Thursday, August 7, 2014
Preseason Game 1
Postgame quotes
Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis
OPENING STATEMENT:"Obviously I'm not satisfied with the outcome of the game. I thought there was a lot of positives in the game but also things we have to work on, build from, go back to work. Defensively, with younger guys in there, we had a couple of busted plays. With the first group, we need to get in there, need to tackle. It was the first real exposure to tackling today, so we have to keep working at that. I think offensively, the main thing is, when QB Jason (Campbell) had those two big turnovers, which were huge, you can't turn the ball over like that. He's a guy that kept coming, got over the first one, came back and had good plays, but then had the second one and came back again. We just have to keep working. I thought, at the end, QB Matt Scott handled himself pretty well. All of our backs got a good opportunity to run plays tonight. The line, for the most part, did a pretty good job, without some of our starting players in there. I was pleased with them today. We still have a lot to work on and get ready for our season. We have a little time before our next game, so we have a chance to really dissect this and guys to learn from this. The kicking game, we let the return get out on us and we can't do that. Open field football for the first time gets everybody's attention."
On the first-team offense being pretty crisp: "I really thought that today, in general, without having but the one procedure penalty was pretty good. We were backed up today right away, right in the first drive. With that big, new speaker they've got out there, you can't hear anything until you get down on the play clock and break the huddle, so you really have to focus in. With rookie-rookie-new guy-new guy-new guy, that was tough on the offensive line."
Did you ever consider not playing QB Andy Dalton because the offensive line was patchwork? "I thought we did a good job of putting a plan together and obviously with Tamba (Hali) and (Justin) Houston, you have two great rushers over there. So we had to put a good plan together, and I thought the guys responded pretty well."
In the first preseason game, you always expect some sloppiness with new pieces in there. Was it more than you would have liked? "Obviously, the big explosive plays, the turnovers, the return for a touchdown (were not ideal), but we had some on our side which were good too. The thing is you want to minimize those kinds of errors. We expect everyone to play the same standard all the time; we don't want to relax the standard based on who's in the football game. If guys can't handle it, we have to move them off. That's the thing about preseason games. If guys can't handle being here with us, they are going to have to move on and we'll get the next guy in there."
CB Dre Kirkpatrick looked like he should have had a tackle, but he comes back and gets the pick 6: "He did a good job releasing as the gunner. The gunners are going to make that kind of juke and move – that's their job all the time. Because they're used to getting double teamed, they did a nice job beating it over the top and we like to get them down. There's a lot of people that have to make that play."
Then he came back to make the interception: "He was in the right spot; the quarterback couldn't see, let the ball go and threw it right to him. [Dre] did a nice job of returning it for the touchdown."
Your running game as a whole was pretty solid tonight: "I thought we did a good job, beginning with Gio (Giovani Bernard) and BenJarvus (Green-Ellis). I thought Jeremy Hill had a couple nice runs, and obviously I thought Ced (Cedric Peerman) did. All the backs did a nice job."
Bengals QB Andy Dalton
You came out and had nine plays and a field goal. Obviously you would have rather had a touchdown, but is that what you had in mind? "Yeah that's what we wanted to do. Like you said, we wanted to score a touchdown, but we moved the ball well. We were backed up starting off, but we really flipped field position where we could get a field goal out of it. I thought we did some good things and some quick passes. We took a shot and hit A.J. (Green) on a deep one. I thought we ran the ball well."
It looked like you had some pressure on you. You had people coming at you on the defense. "Yeah. We knew their front was good, but they gave us the look we wanted. That's why we had that planned because we thought we were going to get the look. We hit it and that's what we wanted to do."
You trust all your guys? That was definitely a different offensive line in front of you than you're going to see in Baltimore. Are there any nerves about that when you've got a lot of new pieces in front of you like that? "Obviously, not everyone is in there; we had some guys that were out. I trust them. They did a good job, and I didn't get hit. That's all that matters."
