ANDY REID
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OPENING STATEMENT:"Alright, as far as the injuries go, Mike DeVito and DJ (Derrick Johnson) both have Achilles ruptures and will be out for the season, they'll have surgeries on those. Jeff Allen has an elbow strain; he's being evaluated right now. It looks like it's probably more of the bicep than the elbow. (Husain) Abdullah has a quad contusion, Eric Berry – quad contusion, Tamba (Hali) tweaked his ankle – has a slight ankle sprain there and Frankie Hammond hurt his shoulder a bit, but he should be okay. And De'Anthony Thomas had the hamstring strain and is making progress. We'll just see how he does this week. We'll get Dwayne Bowe Back and Marcus Cooper back this week which will be a good thing. For the game, obviously it was disappointing. The positive was the energy that the fans brought and our guys, they appreciate that as do the coaches and the management. We weren't good enough yesterday obviously, but we're a young football team and will get better as we go. The guys that are hurt, our heart goes out to them for the hard work that they put in, but we also know that we've got some good young players that can step up and do a good job and that's what is expected of them. The obvious from the game is three turnovers is too much and too many. Our third down efficiency, when you only make one conversion on third downs out of 12 opportunities – that's a negative. Both of those two I'm directly related to and have a responsibility for, so I've got to do a better job on my end of putting the quarterback and the rest of the offense in a better position to make plays. Not giving 25 (Jamaal Charles) the ball more than seven times is negligence on my part also. Defensively, I thought for the first half we played good football. The second half, the thing that jumps out at you is the amount that they ran the ball and the yards that they got on that. So again, we've got to secure that up and do a better job there. As far as special teams go, Cairo (Santos) made one field goal and an extra point and missed one from the 30-yard line. There are no excuses for that. He's got to make that, he's very capable of making them, we all know he's making those. Everybody has trust that he'll get that worked out. The fake punt was the right thinking. We were short on one block there but the setup was what we wanted and had seen. We just had a deficiency on one of the blocks, and that led to points. And then, when we jumped offsides there when they were in punt formation, that also led to a field goal. Dave (Toub) will be the first one to tell you, you surely don't want those things to happen there, where it ends up being points for the other team. (Jaye) Howard and (Vance) Walker will work in there like they did yesterday – more Howard yesterday than Walker, but they'll both have that opportunity to work in on the defensive line with DeVito being down. And then JMJ (James-Michael Johnson) got a lot of reps yesterday, and he'll also have that opportunity. We'll keep our eyes open to fill those spots. We'll look at our practice squad players, we'll also look in the free agent area and also any other option that's available. Dorse (John Dorsey) came back after the game with his guys and they're looking at different players around the league. Dee Ford probably didn't have enough snaps, we've got to work him into the rotation and do a better job there, which we'll do. And then as I mentioned we'll get a couple of the guys back that weren't out there. As the head coach, I've got the guys in here today and they're going to go through the tape and they're going to learn, we're going to continue to teach them and we're going to get better at what we do. The time is yours."
Q: What did you see from JMJ and Jaye Howard last year when you brought them in on waivers that made you keep them this year?
REID:"Howard is an explosive player. His big thing was just making sure that was something that took place on every play. Consistency was the factor, he's shown us that he can do that throughout his time here. He had a good preseason with us and now will have an opportunity to get in there and play a little bit more. We thought JMJ was a good, solid linebacker. We felt that he was – at least from what he had shown – had been better in the sub-group so that's where we used him a little bit last year and we had started using him in that position this year. But we do feel like he can step up and if he needs to play more, then he'll play more."
Q: You mentioned that Jamaal probably didn't get enough carries; you also mentioned yesterday that Tennessee did some things to take him away. I know you saw the film now, were they stacking the box? What were they trying to do?
REID:"They primarily went with a cover three look and a cover four with a cheat safety look, both of which are good run stopping coverages. And then they played gaps and so on, it wasn't anything that should have veered us off of the run game as much as it did.
Q: How much of Anthony Sherman kind of getting in the mix there could help with the running game?
REID:"As far as blocking?"
Q: Yeah?
