Q&A with HERM EDWARDS - 8/3

Aug 04, 2007, 8:49:44 AM

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Chiefs/Vikings, Mankato, MN

Q: How was it coach?

HERM EDWARDS: ”[Vikings head coach] Brad [Childress] and myself were nervous at the end [of the scrimmage] and that it went from 16 plays, to 14 plays and eventually got to six.

“I thought that the tempo of both practices was very, very good. I thought the players handled themselves very well. There was shoving but we got something accomplished. Looks like we came out of it pretty good [injury-wise].

“Now the whole deal will be how they get on the bus tomorrow and do this tomorrow night. I think our fans will enjoy it. The Vikings haven’t been up there for a couple of years. It was good work for everybody.”

Q: You get a feel for any progress?

EDWARDS: “You kind of see glimpses of things. When we look at the film when we get back tonight….I’m going to look at it tonight. I’m going to look at it while it’s still fresh in my mind.”

Q: Do you get more from the individual stuff or from the full squad?

EDWARDS: “The full squad because that’s football. What I’m looking for individually as well as full squad is really the technique and fundamentals we’ve been working on for the last couple of months – that they continue to use those.”

Q: Your offensive line is a question mark so when you saw them out here what did you see?

Q: What I saw was our offensive line did OK. Now, they’re playing very vanilla and we’re playing very vanilla. But I thought we got off the ball fairly well, thought we ran the ball and protected the quarterback pretty well. Thought the quarterback made some good throws. Obviously, Damon [Huard] will go with the first group tomorrow after Brodie went today and the evaluation process continues.”

Q: Rod Gardner has been a forgotten receiver but he’s continued to make some nice catches through camp.

EDWARDS: “He does and his first couple of years in the league he was a very, very good receiver. I’m hoping he continues to do that and really challenges. I thought our receivers made some good catches today. I thought they made some on the other field, too, today. We’ll look at it all.”

Q: What are you doing hanging out with the offense? [laughing]

EDWARDS: “You’d be surprised. I kind of got that from Tony [Dungy]. Tony used to hang out with the offense and I’ve always done that with the coach. I’m always on the offensive side of it when we do stuff like this even in practice. When you watch me in practice I’m always on the offensive side of it.”

Q: So it wasn’t a certain quarterback you wanted to see?

EDWARDS: “No, I’ve done that my whole career as a head coach. I know enough about defense that it doesn’t take me long to kind of look over there and see what those guys are trying to do.”

Q: You say vanilla and [defensive coordinator] Gunther Cunningham is running two linebacker blitzes and a cornerback blitz.

EDWARDS: “That’s vanilla for us. We basically played Cover Two [defense], a three-deep rotation, and we had a strong blitz and basically that was it. They did the same. That’s vanilla for us.”

Q: What are you trying to accomplish here?

EDWARDS: “Just to see how we were going to function against another team. I think this year was a lot cleaner than last year. I thought last year we were real hesitant. I thought this year we got into practice early and it made it flow. I thought the Vikings did too and there was a good flow. We’ve done this now and it’s really a carry-over this year and I thought it was a good physical practice with good tempo.”

Q: How much did the physical play scare you as a coach?

EDWARDS: “That’s what this game is about. It’s about hitting and tackling and being physical. We want to be a physical football team. I think we have the physical players and it starts up front with your offensive and defensive lines.”

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