You and A.J. Green picked up pretty quickly. It didn't take too long to get that chemistry. It doesn't go away does it? "No. I think we're getting better and better the more we're playing with each other. I'm glad we hit that big one to him. He made a good play. I think that's what we expect from each other. We've been doing this awhile now."
Was that the plan? To get a shot deep sometime in that first drive? "Like I was saying earlier, we knew the kind of looks we were getting. We knew we had a good chance at it so that's why that play was in. It was good to go out and execute it. That's what you want to do in the first preseason game."
It shows a lot of confidence. A lot of coordinators would take a look at that offensive line and said a couple runs, a couple quick throws and get back on the bus, but the fact that you had a long throw shows confidence. "Yeah I think that regardless of who's in there and who's up front, he just expects guys to block them and to go make plays. I think that's one thing you can take from today is a bunch of different guys were making plays offensively. It's fun to see."
The 3rd-down-and-long it looks like you had some pressure. "Yeah I wish I could have held onto it just a little bit longer. I wish I could have had that one back. We had what we wanted, I just had to get it out a little bit early."
There was heavy coverage on that too? "Yeah. Derrick Johnson, he did a good job. He kind of stumbled in and kind of fell into pretty good position. He made a good play on it. It was a good look, but DJ (Derrick Johnson) played it well."
Bengals Playeres:
HB BENJARVUS GREEN-ELLISFirst impressions of tonight's game:"We just wanted to go out there work hard, play hard and try to execute the game plan that we had together. It's still the preseason. We were just going out there trying to execute and do the best we could."
What are some things you'll need to work on heading into the next game? "First of all, we need to take care of the ball - ball security. We need to be assignment sound. We never play a perfect game. So, those are things we need to work on."
HB REX BURKHEADThoughts on tonight's game:"Definitely wish we could have come out with a 'W'. As an offensive unit, I thought we did well. We made some mistakes here and there - including myself. I feel like we have a bunch of talent, a good system and great coaches. I feel like we could have a very good year."
How more confident do you feel this being your second year?"A lot more comfortable. A lot more confident just knowing the routine and what's going on throughout the day in practice, meetings and all of that. Playing fast - going out there and knowing stuff whether it's on special teams or the offense. I see things quicker and react quicker to things on the field."CB DRE KIRKPATRICKAs the gunner, what did you see on the Chiefs punt return touchdown?"When I saw (De'Anthony Thomas), he was running towards me and the guy pushed me in the back. That's one of those plays where if you hit the guy before he catches the ball, and you didn't give him room to properly catch the ball, they probably would have thrown a flag. I should have made the tackle once I touched him, they didn't call it. It was just one of those bang-bang plays. Like I said, I have 10 other guys behind me; we just have to make our mistakes up."
How challenging is the first preseason game trying to find chemistry with the new guys?"It's hard; this is the first time we actually get to tackle. The first time we get out there and make live plays and take guys down. That's all an adjustment, but the more we continue to play in the preseason, we'll be ready for the season. Those are all mental errors (that we made today)."How did your interception unfold?"(Chase Daniel) overthrew it. I saw the tight end coming across, the ball kind of came off his hand funny. I was there, and I'm going to take presents, if you give them to me, I'm going to take them."CB TERENCE NEWMANWhat are some of the memories you have of K-State? "The biggest thing is where I started from as a freshman and how I progressed as a person and as a player, working my butt off just to line up and play. I finally cracked that my junior year, and I kept progressing. Just not being satisfied with just being good, (it's) wanting to be the best. That was my goal in college."In college, was it a plan to play this long in the NFL? "It wasn't, but God blessed me with the ability to have no serious injuries and to be able to still run and change direction a little bit. With that, I'm able to also tell my story and give my knowledge to some of the younger kids. Not just football, but things that go with everyday life. It's a blessing."Do you look at this training camp any differently?"No, they're all the same. The only difference is there are no two-a-days. You have to have a certain amount of days off and a certain amount of practices in pads. It's a little bit easier, but don't tell anybody I said that."DE ROBERT GEATHERSHow did it feel to get back on the field after being injured for most of last year?"It felt good to be back out there with my teammates. There is nothing like it. I had a lot of time at home last year. This feels like a rookie year all over again after a break that long."
