all, he's got respect for the quarterbacks and nobody in our organization went 'Woof,' they 've all been around him and understand what he's all about."
On how Alex Smith faired this year:
"He finished up the number one quarterback in the National Football League as far as quarterback rating, but he was even more than that, a tremendous leader on our team and I just thought everything came together for him. It's a credit to him and his work ethic, his ability to shut out all the noise and to play, and so I really appreciate that from him every day and I love him for that."
An update of guys coming back from injury:
"Everyone is doing good. There are no hang-ups. Everything's kind of went smooth. (Chiefs' head athletic trainer) Rick [Burkholder]has been very positive with that situation. The guys that are rehabbing are there doing their thing."
On Eric Berry specifically:
"Yeah, he's doing good. He was at practice towards the end of the year. He started coming out, and he's moving around good and everything, so he was chomping at the bit. It was hard to keep him down on the sideline."
The recent performance of quarterback Nick Foles, who will start for the Eagles in the Super Bowl against the Patriots next week, and who played for Reid as a rookie in Philly and then again last year with the Chiefs:
"I remember watching tape on him at Arizona, and he had a bunch of freshmen on the offensive line. He was just getting the dog beat out of him, and he never blinked on those guys. They would come and help him off the ground when he got knocked down, and I go, "You know what, he's not pointing fingers and he's getting back up, he's staying in the pocket, he doesn't care, he's going to rally and he's going to play these guys around him.' You could tell that the guys rallied around him and that he wasn't a finger pointer at all, and that above his ability I think is an important quality."
