Todd Haley Press Conference - 12/28
Tarkus
Dec 28, 2009, 7:03:35 PM
Highlights
TODD HALEY: �Afternoon everyone. We reviewed the tape of the Cincinnati
game. I thought there were a lot of positives in the game going on the
road against a playoff-caliber team. Thought we played hard, thought we
did things on both sides of the ball to keep ourselves in a position to win.
�Thought offensively we did a good job of moving the football, staying
out of three-and-outs and staying out of minus plays and the things that
have been costly to us as the year has gone on. The minus plays were at
a year-long low. Felt we did a better job of catching the football.
Again, even at the end getting the football late [last drive] and moving
the ball effectively initially it looked like we were going to have a
chance to at least tie the game.
�Defensively, I thought the guys came out and played with very good
technique and we put a couple of players in a situation where they were
out on an island. For instance, we asked Brandon Flowers to cover Chad
[Ochocinco] a bunch in the game and thought he did a very good job
keeping us in the game. I thought against a very good rushing team other
than two runs we did the things necessary to stay in games against a
good opponent on the road.
�In the end, I think Cincinnati, who is now a playoff team, made the
plays necessary to end up getting a win and we didn�t. Disappointing
from that standpoint but at the same time there were enough positives to
feel encouraged. I thought our rookie kicker continued to show signs he
is a pretty cool customer and somebody to look at as a positive as we go
forward.
�Jamaal Charles again going into that game against the league�s third
best rushing defense continued to build on what he�s done here in a
short time. Saw the number today that since November 15th nobody other
than Chris Johnson has rushed for more yards than Jamaal. So, pretty
impressive numbers by him and I think he has some room to grow.
�Thought the quarterback continued to make strides and we bounced back
on defense, which we had to. I�m down about the end result but am
encouraged by a lot of other things.
�Now, we�ve got to get ready for Denver, another team that�s fighting to
get into the playoffs. We�ve got to get ready to play a similar type
game and this time figure out a way to come out on top.�
Q: At this point in the season do you consider a player�s injury
situation or do you look to rest a player when you make up your inactive
list?
HALEY: �I think to be a good team I think your mentality has to be the
same all the time, whether it�s player or coach. Whatever you�re doing
your operation has to be of a winning mindset. I think that�s what�s
encouraging me right now. We�ve got some guys that probably wouldn�t be
playing in a lot of places but they want to play. Those are the kind of
signs and the character that is going to make us a good team as we go
forward, or be part of us being a good team. If you think any other way
as a player or a coach you�re probably not going to have a great chance
of success.�
Q: Do you feel that after the illegal contact call on Brandon Carr that
he lost concentration on the next play?
HALEY: �I don�t know that. I know Brandon Carr went out there and
competed hard the whole game. We did a good job of staying out of those
penalties and that one definitely hurt us. But the defense as a whole
came to play and showed something to me and the team, that they could
bounce back.�
Q: On the first interception, it looked like Dwayne Bowe put his arms up
and then pulled them down. Did you talk to him about what happened on
that play?
HALEY: �Yeah, I got a chance to visit with a bunch of the guys as we
flew home. We coach our receivers thoroughly that when the ball is in
the air that if we can�t catch it you can�t allow the ball to be caught.
I thought in both interceptions that we�ve got to do a better job if
we�re not making the play or not allowing them to make the play. Those
are two plays we would have liked to have done a better job.
�Our rule is if you�re in the vicinity of the ball and we can�t catch it
we can�t allow the other team to do so. I think both receivers have to
do a better job of breaking up the [pass].�
Q: Is not going up to break up the ball have any impact who may be or
may not be active in a game?
HALEY: �I don�t think any of these decisions have been made off of one
or two plays. They�re cumulative decisions and some of them have nothing
to do or as much to do as how a guy played. It�s more a number situation
and position. Going into this game we had long discussions even the
night before the game of whether to have eight offensive linemen because
we had a couple guys dinged up. We ended up going light at tight end.
Whatever position you choose you hold your breath and you can get cut
short pretty quick. Number two becomes who gives us the better chance to
win. These are more cumulative big-picture thoughts.
�I thought Dwayne did a lot of good things in the game and I�m not
placing [blame] totally on him. I just know our receivers have to learn
from that and when you�re in that situation again you�ve got to do
something to at least eliminate [opponent] from having a chance to catch
the ball.�
Q: When you talk about the right 53, do you get to a point where you say
the guy�s just not going to get it, what you�re teaching or demanding?
HALEY: �We�ve come to that conclusion with a number of guys. But I think
Dwayne is a player that from the start to finish has made big strides
for us. Leading up to the suspension we were very excited about his
progress. He�s had a difficult month and a half and I think this is all
part of the process for Dwayne and growing and becoming the player that
we think he�s capable of being.�
Q: How important and what would it mean for your team to see Jamaal get
a 1,000 yards this season?
HALEY: �We�ve got a chance to go on the road against a team that�s
fighting to get into the playoffs that happens to be in our division and
we could knock them out. So, I think that�s number one for everybody.
The 1,000 yard thing is a number that back a few years ago was a
big-time thing. Now, I think the important thing for Jamaal is when he
got his opportunity he stepped in and he�s continued, although not
perfect, to get better each week and raised the bar for himself. Where
we thought he was maybe a 15 to 16 carry a game guy he�s kind of pushing
to say I can handle more just by the way he�s played. He hasn�t done
everything right but he�s shown enough to get pretty excited since
November 15 nobody�s rushed for more yards than him.�
Q: How has Jamaal�s success helped cut down on your quarterback sacks,
or is it the play of your offensive line?
