SEP 10 (afternoon)--"Good afternoon. As you know, the Miracle of Cleveland is behind us and we're deep in preparation for our home opener against Jacksonville. From a physical standpoint we're concerned about having (DE) Eric Hicks, although he is a little better today. But he's still questionable. We had a good medical report on (DT) Eric Downing that he can pick up his work a little bit. He is going to feel sore but he doesn't have to concern himself with injuring himself further. So, that's a good sign. But he's still very questionable. That has been all morning and all day yesterday my biggest concern with regard to the defensive line. You can only have so many active and so many on the roster and when your best defensive lineman and your young defensive tackle aren't available then what do you do and where do you go? That's been a real time occupier yesterday and all morning.

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Video - September 10, 2002 - (29:32)
Head coach Dick Vermeil's weekly press conference: - Broadband (Real Player required)

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"Other than that, we have no problems other than our defense has to play better. We've discussed that and rehashed it and I think we know where we are there. Both athletes and coaches have to improve what they're doing in that phase of the game or it will be a long year. I'm optimistic in regard to what they can do. First, I've seen them play better both last year and flashes of it this year. But when you play a team that consists of Jimmy Smith and wide receiver, Kyle Brady at a tight end position, and Freddy Taylor at the running back spot you have some concerns. An old (QB Mark) Brunell ain't too bad. So, we have our concerns just like we do every week. Hopefully, we can address them at least as well as we did last year. We'd like to think we can address the problems they can confront us with as well as we did last year. If we do then we have a chance. If we don't then we don't have a chance.

"Offensively, we're well deep into our game plan. They're a young defensive team. The one thing you know about a Tom Coughlin coached football team: they're going to be fundamentally sound and they're going to be tough and they're going to hit you. I felt like last year after the 16 game schedule was all done that the Jacksonville group hit collectively more consistently on every snap than anybody we played. I think that's a reflection of Tom Coughlin and I think it's a reflection of their coaching staff. I have watched Tom Coughlin coach physically on the field a number of times myself so I know why they are that way. They take no prisoners on the practice field. They go to work with pads on and get after it. It doesn't matter where it is they get after it and they develop a very fine physical toughness.

"I think we'll play better on defense. I don't anticipate being able to score as many points this week. It's hard to do every week in the National Football League but I anticipate us playing well. I think our special teams will continue to grow and there's a chance we'll have (LB) Larry Atkins available this week and he will make a positive contribution to our teams as well as to our defense in role playing.

"I think our punter can be a little better than he was on a consistent basis last week because I've seen him do it so many times and I've watched him do it every day on the practice field. I think our other phases of special teams will be better. I'm pleased with our field goal kicker. We've got to be more consistent with our kickoffs. That's been a concern but I was pleased to see the one kick going into the end zone. It shows the pop is there hitting it right and in rhythm and not over-kicking.

"I'd like to get our punt return team going a little bit better.

"(Jacksonville) played a real good game against Indianapolis last week. Indianapolis is a real good offensive team and has been. They have the same offensive coaches they had with Jim Mora, same personnel they had with Jim Mora basically. They were one of the best offenses in football last year.

"(Jacksonville) hs a first round pick in Henderson and he's a big, aggressive guy who we would have probably drafted if we were not able to get Sims. We were going in that direction and he's a good football player. I like what I see in his performance. I won't like it Sunday, but I like just watching him play. Their defensive end Brackens, we know what he can do.

"So, our problems are defined. Our solutions are based on our coaches doing a better job and our players doing a better job and matching what we think their talents are. Sometimes you can handle one corner in the game having a little off-day but it's hard to match it when both of them are off just a little bit. But I'd like to believe you get better through making mistakes and if your fortunate you can make mistakes and still win. Hopefully, they'll go to another level in performance because I've seen them both play pretty good."

SOREN PETRO, KMBZ-AM: You only had one sack in the game and the QB had a lot of time to throw the ball. What do you do to try to change that up?

VERMEIL: "First off, (DE) Duane Clemons was there but didn't get him on the ground. So, when he's there he's got to be there. Losing (DE) Eric Hicks hurt because he's the other side of that pass rush. He was a factor early when he was in there. The other factor was they were doing a lot on early downs with play-action and all. Remember on third down they were 0-7 the first half. That's about as good as you can be on third down. And, the only way they converted on third downs was on penalties committed by our defense which kept scoring drives going.

"But regardless your pass rush is never as good as you want it to be. We didn't get as much out of our blitz package as we had hoped. They handled it well and kept a lot of people in. But we did get more pressure on them than it appeared. But they handled it well and we missed him a couple of times. Hopefully, Duane won't miss many. Maybe we'll have Eric back too.

"But each individual game is a little bit different. How you approach it, how you rush it, is all dependent on the quarterback. You wouldn't rush Brunell the same way you would rush Cleveland. We were very effective in sacking him last year; we got after him pretty good last year. Now, whether we can do it this year I don't know."

PETRO: You don't see getting after the QB a crisis?

VERMEIL: "Oh yeah. Getting after the quarterback is always a crisis. It is always a crisis. Until we get 100% healthy in that defensive line and everybody 100% physically in condition we're not going to be where we want to be. That's just patience and time.