Comments on the performance of the Bengals defense "We played good, but anytime you play in a game, you still want to win no matter who is out there. There are some things we can touch up. We can tackle a little better. We did good getting off of the field early in the game on third down. We can keep improving on that."Comments on the play of the second and third team defensive units "That is part of being a good team. The guys behind the first group have to be able to pick up the slack. We don't expect a drop off. That is part of being a good defense. During the season we are going to have injuries, and we are going to need people to step up."* LB EMMANUEL LAMURDid your defense perform as well as you wanted to?"Out there you don't know what to expect, but at the same time, we have been preparing for Kansas City for a period of time, and we just had to execute and taking it one rep at a time. That is what I was focusing on. Just taking it one rep at a time. There are a lot of things we need to focus on as a defense because it's preseason." *After getting hurt last season, do you feel you have come back stronger? **"After being hurt last season it motivated me, more than anything, to come back. I am just excited to be back with the guys. It's a great feeling. It's a blessing. We have one goal as a team: to get better."
How does it feel to play in Kansas City so close to where you went to school (Kansas State) "I had a lot of people coming out. I had a lot of people calling me. Kansas State is known for having great fans. It always feels good to come back to Kansas. They gave me my opportunity. They have my love out here."
Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid
OPENING STATEMENT:"Alright, as far as injuries go, (Kona) Schwenke has a shoulder strain and Albert Wilson has an ankle sprain. We'll just see how bad they are tomorrow. There are a lot of good things and there are some things we need some work on. But we'll get those corrected. That's why we're doing the preseason here. Obviously, the turnovers ended in 21 points. You can't turn the football over – we know this – and win in the National Football League. In return, we had a couple pick-sixes by our defense, so we were able to kind of equal that out. We had some good plays, both offensively and defensively and special teams from young guys that will contribute this year and help us out. That was a positive. That's where we're at. The time's yours."With Mike DeVito, what is his injury?"He actually broke a finger in his hand, which he should be ok. We should be able to splint it up and he should be able to work here in the next couple days. But for this game it wasn't going to work."How good was it to have Travis Kelce on the field after all this time?"It was good to have him back out there. He got quite a few snaps, and I thought he did a nice job out there. He showed a little speed at the end, I mean, heck, he was pulling away from secondary players there. That wasn't just a linebacker. I was impressed with that. He did some in-line blocking, some line-of-scrimmage blocking, which I thought he did a good job of."Did Cairo Santos kick the way you expected him to under the lights and pressure of a game environment?"Cairo I thought did a good job. They just traded kicks back and forth and I thought both of them kicked it well. I joke about that it's like watching the World Cup before you hit the final 16 there, it seems to end in a tie every day."Ryan seemed to have the edge on the kickoffs putting them out of the end zone and Cairo seemed a little short?"Actually we were trying to get where guys were returning the ball – I mean this sounds crazy, but this is the preseason – so we were trying to get where we could work our returning. Both of them can boom it out of the end zone, but we were trying to get it where we got some returns so we could work on that part of it."Did De'Anthony Thomas' return show that he has strength to break a tackle, as well as the speed you hoped he had?"Yes. It was a pretty amazing play right at the catch there. And then he's pretty fast. If he gets out there, there are not going to be a whole lot of guys that can catch him. He can scoot pretty good."