HALEY: �I think it�s really offense in general and Jamaal has been a big
part of that. But each guy on the offense has got more and more
comfortable. This has been a very difficult transition and they
understood that and it has not been easy in any way, shape or form. Add
in injury and change in personnel and as we continue to find players
it�s been difficult. But I will say that I feel like the offense is
making progress. We�ve been much more consistent on third down or at
least in that area where you can be competitive. I think we�re finding a
little bit of an identity and I think that�s very important for players.
The run game has come a long way and any time you can run the football
effectively that helps your play-action pass and your drop-back. Again,
it�s kind of the evolution and the growth of this group. We�ve got a
long way to go but I think there has been progress and the guys feel
that and they�re feeling better about themselves.�
Q: Do you think the coming out of Jamaal Charles was inevitable or was
Larry Johnson�s departure good fortune?
HALEY: �I�ve always said and been told that if you can play most of the
time they find out about it. Jamaal is a guy that early in the year was
inactive a game and he�s fought through adversity and pushed the
envelope for us of what our expectations were for him. I think that�s a
good sign. I�m excited that Jamaal has seized the opportunity. That�s
what we need. Just like offensively and as a team you need to take
advantage of opportunity. When Jon McGraw intercepts the ball and takes
it out to the 50-yard line that can�t be one of the two times we go
three-and-out. We need to seize opportunity as a team, as an offensive
group, defensive group, special teams group and as individual players.�
Q: Jamaal said a couple of weeks ago he cried when he was inactive. Was
that part of the plan to motivate him?
HALEY: �I�ve been fortunate to be around good coaches, winning teams.
All of my coaches have. You just coach the way you have to coach to help
players reach their potential. If a guy is not doing what he�s supposed
to do or not doing it the way we�ve asked him to do it there has to be
accountability. In his case, I don�t know for sure [why he was inactive]
but I�m sure [some of it] was roster related and I�m sure it was
disappointment in how we thought the player was progressing. That�s just
coaching. You have a mentality and the way you go about it.�
Q: Do you have anyone on the roster right now that has played to the
level of the Pro Bowl?
HALEY: �The Pro Bowl thing is for the players and I�m about trying to
win games. Right now we have three and we�re going on the road against
Denver and have a chance to knock them out of the playoffs and that�s
what I�d like to really get. That would be Pro Bowl material for me.�
Q: Jamaal is going to be marked man. Is that the next step in his
development? Learning how to deal with that?
HALEY: �Yeah, I think for sure. That process has started and I think
that is what has helped us move the ball through the air a little more
efficiently and in a bunch of areas. That is the next step for him.
These teams are loading up and there are going to be teams like this
past week that are going to say we�re going to stop the run and we�ve
got to find ways to block them and he�s got to find ways to run the ball
when there are too many of them.
�I thought again, Jamaal did a lot of good things in the game. We had a
key penalty on a 42-yard run or he would have had a big day. He had
several other runs that were just a fraction of an inch from coming out
and being big runs. That makes us a little different team to get ready
for. You see some of these runs are real close and we do block them or
when he does make one miss or stiff arm them like he did in the game it
does nothing but help us. He has definitely given an energy to our team
and no different than a bunch of guys.
�I know this is about winning and losing but I think there are some
encouraging signs and players and things that are going to make us good.�
Q: Is the offensive line blocking better or is it a case where Jamaal
may not need quite the blocking to be that perfect to succeed?
HALEY: �I think any time you get a back that is making some runs on his
own and also finding the holes that are created it�s a little bit of
both. We�ve got guys fighting to get back into the lineup who are beat
up and those are some of the good signs. Those guys up front are excited
and anytime they see the back of #25 [Charles] running away from them
they�re pretty fired up.
�Again, I�m just disappointed yesterday because we had a real chance
against a very good run defense to really do some things and we were
close. I think it was a real positive output but there were just these
little things or we would have had a real big day.�
Q: Has Jamaal turned out to be the player you thought or surprised even
you with the success he had?
HALEY: �Jamaal was a guy who when he came out and I was with Arizona we
interviewed him at the Combine. He was a guy I had watched a lot of tape
on. Mo [Carthon] and I happened to be together and we thought we had a
chance to get him there and spent a lot of time with. We thought he had
a chance to be a good back but some of these guys you just don�t know
until they�re under fire.
�Like I said, Jamaal is the one who continues to just push the
expectations and that�s good. That�s what has everybody excited.�
Q: Do you encourage your players to give back to the community? Is that
important?
HALEY: �I�m about coaching this team first. We encourage every player
that character is going to be an important part. But this time of year
it�s about football. This will be the first off-season for me with a
bunch of guys that I now know and I�m looking to that aspect of it. I
would say it�s real important for all these guys to represent the Chiefs
well.�
Q: The reason I bring it up is we had a phone call from a person that
said you took the time to help them out the other morning. It was a real
cold morning and you took the time to stop and help them out.
HALEY: �That was nice. Like I said, the holidays are the time to pay
attention to the fortunate circumstances we find ourselves in. I don�t
take it lightly and, as I said, I�m very grateful for everything that I
have and I�ll do my part to help people out.�
Q: Has Wallace Gilberry surpassed what you expected?
HALEY: �I think he was kind of a guy that we tried to overlook or run
off. I think Wallace just forced the issue [and said] don�t overlook me.
His work ethic and his ability to fight through bumps and bruises have
been evident. I would say that Wallace has pushed the expectations up
and the more guys we have that do that probably the better team we are.
He�s another guy I�m looking forward to getting into another off-season
with now that everybody knows what�s expected.