Head coach Andy Reid
OPENING STATEMENT: "Just a congratulations to our team for the win yesterday. I thought the guys – all three phases – played good, solid football. Still came out of it with a ton of room to improve. We had a huge challenge on special teams for us and I thought we stepped up to the plate on that and did a good job against one of the top teams in the NFL there. Again, the coordinators, I thought had good game plans and I thought the players played hard – executed for the most part with what they were asked to do there and put their own little flare to it. It's important to keep our focus going, which this group is good at. We've got a good Cleveland team coming in here that we've got to prepare ourselves for. But we welcome them into Arrowhead. The time is yours."
Q: Can you think of the last rookie player that you have been around that has played at Marcus Peters' level?
REID: "I probably wouldn't compare them – I'm not real good with that. I would tell you that he's doing a nice job. He's working hard at his game, which is important. The rookies at about this time in the year, they're kind of working through that wall, that rookie wall where their season's over and they're resting up for bowl games and all of those things. He's pushing through that and doing a good job with it. He's a competitive kid – he's having a good year."
Q: On players saying that Marcus Peters doesn't play or act like a rookie.
REID: "I think it's the way he carries himself – the way he goes about his work. We're not a big hazing team and all of those things anyways with rookies. We expect them to come in and play and produce. And so that's what I think they see. A kid whose dad was a coach and he grew up around it and he has a pretty good feeling for the game and then he's making plays on the field."
Q: How do you balance football and family time during the holidays?
REID: "Yeah, I try to do as many push-aways as I possibly can with all of the good food. That's where you push away from the table. But it's a normal work week for us, but at the same time you want to make sure that you give the guys enough time where they can enjoy their families and as coaches we do the same thing. But we also understand that it falls on a Friday which is huge – that's a big day in the National Football League for preparation, so we kind of work around it the best we can."
Q: Have you mentioned playoffs to your team yet?
REID: "No, I don't talk about all of that. We just try to get ourselves ready for that next game and I mentioned it yesterday, I feel like we're just barely breaking .500 here so we're not looking at all of that stuff. We're just trying to focus on the job at hand here."
Q: You're four games over .500 now.
REID: "Yeah I know, but it feels like we barely just broke .500."
Q: Adam Schefter reported that Justin Houston could be shut down for the rest of the regular season. How much validity is there to that report?
REID: "I haven't heard that. I think I would probably know that. That wasn't coming from us. We're taking it kind of day-by-day with him and seeing how it rolls there. He seems to be making progress – which is positive – it's one of those weird kind of injuries. But he is making progress and that's what you're going on, that's what the doctors have told us. Rick's (Burkholder) working with him and going about business with him there on the rehab part."
Q: What about Spencer Ware, could he have played much on offense?
REID: "Yeah, his ribs were a little sore. We had Knile (Davis) there, so we feel comfortable with him, we worked him in when needed. As an emergency, he could've, but I kind of let those things settle down a little bit."
Q: Are you comfortable that he'll be ready to go on Sunday?
REID: "I think he'll be ready to go this week, yeah."
Q: Is the make-up of the team something they learn or is it an innate trait that the players have, that you bring in?
REID: "I think it's probably a combination. You're going to set a menu up for them to kind of follow. And then they've got to be wired right to answer that every day. And you have to have the right kind of locker room and the right leadership and those types of things in the locker room to do that. I give a lot of credit to that locker room and how the guys handle themselves down there, the leadership we have. And likewise with the coaches, with how they present it to the players, I think is important. And then you've got guys with a variety of age groups here that are playing for you. You have the young guys that have a lot of energy, you've got the Tamba's who are a little bit older. So you try to give those guys time to get themselves ready to play for the next week. Everybody does it a little bit different, you work that into how you go about your business here."
Q: What's the severity of De'Anthony Thomas' injury? Is it a severe concussion?
REID: "I don't know how to rank those things. I'm not an expert on it by any means. I know if they have the least bit of symptoms, we want to make sure that we get that cleared up. That's kind of where he's at right now, we're trying to take that day-by-day and just see how he does. With that, you've got to pass the protocol and it has to be – it's pretty regimented there. That's where we're at, literally day-by-day. And they're all different."
Q: What have you seen from Jah Reid this season to make you want to give him a contract extension?
REID: "He's a good person and he's been an effective player for us. Those are the guys you want to keep around. We've been blessed to have a lot of those since we've been here, so if you can work it in to the complexity of the cap, then you try to get those done. So John (Dorsey) went for it with that and I think it's a good get for our football team. You can't have enough good offensive linemen, I think it's good for Jah, it's good for the team and that's what it's all about."
Q: How much has his versatility on the line played a role in his contract extension?
REID: "That's important. We've got a couple guys – Jeff Allen is another one that can do that for us and you've seen Zach (Fulton) play a couple different positions – so having that flexibility is a big thing. Donald (Stephenson) did it, Donald stepped in and played guard. It's that, 'the more you can do, the more that ups your value.'"
Q: How much do you think the flexibility in the offense has helped Alex be a better quarterback?
REID: "I think he's always — it's funny because the toughest area to stay aggressive in is the red zone, and he's always been an aggressive guy in the red zone, so I don't think that – I've kind of eliminated the aggressive thing from Alex. He's an aggressive guy and works in the scheme there of making sure things are right. He understands the value of turnovers, not having turnovers. He gets that part of it and sees the big picture on things. I'd tell you the third year here, really being in the same system for three years where it's just consistent, so he's got a pretty good grasp of everything. It's not only added to his confidence, but he knows he's in charge out there. He's got a little flexibility to get you in and out of plays, good or bad situations, put you in good situations and get you out of bad situations."
Q: How much did your relationship with John Harbaugh play a role in warning the players that the Ravens might try a fake punt?
REID: "Well, you've got two of the best special teams coaches right there, (Jerry) Rosburg and (John) Harbaugh. At one time, John was an assistant to Rosburg, so you have two of the better special teams minds in the game and we've got one here with Dave Toub. Dave was all over that with the guys that, 'you better keep your eyes open. They'll try anything at any time,' and it's a little bit where they're at with the injury situation there and their season. I thought Dave did a good job of alerting these guys, really, on all the different situations there."
Q: What kind of advantage is it for the team to come home and play the final two games at Arrowhead?
REID: "When you're in the hunt in the month of December, what better place could you imagine playing than Arrowhead Stadium? I mean, think about that. We know our people are going to be out here like crazies, and everybody is home for Christmas and what better place to be than right here. We look forward to it. Our players feed off that. You can't help it. I've got headsets on and everything and you still kind of just feel the rumble there. It's just a great, great environment for football."
Q: What does it mean to you to be the third Chiefs head coach to have three consecutive winning seasons?
REID: "I didn't know that. I feel like I did just before you asked that question. We're on to the Browns, that's kind of where we're at."