Back to Cairo, he was not to kick them out because you wanted the coverage guys to have some plays?"Right."Did Ryan Succop not listen to that?"He caught them good. The guys were returning them from in the end zone, so we got a little taste of all of it."How much of the defense and special teams returns is picking up where you left off last season?"Turnovers are an important thing on defense. We want to score touchdowns on all three phases of the game. We were able to do a pretty nice job of that tonight. In the return, you have to cut back on some of the turnovers that we had on the other side. We'll get that straightened out."What did you think of the first team offense? "It was okay. We can do better. The first series was a three-and-out, which I'm not real big on, so we can do a better job with that."On the turnover, it looked like Eric Fisher got pushed back, does Alex Smith need to do a better job of protecting the ball?"Yeah, you have to secure the ball as a quarterback. It was a three step drop play, and you have to hold it forever, the quarterback has to hang onto it and go somewhere else."What did you see from Malcolm Bronson? "He had the big interception touchdown, which I thought was good. He's not the biggest guy, but he's smart, he understands the game. You got to see what we've been seeing in training camp. I kind of liked what we saw right there. I'll look at the tape and see the rest of it, that's what Bob (Sutton) and Emmitt (Thomas) will do – they'll look at it and evaluate. But that was a pretty good play right there."What did you think of the first team defense? "We knew coming in that they were going to call (penalties), and it's good for our defense – the corners – to see that, see what they can get away with, see what they can't. You get all that figured out in the preseason, they'll see the points of emphasis this year. They'll figure it out and we'll get it changed around."What about Sean Smith? "Sean Smith did a nice job. The pick-six was a beautiful play. He played physical. He had the one penalty, but he had a huge play and that's a good thing. He's been working his tail off."Is he working his way back to a starting role?"He's working his tail off."
Chiefs QB Alex Smith
How did it feel out there? "Not what we were looking for especially for first team offense. Good to be out there playing football, real, live football for me. It's the first opportunities as QBs. Even when we go live at this point in training camp, we're not really live. First real experience back into real bullets and getting hit."
Is it easy to just say its preseason, let's just move on? "No, I mean, no. You certainly are using it as a tool. This is certainly a teaching tool for everybody. No matter where you are on the depth chart. Certainly we'll look at this and we have a lot to improve on. Couldn't convert on the third and one, couldn't convert on the third and two. You put yourself in good situations and as an offense that's what you want to be. You have to be able to execute there."
What is your assessment of the offensive line, specifically Eric Fisher? "It's tough from my perspective, but he did just fine. For me when I was in there, I know it goes down as a sack-fumble, but really there's quite a bit I can do there to get rid of the ball. It's a quick game. Three-step drop, the balls got to come out. The linemen as well as the receivers all have a time clock. When it is a quick game, it does need to come out, or I need to get out of there. One or the other. So, put those guys in kind of a tough situation especially Eric tonight. Definitely can get better at that."
What about Zach Fulton? "Once again it's tough for me to say. I put that on me that there was that one sack-fumble. Other than that, protection was good all night. I thought we ran the ball well."
Did you guys go into this with scripted plays you were working on? "I mean we get openers he gives us, but yeah we get the list of what's going to go on during the game a couple of days ago as far as it does get cut down. This is what's out as far as the first game. Coach Reid does a great job with all the QBs kind of giving us a good feel of what you're going to get."
With new guys on the line, how long does it take for a QB to get comfortable? "To be honest, I don't give it any thought. You're going out there and playing. Everybody has to do their part, and I'm no different. I have enough on my plate. I think that kind of goes for every guy in the huddle. I think we are all focused on doing our job so that collectively we can execute. I'm trying to play quarterback the best I can. I'm not out there thinking about the offensive line. Certainly we have some new faces, we're young. You've got to trust them. You have to trust those guys that they're going to do their job. It's always going to be a little bit by committee. That's the nature of the game. Its sixteen weeks. You've got to have more than five guys that can play."
Does trust take awhile? "No, I think especially when it comes to offensive line, I think when you step into practice, you have to believe it. You can't play quarterback second guessing those guys up front at all. It would be a long day."
What did you see from Chase Daniel and Tyler Bray and then a little from Aaron there at the end? "I thought besides the two plays, the two turnovers, they both did really well. With three quarterbacks and two turnovers on the days isn't going to win games. Fortunately, we got two defensive scores and a special team's score. That was nice, but those two guys and really those two plays jump out at me. Chase had a good game otherwise and made some plays especially there at the end of the half. Tyler the same way."
