HEAD COACH ANDY REID
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, so I don’t have any injury updates for you. We’re right in the middle of that process and we’ll just see how things go. I know the tackle’s (D.J. Humphries) one of (those) problems there, so we’ll see how he does. He’s feeling a little bit better this morning, but we’ll see where it goes from here after he gets an MRI. Other than that, there were some good things that we did in the game that I mentioned after the game there. There was some good personal play that went on with individual guys along with some good team efforts. I thought defensively we really did a great job (in) the first half and then we were able to finish that up (in) the second half (but) we have a couple of things we have to clean up there. It was just some of the throw game, but we’ll get that cleaned up. Then offensively, I thought we did some good things. We’ve got a few things there that we’ve got to take care of, but I have a lot of respect for that defense and that quarterback (Chargers QB Justin Herbert) that they have is also heck of a player. I think (Chargers Head Coach) Jim (Harbaugh) is doing a nice job with that whole group. Anyways, with that, the time’s yours.”
Q: What went into having Justin Reid do the kickoffs?
REID: “Just his (Justin Reid) length of kickoffs. The ability to kick it into the endzone there – consistently.”
Q: Does it help to have a good tackler on the kickoff team as well?
REID: “Yeah, that doesn’t hurt, for sure, but initially it was the length. He’s (Justin Reid) got a strong leg, and we thought maybe he could put it back there in the endzone.”
Q: Any update on Joshua Williams’ status?
REID: “Yeah, I don’t have that for you either. He (Joshua Williams) did come in feeling better today but we’ve just got to get the eval— I’ll meet with (Vice President of Sports Medicine and Performance) Rick (Burkholder) here after we’re done and see where we’re at with all that.”
Q: What do you remember about NFL free agent Steven Nelson and how do you think he could help you out if he came back?
REID: “He (NFL free agent Steven Nelson) – well, he was a good player when he was here. He came out of Oregon State with the ability to return and play corner and then he developed into a starting corner in the league. He had a nice career for the last how many years. It was the ability to add a little depth to that spot. We’ll just see how things work out (and) see kind of where he’s at today. He would be a welcomed addition if he’s – if it all works out.”
Q: What goes into the game theory when you see the success of the up-tempo plays?
REID: “That’s a viable thought. We’ve done that in the past on different occasions. We thought we had some good stuff in there that we could use – had a couple nice long drives and ended up taking the last almost five minutes and controlling the football for the win. We definitely, to answer your question, we definitely think of those things for sure, yeah.”
Q: What did you mean after the game by mentioning how Matthew Wright said that he doesn’t see himself as a third-string guy?
REID: “Yeah, I think he’s (Matthew Wright) got a quiet confidence about him. I think he realizes that he’s a legitimate kicker, at least that’s the persona that he presents to everybody. I think all (of) the guys on the team have confidence in him. We’re not sitting there going, ‘Hey listen, we have some guy that’s never done this before and doesn’t have a track record with us.’ He comes in and he just goes, ‘Okay, line me up and let’s go.”
Q: Have you had time to reflect on all the different ways you guys have won games this season?
REID: “It’s unique. It’s a unique year, they’re all unique, this one is unique from the standpoint that we’ve had a lot of close games and we’ve been able to battle through some things to get these victories. I’m sure we’ll continue to do that. One of the things that (we) came out of training camp with is that you can kind of see your leadership (of) mentally tough guys. I think some of that has carried over to the newer additions, they see how we do things and they try to work themselves into it. We don’t have as many reps with the guys but they kind of take on that personality and they work through it the best they can.”
Q: On Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes’ connection.
REID: “They’ve (Travis Kelce and Patrick Mahomes) got a lot of trust in each other. They challenge each other all the time and that’s a positive and they’re both great competitors. Most of all, they have that feel. They have a feel for one another and that comes probably with a little bit of the friendship, a little bit of working together (and) a lot of reps in there with one another.”