"(DT) John Browning was a factor. He was a physical factor that they're going to have to contend with. Sometimes it's a little easier to contend with one guy than it is two. When we get everything else inside fixed I think we can be more effective with an inside rush."

IVAN CARTER, Kansas City Star: When a game like that is going on that's a shoot-out, what kind of conversation do you have with your defensive coordinator? Do you talk to him during the game?

VERMEIL: "No, I really try to stay away from him. I go to players individually and collectively as a group and look into their eyes and analyze what's on their mind. Like toward the end of the third quarter I really felt the game was coming our way and I think they felt that way, so it was very important for me to keep reinforcing that so that in their mind they can't wait to get back out on the field. I know offensively you could just sense, 'hey, just get us back on the field.'

"Defensively, we shut down the running game pretty good. You would have thought that maybe they would have tried to control the clock. To their good decision making process and good coaching they didn't try to control the clock. They kept throwing the ball and going down field and doing a good job. They won that battle. Hopefully, we can do a better job this week. But we're just not ignoring it."

BOB FESCO, KMBZ-AM: What are you going to do on defense this week?

VERMEIL: "You know something? If I really knew - right now they're in the process of game planning - I wouldn't tell anyway. I don't know what's going to ESPN or going back to Jacksonville. There aren't any secrets. I'm not as paranoid about somebody watching practice and all that stuff. I can remember as a young coach and friends of mine are coaching at a higher level sent me over to watch a practice at a junior college and I'd come back and tell them almost nothing that was useful. I can remember my high school team being spied upon. We'd catch the guy and told him to stand behind the offense and watch the rest of practice. I'm not hung up on that kind of stuff. I worked for George Allen and he was paranoid about that kind of stuff. But obviously you don't get into glaring details of your game plan through the media. We'd like to believe some of what we did last year was pretty good because we won the football game. But we'll do some things different because their scheme has changed just a little bit."

RICK DEAN, Topeka Capital-Journal: Did you just announce that practice was going to be open this week?

VERMEIL: "No."

CARTER: Where is a guy like (CB) William Bartee mentally at right now? Is he strong enough? Is he all right? That was shell-shocking the other day.

VERMEIL: "I don't know how many times all-pro corners have given up touchdown passes, but they all do. The younger they are the more they do. But, to me, you've got to remain confident that your decisions and your coaching staff were right that this guy can do it. I believe he can. I believe he can be a very fine corner in time. I think he'll be good enough to win with now as I do Eric Warfield. We just have to make sure we eliminate the fundamental breakdowns like peeking into the backfield, wanting to see what the quarterback's doing and in your man-to-man coverage. Look away and he breaks, boom. You turn around and he's gone.

"All these little things are all coachable, but they're sometimes not easy to discipline. Sometimes the best way to discipline is to make the mistake when it counts and it sends a tremendous message to you that what the coaches have been saying all along. It works. Later on as they get more experience they'll know when they can and when they can't peek just by the action and the formation.

"Those two corners are physically a better pair than I've been around as a head coach. Physically they're a better pair. How long it will take them to match that performance with their athleticism I don't know. How many negative experiences, how many good experiences. But I know this: the number one thing I've got to do is show confidence in them. As soon as self doubt enters into a corner's mind - it's like a field goal kicker - you can't let them play. They're completing everything they want to throw. It's a complex situation but I think they're both strong enough.

"For example, Eric didn't have a very good game at Seattle and he knew it. His mind wasn't right. The next week he plays the most explosive offensive team in football in the Rams and he competed and played great receivers one-on-one and played them well. So, I know he can do it. He took his eyes off on a reverse. I've seen that same type of play scored in the Super Bowl: Dallas Cowboys against Denver. Anyway, sometimes you get burned on it but usually you can get burnt once you don't get burnt twice."

JASON LAMB, WDAF-TV: Will you say anything different to the team tomorrow in reference to the events of a year ago, September 11?

VERMEIL: "Definitely, definitely. We have a very significant item that we're going to highlight in our locker room and with our football team. We have a small Kansas City Chiefs carved football, gold and red football that's going to be in a little trophy case. From what I understand it may have been on the 115th floor of Tower One that was found as they went through the debris on a treadmill. A sergeant in the New York Police Department took it off and thought for a day or two and said, 'the Kansas City Chiefs might like to know that somebody in that building was a Chiefs fan.' We've gone so far as to find out that that person might be identified as the Kansas City Chiefs fan on the 115th floor. So, this is going to be a symbol for our football team the whole year."

Editor's note: Please see "Related Links: Trade Center Football" at the bottom of the page

DOUG TUCKER, Associated Press: Of which tower?

BOB MOORE, Chiefs Public Relations: "Tower One, maybe, if this is the same individual."

DEAN: Has anybody identified the possible victim yet?

MOORE: "The gentleman who (called) is going to check. He thinks he knows who it is and believes he's seen the football because he worked at the building. It's speculation at this point. We believe the fellow might be alive or may be a victim."

VERMEIL: "Anyway, that's going to be highlighted in our locker room as a symbol. Stay in the locker room."