REID:"Yeah, we could have done a little bit more of that."
Q: You're very good at taking responsibility for the team, but at what point do you start holding the players accountable?
REID:"We all hold each other accountable. I make sure that I teach the players and that's what we are here to do as coaches. And nobody knows better than a player if they are not doing their job to the best of their ability. They take a lot of pride in what they do, we are all accountable. My name is on this and this is my press conference. So I'm the one accountable when it's all said and done. And it goes from there."
Q: You're talking about getting Dee Ford more playing time, is he ready for more? Has he earned it?
REID:"He's getting better in the run game. Right now his strength is the pass game, but he's getting better. So there are some things you can do rotationally there where he gets in and has an opportunity to play."
Q: A big guy like that I would have thought he might play more on special teams, is he not there yet with that part?
REID:"Yeah, that's not necessarily his strong point right now."
Q: We got a good look at De'Anthony (Thomas) during the preseason, he's a guy that would help on offense. How much did the timing of his injury kind of hurt you guys as far as getting ready for this game?
REID:"Were we going to use him, is that what you're saying? Yeah, we were going to use him. But things happen, that's how this league works. You see it with every team. I've got a lot of experience in this business, and I've been on teams where things happen. Then you work around it and you get better. That's where we're at right now."
Q: You say he's getting better, is there a sense of optimism that he'll be ready to go. Or with a hamstring do you just not know?
REID:"It'll be a fight for him to get there. Those things normally take a little bit longer, but we'll see. We'll see how he does."
Q: You opened the year with Derrick Johnson, Joe Mays and now it's JMJ and (Josh) Mauga. I know it's all next man up and all that, but that's the guts of your defense. Can't be another Derick Johnson right now, but how do their skill sets mesh?
REID:"You've got scheme and you've got players that can play. We still have a lot of good football players on this football team. You've got a personnel department that's looking at different options there and we've still got a lot of games left. That allows for optimism there."
Q: What have you seen from Mauga?
REID:"Mauga, he knows the system. That's one thing. He was a starter in the nickel package for the Jets, and he's a good football player, overall a good football player. That's why we brought him, to give him that opportunity to play, at that time backup, and now he's asked to start."
Q: What is their challenge as far as communication on the field? I know they have played a little together in the past, but that was college. What's the process?
REID:"I think reps, game plan, knowing the game plan, studying it. Like I said, Mauga knows the system, has a pretty good feel for the system. It's just a matter of getting in there and doing it."
Q: Did you see any improvement on the continuity of the offensive line as the game progressed?
REID:"I did early. I thought through the first quarter and half, we had a little bit of flow going. We had some penalties that took some things away. I saw some positives there. Do we need to get better? Yeah, we need to get better."
Q: How much do you think watching Derrick Johnson will help JMJ? Have you seen growth in JMJ?
REID:"DJ is a great example, he's not going anywhere. He'll be around too, so he can continue to be a good influence for these guys."
Q: What are your thoughts on the way Travis Kelce played in his 18 snaps? What does he need to do to get more playing time?
REID:"Keep doing what he's doing. Keep learning. He's a good football player, and so we've got to continue to work him in there."
Q: Is it a knowledge thing for Kelce?
REID:"He's young, but he's capable of more than 18 plays. I've just got to make sure I call those plays."
Q: What is the hardest part in staying committed to the running game?
REID:"Well this offense is best when there's balance, so I've got to make sure that I maintain that and continue to give your best player – or one of your best players – the football. So that's just doing it."
Q: How do you evaluate Alex Smith's performance after three interceptions?
REID:"Listen, I'll take responsibility for those and the situations that I put him in there. Those weren't good situations. And we'll go back to the drawing board with that and make sure we get them right.
Q: Do you feel like your players are closer to learning how to finish?
REID:"Well, I thought they played hard, that's what I thought. That's a positive that you can take out of this game. We've got to get our execution right, particularly on the offensive side and I've got to make sure again that I put these guys in the right positions to do that. And we'll get that done. We need to get back to the drawing board here and make sure the players see the game tape, go out and have a good practice, and we learn from our mistakes and move on."
