Highlights

TODD HALEY: “As I said after the game and [viewing] the tape kind of backed it up, it was pretty obvious what went wrong for us yesterday as a team. You cannot turn the ball over four times against a team like the Chargers – really any team – and have those turnovers convert into 28 points and expect to have a real opportunity to win the game or be in the game. That’s what happened.

“I thought that we started the game the way we visualized starting it. The defense got a couple of three-and-outs in a row and offensively we weren’t able to convert early but still had some positive results. The interception changed field position for us. We were able to fight back from 7-0 and we went 91 yards [and scored] which is very positive against a good defense and tied the game up. Got the ball back on our own 15 or 16 after another score by them and were moving the ball very well and turned it over on their end of the field. That really got things going in the negative direction.

“It was a disappointment due to the fact that we were coming off a very big win and was another great opportunity to take another baby step. It’s hard to be a consistently good team in this league and it’s difficult to bring an A-game every week especially on a Thanksgiving Week with those distractions. We really didn’t handle that as well as we had to.

“I think positive-wise, Jamaal Charles without a doubt is showing he’s got a chance to be a good back in this league, the fumble notwithstanding. There’s a real bright spot for us in Jamaal, both as a returner and as runner and receiver, as evidenced yesterday on the deep ball versus a good corner like Jammer.

“I think third down at one point counting the penalty conversion we were four-of-six which would have really been good to build on, but unfortunately we didn’t quite keep it up through that final quarter. The other aspect was we had one drive with five or six plays with no third downs. That means we’re being more productive on first down, more productive on second down and staying out of third down.

“Defensively, the big play was a killer for us again. Kind of been doing a good job the last two weeks in eliminating those and yesterday, for the most part, we did that with the exception of the big play down to the one-yard line [on the 53-yard pass by San Diego.]

“Overall, that’s a good team we played. We turned it over four times and that’s usually going to lead to the result we saw. The players will have a chance to show a little bit of resolve coming off that game. I felt nothing but fight from these guys in and after the game and that’s a good sign.”

Q: You seem to have stopped the big play but the middle of the field 15-25 yards is the one that’s hurting you. Is it possible that you have to take the lesser of two evils?

HALEY: “I think the number one thing is we cannot allow big plays – we will get beat if we let 50 yard, 60 yard touchdown plays like we did early in the year. The big play I’m referring to is the three-play drive [vs. Chargers]. We cannot have that happen. We can survive the intermediate throws – we showed that in the Pittsburgh game. So, if you got to stop one, we can’t allow big plays.

“The intermediate chunk plays are something that takes all 11 guys. It’s not strictly the safeties, strictly the linebackers; it’s not strictly the guys up front because there are a lot of different things that go into preventing those plays. On each and every one of those it was pretty clear to me in watching the tape that they were preventable with better technique, better understanding of what was going on.”

Q: Charlie Weis was fired today. Do you have any interest in talking to him about coming in as offensive coordinator?

HALEY: “I just heard that before I came down. My focus right now is 100% on trying to get ready for the Denver Broncos and bounce back from a very disappointing game yesterday.

“As I said last week, at the end of the year I will do anything and everything to evaluate areas of this team and coaching staff to get better. I would say that’s more a question for when the season is over.”

Q: Are you enjoying calling the plays or now that you are a head coach is it something you wouldn’t mind giving up?

HALEY: “I think I’ve stated it’s fun calling plays. I’ve also said early on that my job is to be the head coach of the team and if and when that’s possible it is in my opinion that is the best way to run the operation.”

Q: What is: to call the plays and be the head coach?

HALEY: “No, to be the head coach.”

Q: Could you give your offense over to someone else and not interfere on game day?

HALEY: “This is just from experience, but if you can have that situation it’s the ideal situation. That’s hypothetical but it’s the way I believe you can be most efficient, if you have the right people in place, of course.”

Q: Would your personality and beliefs allow you to do that? You tried that once.