What about Travis Kelce's big play at the end of the half. How big is that for him after all his adversity? "I think everybody was extremely happy for Travis. The guys' been through a lot. It's been a long time since he's seen some action, but everyone can verify, the guy never leaves the facility. This offseason, OTAs, training camp, he's been there rehabbing, putting in extensive hours trying to get healthy, and it was a good step to see him out there in preseason, especially to make a play like that and run away from those guys."
What about the weapon De'Anthony Thomas' speed brings? "He does it every day. Kind of only knows one speed. We all kind of joke about that. Even in walk-thru he's moving at 100 miles per hour. He's just the type of player that whenever he touches the ball, everyone's holding their breath a little bit because he's got potential. Certainly a compliment for him. I know I was screaming 'fair catch' on the sidelines. Then it was like 'oh okay'. Big play out of him there."
Chief Players
S MALCOLM BRONSON You almost had an interception in the first quarter. How nice was it to have a second chance?"I actually told E.B. (Eric Berry) when (I) came back in, I was going to get me one. Because I just felt it. They threw another one my way and I got it."What was going through your head as you ran towards the end zone?"I was just happy – I don't even know how to explain it – the feeling. I don't know. It was like a dream come true."Was it worth all of the pain and hours rehabbing last year? "It was big. I can't explain the feeling, it is something that is not explainable. You dream of that from a little kid growing up and to get out there and be able to do it is a blessing."
CB SEAN SMITHWhat happened to your receiver on that pick-six? Did he slip a little? "Yeah, I had tight coverage. He slipped a little bit and the ball was placed in a position where it was 50/50 for both of us, and I guess I wanted it more. It was a good play." Was it a great personal moment for you considering that you are not number one on the depth chart?"Depth charts and spots like that don't really mean that much at this point. When you are out there, you are out there. I have time to think about nothing else but executing the play. Whenever I have the opportunity to make a play on the ball, I just come up with it."What have the coaches told you about all of this?"No, I just go out there whenever I'm needed and try and execute and have fun with the guys out there."Did you start high-stepping a little too early? "No, I definitely looked inside and saw it was a lineman, so I wasn't worried about getting caught at that point."Did you expect to be back with the one's after practice? "I don't even think about that. Whenever my name is called, I just have to go out there and execute. I go out there and play hard and let the rest take care of itself."
What do you take out of this game tonight from the team and individually? "We definitely have some things to clean up. I feel like as a defense we played fast and physical out there, and we made some plays on the ball. There are a few minor details we can clean up on, that goes with every game regardless if you win or lose. I feel like we flew around the ball a lot."You've been practicing with the second team in training camp. Do you feel like your pick made a statement?"Not at all. Every time I step on the field I have the same mentality, it doesn't matter when or a position or depth chart thing or anything like that. Whenever I step onto that field I want to make plays and be the player that these coaches and my teammates know I can be. At the end of the day, that's all that matters."
WR ALBERT WILSONWhat was it like when you saw that opening on the kickoff return?"It was a great feeling. It was my guys up front continuing to block. Even though it is kind of hard to cut back and continue to block without holding, they did an excellent job out there and gave me a little ally and I took it."What can you take from this game and what do you have to do moving forward? "Just continue to watch film and be a student of the game. Just continue to be in my playbook. I feel like going to the game and knowing exactly what you are doing and who you are doing it against will perfect my game or bring it to the next level of where it's at. So if I continue to stay on pace, to build, keep learning as a younger receiver, I think I'll do pretty good."
