Q&A with G WILL SHIELDS - 10/4

Oct 04, 2006, 4:21:43 PM

Q: It looks like the Chiefs got on track last week?

SHIELDS: “I don’t know about on track, but we played a little better last week and that’s a good thing.”

Q: Talk about the play of the offensive line?

SHIELDS: “I think we’re getting guys playing better, we’ve been moving guys around so much that it has been difficult for people to get settled in their own position. Fortunately we had a good week of practice where we had guys settled to where they were and they played better this week, all of us as a group.”

Q: Talk about those changes on the offensive line?

SHIELDS: “I think anytime you have big changes at both tackles and young tackles filling in who are getting better every week, it’s always difficult to go from having guys that have been around and in the league for a long time. Especially with T Willie Roaf and T John Welbourn coming in and playing as well as they did at the end of the season last year. But we’ve got guys here who I think can do a good job and get the job done. They play hard and they work hard every day and each day I think we are all getting a little better.”

Q: What has the adjustment been like to QB Damon Huard?

SHIELDS: “There is always that period of getting used to a new guy in the huddle and different things. They all have different rhythms and different things that they do. I think for us, we were spoiled in having one quarterback in the huddle for so long. QB Damon Huard has come in and done a good job. Actually, he’s excited and he’s getting better every day and feeling more and more comfortable.”

Q: What problems do their various packages on defense cause?

SHIELDS: “It causes a lot of problems in the simple fact that you’ve got to figure out where they are going to come from and what they are going to do. I think that’s why they do it; they do a good job of mixing things up and doing it different. They are a very good defense, very talented and they hustle a lot and they’ve got a lot of young guys who can run around and make plays. There are a lot of things for us to prepare for this week.”

Q: Is it realistic to think RB Larry Johnson could have a 2,000-yard season?

SHIELDS: “I think it is tough for anybody to have 2,000 yards in a season. I think it would have been a good thing to have everybody in tact for us to make that run, but I think RB Larry Johnson can do what he can do if we get everybody in the right situations and in the right places. That’s our job and for us any goal is not too lofty. It’s only too lofty if you can’t reach it. Right now we are early in the season and there are a lot of different things that we are going to try and get better at each week so that we can get, maybe not 2,000 yards, but just to the next game so we can try and get a win.”

Q: Do teams normally try to bring extra pressure when a new QB is in the lineup?

SHIELDS: “That’s usually the way it works, you have a quarterback and your starter goes down and you have your backup. They always want to test you first, they want to test and see if he can handle the pressure. You try to take that one element away that has been consistent for the team and make that one element that you haven’t seen before prove that they can do it over and over again. That’s just good game planning, that’s what any team would do.”

Q: How do you react when a defense blitzes with more people than you have offensive linemen to block?

SHIELDS: “The one thing about it is that we have a good enough back we feel that if we can put him on one guy, try and get him to that one person and see if he can beat him one-on-one. Sometimes that happens, sometimes that doesn’t. It makes it difficult because they’re always trying to figure out which guy to leave and which guy to stay on to try and make it go and with that extra person.”

Q: Can you carry over last week’s performance at home with new people over to the road?

SHIELDS: “You would hope so. The difference is it’s hard to communicate with each other. I think you can always plug in different guys if you have good communication and help them through those times that may be up or down. The only thing you can’t have pick-up or drop-off is athletic ability, which some of us that are getting older can always diminish or the younger guys trying to build theirs up. So there is always that in-between feeling of trying to get everybody on the same page.”