HALEY: “We’ve already been through the early part of the year and the reasons why I did the things I did. It was still the right thing to have done at the time for this team and for this offense. I think at the end of the year it will be the time to evaluate and figure out the direction that gives us the best chance to win.”

Q: Can you foresee a time of your tenure in Kansas City where you’re the head coach and are not calling plays?

HALEY: “Oh, again, I’ve said I believe in my heart of hearts that’s the way to be the most efficient. In this case this is the way to be the most efficient right now. So, again, if you get the right situation I don’t have any problem knowing I could handle it. It’s been done many different ways and successfully. That’s through experience and the staffs that I’ve been on: that’s having a defensive coordinator and an offensive coordinator.”

Q: There was a report in the South Bend [IN] paper that the Chiefs had contacted Charlie Weis last week. Did you contact Charlie Weis last week?

HALEY: “No, I’ve had no contact with anybody.”

Q: Did the Chiefs organization?

HALEY: “No. The focus in this building is putting this team in the best possible position to succeed each day and each week. That is where the focus is.

“As far as staff goes, that would be something that would be a decision that I would have to make.”

Q: But it’s your call on who the offensive coordinator is?

HALEY: “Yeah, as was the staff we had in place this year.”

Q: So your comment is nobody here would have contacted Charlie Weis without you knowing it?

HALEY: “I can say with a clear conscience that there’s been no contact.”

Q: While you are focusing on the short term, other people are focusing on the long term. Isn’t part of the job getting the team prepared to win doing those other things in 2010 and 2011 that the head coach can’t focus on? Isn’t there somebody else in the organization that has to be looking to next year when you can only be looking to this week?

HALEY: “Well, we’re very big-picture minded but again, we’re very singularly-minded right now and I’m speaking for myself. We’re trying to find a way to bounce back from a very disappointing day yesterday. That’s really where the focus is.

“The staff is a whole other situation that will, as I said, be evaluated along with everything else that we did this year from the things that I control when the time comes.”

Q: How do you balance out what you know with adding other staff with fresher ideas? It could be coaches you’ve worked with – Scott [Pioli] would know him Charlie Weis.

HALEY: “I shared an 8X8 office with Charlie for three years in New York, by the way. I know Charlie about as up-close-and-personal as you can know him. That’s the job whether it’s players or coaches and you see it throughout the league. There are working relationships, previous knowledge, players you know and players you don’t know. You’ve got to make that decision with anybody you bring in. Sometime familiarity is more important than a talent edge. That’s the balancing act you do all the time.

“It’s like Leonard Pope. I’ve known Leonard Pope for two years and I’ve known him pretty well. When there is an opportunity or a need that just gives you one more edge. But you’ve got to evaluate all areas.”

Q: How much prior knowledge did you share with the Arizona’s head coach before you went to Arizona to work for him?

HALEY: “They moved the walls, so Kenny and I actually shared that same office that Charlie and I shared. It was a little bigger with Kenny.”

Q: Derrick Johnson seems to be playing more. Where does he stand with you right now?

HALEY: “Derrick is a work in progress much like the majority of the players on this team – really I can say the majority without a doubt. It’s a work in progress and everything we do is based on who gives us the best chance to win. If somebody is doing a very good job in practice then they get an opportunity.

“Quinten Lawrence is an example. Quinten is a guy we cut and put on the practice squad early in the year after he had played in a game or two. He really wasn’t quite ready it appeared. But over the course, over practice time it was clear to me and the coaching staff that Quinten was improving and making big strides to the point that when we had an opportunity to bring him up on the active roster we went ahead and did it.

“It’s no different than that on a little smaller scale. If a guy is doing it right and doing it the right way we’re coaching it we’re going to give him more opportunity to play.”

Q: How much of a setback was the loss yesterday?

HALEY: “I think that remains to be seen. I think now it’ll be how we respond to that. You’re going to lose games, especially us early on as we’re fighting our way to find a way to be consistent. It’s hard to be consistent every week. We had back-to-back wins, one against a division opponent and one against the defending Super Bowl champions and had a chance to play the Chargers and didn’t get the job done, not nearly close enough.

