OPENING STATEMENT:"Alright, as far as the injuries go Junior Hemingway has a concussion. He's making progress but we're just not quite there yet so he won't practice today. Allen Bailey, likewise, making progress but still isn't there yet so he won't practice. Mike McGlynn has got that quad contusion; we are just letting that thing settle down. He, again, is making progress in the right direction. Everybody else will practice. We look forward to the challenge of playing the Cardinals, a good football team. Our guys are starting our preparation now so they will have a good week of preparation to get themselves ready to play against good football team."
Q: What do you have to do, besides get Jamaal (Charles) the ball more, to be more effective on offense?
REID:"We've got to sustain drives is what we need to do. That's been one of our strengths and the last couple weeks we haven't done that. So that's my responsibility to make sure that we get guys in the right position to be able keep those chains moving and put something together. We've had way too many three and outs so we've got to do a better job there."
Q: There are games where your quarterback has time to get the ball off and then there's games where your quarterback has no time. Is that you and your offensive line or is it the opponent and what they're doing?
REID:"I think it's a combination of things but we've played some pretty good fronts where we could have done a little bit better job. I've got to make sure that I move him around a little bit and give him an opportunity to do that stuff."
Q: Is it typical that late in the season that tackling will be affected by teams having fewer padded practices?
REID:"Well, yeah, definitely. We haven't done too well on it the past couple weeks. That's something we are going to put an emphasis on, the best you can do right now. But there's a lot of things we need to get better at, I've said that even when we were winning games. You have to keep improving. Then you're going to go through ups and downs and you've got to work through those. One of those is our tackling right now so we will do everything we can, without going live. So we can get that taken care of."
Q: Is there any way to understand why it's been pretty good throughout the season and a little bit of a problem now?
REID:"Well there's some things you can do fundamentally. I always go back to the techniques, fundamentals, angles – those are things you can work on and we will do that. The one thing about this crew here, this football team, is they will work on whatever seems to be a negative to try to fix that problem, which I think, is a real strength of this team."
Q: Could we see more Donald Stephenson at right tackle this week?
REID:"Right now, no, (Ryan) Harris is the guy. That doesn't mean Donald won't be in, we've worked him in a little bit at tight end and he's gotten in a little bit at tackle. But right now it's Harris."
Q: Why is Donald having such a hard time getting back to that spot?
REID:"It's not really what Donald's been. It's just Harris has done a pretty good job in there."
Q: Can you talk about (Anthony) Fasano and how he is coming into shape and becoming a go-to guy?
REID:"Well, he was banged up there for a little bit and he's kind of getting himself back feeling better. He's always been that, he's always been a good player. He's somebody that the quarterback (Alex Smith) trusts and that part is an important thing. We are fortunate to have him, we are fortunate to have both of those guys."
Q: No wide receiver has made a touchdown pass but Fasano has had three touchdowns in four games, does that kind of counteract that?
REID:"I don't worry about who gets them, I'm concerned that you score them, whatever position it is. We've needed more than what we've done the past couple of weeks so we've got to do better there."
Q: Last year you guys made a living off of takeaways. It's not happening this year. Is there a reason why you only have four picks and 10 takeaways?
REID:"Again, that's something we can work on. Sometimes when you get to this point and you haven't had a few, you press a little bit. You saw where we had the ball in our hands a couple of more times this past week. We need to get one, then those normally snowball in your direction, but we're in pretty good position. We just need to make sure that we focus in and squeeze the football."
Q: Is there a possibility you played a little more in your face man coverage and this year you're eliminating the big plays by sitting back a little bit. Is it a schematic thing too?
REID: "I don't think so. I mean, I think if you'd ask people they'd tell you that you probably get more actual interceptions when you're not in man coverage in a press look when you're off. We've had opportunities. We just have to take advantage of them. That's something our guys will work on."
Q: This defense for you guys has been number one against the pass and 30th against the rush. Why such a disparity there?
REID: "Yeah, well again, you go back and so much of it is gap control and how you handle that and staying disciplined in your gaps. Teams are going to try and distort that linebacker level with the defensive front level one and level two to create seams and it's our responsibility to stay as square as we can and takeaway those lanes for the runners. Runners in this league don't need a lot of room and so you've got to restrict that. That's something that we can go back and work on and then again tackling becomes another part of that. If teams try to get to the perimeter and they do get to the secondary level or linebacker level then you've got to make sure that you negate the big, the longer run. That also comes into the picture."
Q: What a playoff chase. You've got teams that are on a roller coaster where they play great games and then awful games. Is it harder to be a more consistent football team now than ever?
REID: "I think there's great parody in the league. I'm stating the obvious with that right? The league has put a big emphasis on that. I think you're seeing that. That's why you've got this large group of people kind of fighting for a position there."
Q: You don't see many teams go out and play 12 close games. There have been some lopsided wins and some really bad performances.
REID: "It gives everybody a chance here, right? It gives everybody a chance and that's a, I think that's a good thing. You'd love to be undefeated, but it gives you an opportunity."
Q: What grabs your attention looking at the Arizona defense?
REID: "They've got great size and speed. I mean I'm talking in all positions. Going into their secondary, they've got large corners and they've got large defensive linemen, linebackers and so forth. They've got a good scheme. Todd's (Bowles) done a real nice job out there and he's got those guys playing well."
Q: He has a reputation for running all sorts of things sometimes with extra rushers. You saw a bit of that on Sunday night. Do you expect to see the same thing?
REID: "Yeah, no he'll test you. Yeah, he's going to test you. I mean he's going to test you anyways, but then yeah we'll see how we handle that."
Q: What are you seeing from 93 (Calais Campbell) specifically on their defense?
REID: "I watched him coming out of college and you look at the improvement that he's made over the years and I've played against him, I've had teams play against him since he was young and you see that improvement every year. He's added some body weight, some bulk and has maintained his quickness. He's a big man. He's 6'7'' and he's able to play low and strong. Good base to him."
Q: You mentioned last week the character of the team. Is there anything that you can learn from the team over these past couple of weeks when they've been struggling a little bit and when they were winning some? REID: "Yeah, well listen. When things aren't going well, you find out about people. I think this group here handles this. They don't accept it, but they work and they want to change it. That's the approach that they've taken and I wouldn't expect anything less. That's kind of how they're wired."
