OPENING STATEMENT:"Alright, I really don't have any injuries for you. With the exception of Dadi [Nicolas], I don't think we really had anything to report. Everything is kind of precautionary stuff. Everybody should be back for the next time that we play. Let me kind of give you the schedule of where we're at and where we're going here. So, the players are in today. I'm going to get them out of here just like we did during the bye week. They'll be back for Monday practice. It will be a short 10-10-10 practice, and then, we start. They're off Tuesday, and we'll be back in our normal week. Then, the coaches are working a few days, and I'm going to give them a couple days off. Then, they'll be back later in the week before we get cranking, so they can see these games as they're going on."
Q:Is there some advantage to knowing that no matter who you play, you've already played them in the regular season?
REID:"Right, yeah I guess there is. That goes both ways. I would imagine that you could say that, yeah."
Q:You had two real big tests yesterday. You were up 20-10 and then, the pick-six – you're team responded with touchdowns. Who gets the credit for that and why?
REID:"Yeah, the guys responded, to answer your question, especially after the pick-six. That was a big one there. I mentioned this after the game, but I thought Marcus' [Peters] interception was a big thing and [Daniel] Sorensen's interception. They kind of came at the right time, and we needed that little jolt there. These last couple of weeks, you have to really stay focused, and I thought our guys did a pretty good job at that. At the same time, you need guys to step up and have things happen for you. That's what I thought took place yesterday."
Q:How important is it for Alex Smith heading into the postseason as the leader to be the quarterback of a Division champion?
REID:"Yeah, so, Alex [Smith] has been through this before. So, his leadership was very much welcomed yesterday and needed. I thought the way he handled everything – it was one of his better games. You take away the ball that was tipped for the touchdown, and again, it was one of his better games. You could argue that it was his best game. I felt that way last week too. So, just him getting everybody going in the right direction was big. So, I would say, yes, whatever that question was – it was a yes. His leadership is big."
Q:How big of an addition is Jeremy Maclin heading into the postseason?
REID:"Jeremy [Maclin] is another guy that's been there through some of those runs in Philadelphia. He understands the urgency and you can see that. Not that he's not always urgent, but he and [Alex Smith] were on the same page. Those were tight throws and tight catches he made, so you can see there's some trust between the two of them. I thought he did a nice job there. With the exception of the shallow cross there at the end, there were bodies on him, and they were tight throws."
Q:As a staff, do you watch the Wild Card playoff games together, or do you do that on your own? REID:"We'll be in here for it. I don't have us sit there and watch them together though. We've all got stuff that we need to get done, and we'll already have all of these teams reviewed before we get to the games. Coach [Tommy] Brasher is on our staff, and he's already got all four teams done. We have an idea of what's going on there with the exception of the outcomes."
Q:You're 3-0 as a head coach following postseason bye weeks. How much of that is having a good team and how much of it is having the bye itself?REID:"Every team is crazy different. Every situation in this league is different, every game and every year is different. I know the bye doesn't normally hurt you. It's a good thing to have it if you handle it the right way. I have enough trust in the players that they're going to handle it the right way. The coaches are going to handle it the right way. When we get back, we'll handle that week the right way. There's a certain trust that goes into this thing with how we roll from this point on."
Q:What do you see in the relationship and trust between Alex Smith, Chris Conley and this receiving group? REID:"Chris [Conley] had some big catches. His easiest was that first one, the second play of the game that he dropped. The rest of them were tough catches and he did a great job with them. He's worked so hard. Him, Jeremy [Maclin] and Albert [Wilson] stayed up here this offseason and worked, and worked, and worked. When Albert has been given the opportunity, he's done a great job. He did a great job blocking yesterday and had some phenomenal blocks. He also had a nice screen catch and run. But to see Chris do that, he's a guy that you're pulling for. He's a good guy that works his tail off and has gotten better every game. Alex obviously has trust in him to use him the way he does."
Q:Was your message to the guys after the game at all related to your trust in them to correctly handle the bye week? REID:"I'm going to meet with them today about all of that stuff. Yesterday was too crazy. It was hard to get a word in. They'll be a little calmer today in this setting. They know that and they know how I feel about them anyways. I put a lot of responsibility on their backs and they know they need to handle it the right way. They get that."
Q: You didn't have any sacks yesterday but it looked like for the most part of the game that Rivers was uncomfortable, were you happy with some of the pressures you were able to get on Rivers yesterday or do you want to see more out of that group?
REID: "It is two weeks in a row now that the sacks haven't been up, but the ability to make that quarterback move in the pocket has been huge for us. They feel that heat and they're either moving backwards or sideways and they can't get their feet set and so that can be as important as a sack, which you always like to have more sacks, but the important thing is you're getting more pressure and that you don't just let them throw from a set platform and that he moves his feet a little bit."
Q: Looking at last year's team and where you were at going into the divisional round and this year's team, from a broad view how comfortable are you or where are you at with this team as opposed to last year going into the same game?
REID: "I was good with last year's team, I really thought we stood a chance. The bottom line was that we were banged up a little bit going in so we didn't have everybody and you would have like to have seen that but we don't make excuses for it. I would just tell you, you asked the question, I'm telling you we're probably a little bit more healthy this year than we were last year, but it's kind of the same guys doing the same thing. You've got Tyreek [Hill] in there obviously and a couple of the other young guys, but very similar thing. I think for this coming game, I think that'll probably be the difference. Other than that, last year's team, I thought was a championship caliber team."
Q: Unlike a regular season bye week where you know who you're going to play the following week, how much can you get done this week as a staff when the players aren't in and you don't know who you're going to play?
REID: "We already have dug on that. That first question that was asked on knowing the teams with the exception of the Dolphins and the chances of playing them probably isn't great because of how it's seeded and everything, so the other teams, we've played. In the meantime Coach Brasher is on staff here and he does these reports for us every week and he got a jump on things and he estimated who would be the remaining teams that we've had chances to play and all of the different scenarios, that way the coaches didn't have to worry about it, and so he started these breakdowns a week ago and he's been kind of grinding stuff out there and it just happens that the teams we've had a chance to play, he's already gotten that done. That's a good foundation to start on and go. I think most teams probably do something like that. That's where we're at."