“There were a bunch of positives but the score told the story. I won’t say it’s a step back until we see how we respond this week. We’ve got the Denver Broncos coming in and if we can get back on track and win this game I won’t feel like it was a step back.”

Q: How much time do you devote – if any – to determining defensive personnel in games and game planning?

HALEY: “Unlimited. Much to the chagrin of my staff, we have a staff meeting every evening and it always ends with a talk about personnel. That’s Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday afternoon that we discuss just that. Sometimes it’s an hour meeting and sometimes it’s a 15 minute meeting, but it’s always discussed and that’s a special teams question also and injuries. It’s six days a week and sometimes it’s a morning discussion going right down to the wire.”

Q: How much are you involved during games?

HALEY: “Directly involved. None of that has changed. I think that’s the head coach’s job, at least what I believe, to make sure the right guys are out there and playing. That’s with a great amount of input from the guys who are coaching them directly.”

Q: Would you say you were conservative yesterday on defense?

HALEY: “I don’t know if conservative is necessarily the word. We had a plan for the way we felt we had to play. Did we execute the plan? No. I don’t know if conservative has negative connotations or not. I think we tried to play the game the way we thought gave us a chance to win.

“The Steelers game, for instance, I would say in the first half we leaned towards the conservative side. I think the more around here we can keep games from getting out of hand like they did yesterday – the four turnovers – and go into the final 30 minutes of a game like Pittsburgh we clearly have a chance to win. I wouldn’t say the word is conservative. We had a plan for the game we had to play. If the offense doesn’t turn the ball over I would like to have seen the result.”

Q: The pressure on the quarterback wasn’t there yesterday. It was early and then it disappeared completely.

HALEY: “Yeah, I agree. We have to put pressure on the quarterback and it’s a fine line. When you pressure you put people in a position of disadvantage and teams can make decisions versus you whether they want to block up protections and run two or three man routes or get everybody out. Again, I think that we’ve got to create pressure. I don’t think that answer is always blitz or bringing five or six guys. There are other ways to create pressure.”

Q: What’s the common denominator to Jamaal’s fumbles?

HALEY: “I don’t want to go back with Jamaal because Jamaal has done nothing but improve since I’ve been here. He’s a guy that I’m excited about and [assistant head coach and running backs coach] Mo Carthon is an excellent fundamentals coach and is teaching him the proper way to do things.

“If anything yesterday, it was Jamaal’s desire to make something more out of that run which early in the game he did. He fought and probably stood up longer than he should have on the first play of the game. But it was his desire to get a five-yard gain on the play just like it was there. There is just a fine line when to say when. There were a few defenders holding him up and we’ve got to get more guys around him protecting him and not allowing those two or three guys to come in and take shots at him.

“I know fundamentally he’s being taught the way to handle the football. I think the one yesterday was more a matter of trying to get a little too much. It’s experience and feel and that’s why I don’t want to go back and talk about college and Jamaal because I go by what I see. Here’s a kid we put through a little adversity early and sat him and he’s fought and pushed and everybody is getting a little excited about him. I’m not going to let that take away from the improvement he’s made and the upside I’ve seen.”

Q: Does the nature of the turnover make you feel any better or worse or change your evaluation?

HALEY: “No, the turnover is a turnover. We can’t turn the football over and we’ve done a very good job of that. Up until yesterday we had had 23 points scored against us on turnovers and that’s pretty good and up there. We were turning it over fewer than about four or five teams. Yesterday I want to believe was not the norm.”

Q: You seemed to move the ball this time against San Diego better than the first time you played them.

HALEY: “I think that’s critical for this team to understand. We can’t let the result of that game drag us down. I think there are positives to be found and one of those is offensively. I think we ran the ball really efficiently in that game and had it not been the score that it was I’ve got to believe that it would have been a pretty impressive running game. We stayed out of third downs. Again, on the fumble [by Charles] we started on the 16 and ran six or seven plays without a third down.”