What was it like being out there with that first-team offense?"Very exciting, it was very, very exciting. But just like practice, coming here to work, I feel like we did a pretty good job with the offense that we ran today. So it was pretty good."* *
LB JOE MAYSWhat can you guys take from this game back to camp?"Some things you need to work on. Tackles, we need to stop giving up the big plays, and we just need to be more consistent out there on the field. So it's a couple of things – minor things – but I think we will be able to accomplish that."Do you remember your first time in a preseason game like a lot of these younger guys today?"Yeah, I was nervous. I didn't know what to expect, especially coming from a small school, you hear about the speed of the game and all of that stuff. So I was nervous but at the same time, its football. This is what we've grown up to do, and we've been doing it for a long time. So I think I kind of got settled in pretty quick, and that is just a message I want to relay to the younger guys."Was that sack kind of like a splash of water in the face just to get you back in the flow?"It was really refreshing. It felt good but at the same time, there were some things that I could have done better out there – we could've done better out there – as a defense. So I'm thinking about the things we need to work on so we can be better next week."Where do you think we are communication and chemistry-wise?"I think we're good right now but we need to be better, there is no doubt about it. We can always get better in all phases of the game, but communication is going to be the most important."
Any individual players stand out tonight for you?"It's a few of them. I think Dee (Ford) came out and played pretty well. I think my linebacker group, I was more focused on them and seeing what they were doing. They came out and played pretty well. Number One, De'Anthony (Thomas), that guy is fast. So it shows what he's going to bring to the table for this team and we are definitely excited."* *
DL DONTARI POEWhat do you do when you leave the game as a starter? "You basically just try to watch the backups, and try to help them out as much as you can."Any advice for any of the backups? What did you see from them? "I think that they did pretty good. They just have to keep plugging at it, have to keep working hard and get better and better, just like pretty much every other player."There was a lot of excitement for this preseason game; it felt like more so than normal, did you get that sense?"Yes. That's how it is when you come to Arrowhead. It always gets bigger and better when you come out so that's always a positive thing."How do you think Dee Ford did in his first game? "I think he did well. Like I said, I was watching my position mostly, but I did see him a couple times get off the ball and use his speed and use his hands, so I think he did pretty well."
LB DEE FORDHow did it feel to get a game under your belt tonight? "It felt good; I was introduced to the NFL. It was a great atmosphere, not the complete atmosphere that I will see in the regular season but it was an awesome atmosphere."What did you learn tonight? Anything different, anything unexpected? "Nothing unexpected. It's football. I was blessed enough to play on a very big stage at Auburn. This is like a college town in itself, it's just the NFL. There was great energy, great fans, and we're brothers on this team. It's kind of been like college to me."De'Anthony Thomas made a heck of a play tonight, can you talk about what he is capable of? "He's capable of that. I'm glad I was able to help him on the touchdown block with the punter on that play. That's what he's going to do; he's definitely a big play, impact player."How do you make sure you maintain that high peak level of performance in a preseason game?"You take it play by play. You don't really think about it. You're playing a game, and I take it serious. I'm trying to win every play. That's how I take it, that's how I took it at critical times. Really, when it comes down to critical times in the game, you're not thinking about the moment; you're thinking about the play, it's the next play. That's why I've been able to capitalize in key moments and pivotal times in college. I was thinking just how I'm thinking now; it's the next play."
TE TRAVIS KELCETake us through that touchdown pass:"There was two minutes left so you knew the pass was coming, so it was a great play call. We got them in a situation where they had the mismatch on me, and I just kind of snuck right through the middle of the field."What did it feel like after having to sit out a year and then you get a play like that in the first game where you're able to showcase your speed and take it all the way to the house?"It was fun, but at the same time, this is still a practice. I'm itching to get out there for the regular season to show what I got then, but at the same time, all the credit goes to Rick (Burkholder) and (David) Glover and the whole training staff here at KC. They're the ones who got me ready and I stayed here the entire year working my tail off just for these moments right now."How tough was it for you to watch your team have success without you last year? "It was the worst, literally. Just knowing that I finally made it to where I wanted to be in life and still not be able to get out there, it hurt pretty bad but last year is last year and I'm focused on this year."