DEAN: Back to your cornerbacks, as you watch what they're doing on film do you see more assignment breakdowns or more fundamental breakdowns?

VERMEIL: "Fundamental breakdowns and in the discipline of the fundamental technique."

DEAN: Which are easier to correct?

VERMEIL: "Well, I'd say the fundamental breakdowns are easier to correct. If they don't have the physical ability when you're asking them to execute fundamentals that they can do, then you're in trouble because you just can't change that. But if they have the physical attributes to play a position and they just have to play it more and correct the little mistakes that they've made, I think that's easier to identify. It just takes time and you just have to patient with them. That's why there aren't many corners who just jump into the National Football League."

CARTER: Are you pleased with the way the entire offense was utilized the other day in terms of the game plan?

VERMEIL: "Well, I really was. I was very pleased with the job that Al Saunders did calling the game and even more so with putting the game plan together. The entire staff with (offensive line coach) Mike Solari overseeing the running game. But all of them working cohesively together. They did a real good job and put in a lot of hours as they always do, just like everybody does. When it works as efficiently as it appeared to work - especially as we got going, even in the first half we had 280 something yards of offense - you feel good about it. We just had to get back on the field. I felt very good about the progress we made as an offensive staff working together for a year within the scheme. I felt very good about the fact that last year only one team went into the stadium and scored more than 16 points and that was Tennessee. The average points given up in that stadium was 14. Does that mean we're slated to go to the playoffs? No. It just means in that one game that we played we did some good things and more successfully than other teams a year ago against that same defensive team."

CARTER: What kind of sign is it when (WR) Johnnie Morton has almost no impact on the game and you still put up 40 points? Does that show the depth of your offense?

VERMEIL: "Well, yes and we're not one dimensional. There's more to come and he may catch eight or nine balls and we may not score 40 points. Everything has to work and remember the defense took the ball away one time and we got it down inside the Red Zone and scored. To our credit, the only reason we won that football game was when we turned the ball over on the 15-yard line the defense did not give them a touchdown.

"The very first time our defense stepped on the field this year in an NFL game was inside our own Red Zone. They did a good job and held them to three points. If they score there our last play of the game doesn't make a darn bit of difference. So, we did some things right.

"We had five bad snaps in that ballgame. So far, that's been our history. Four or five bad snaps out of 65 snaps. We've got to solve those four or five bad snaps."

UNIDENTIFIED, WHB-AM: How do you evaluate (DT) Ryan Sims' play?

VERMEIL: "Better than anticipated."

TUCKER: How many snaps did he get?

VERMEIL: "28. We had programmed him to play 15 to 16. When (DE) Eric Hicks got hurt then we had to play (DT) Derrick Ransom outside as well, so then we had to increase the reps of Ryan Sims inside. So, in a way it was good because he had to go in there and play. He did some very good things and caught the attention of our defensive staff and I think our defensive players. I think they know why we drafted him number one. They saw glimpses of why we gave up a third to move up to make sure we got him."

TUCKER: He'll play more this week?

VERMEIL: "Maybe we won't have a choice. We worked him out yesterday. We worked him out with the normal workout and another workout. He's working out twice today. He's getting extra duty."

TUCKER: Might he start this week?

VERMEIL: "Possible, possible he could start. But right now I would say not probable."

AL WALLACE, WDAF-TV: Would (DE) Rich Owens go on the outside if Hicks is out?

VERMEIL: "Probably Rich and Rich played pretty good. I'd rather see Rich on the other side than the left side, but he did a pretty good job. And Derrick Ransom for not working there. We also could work John Browning outside if we were forced to. Right now, I spent literally last night late and most of the morning trying to resolve the problem I can't resolve and that's the defensive line situation in terms of the injury thing. Until I could get the medical report this morning....you see I can't or we can't as an organization improve the defensive tackle position without letting somebody else go. They won't let us have 54 players on our roster Sunday, so to bring in another defensive lineman who would be healthy to play or bring somebody off the practice squad who would be healthy to play we're going to have to let somebody go and create room on the roster. There have been some very heated discussions who that person would be if that had to take place."

STEVEN ST. JOHN, WHB-AM: How do you think your linebackers played?

VERMEIL: "When you stop the run like we did: 20 rushes, 60 yards, 3.0, their number one pick 2 yards a carry, pretty good. The kind of attack limits your linebackers in coverage. I think we only had one real breakdown in terms of responsibility in coverage. We had some guys not getting the depth we would like them to get because of play-action. We were committed to stop the run and we did that. What we did not get stopped was the one-on-one stuff and play-action helped get them behind the linebackers."

DAN CLINKSCALE, WHB-AM: I know you break the year into quarters. Try to explain the difference between winning and losing and what that game meant?

VERMEIL: "I try to be very realistic. I'm optimistic; I'm not pessimistic. To me the glass is always half-full. It's so much easier to come back and go back to work being able to make some vivid points about things you sell in your program, about how you work, what the off-season's about, what training camp's about, what your practices are all about, and how they do pay off in ball games, or how they might pay off. Sometimes your concepts are tested on game day. Some of our concepts were tested on game day, some of our coverage problems were tested and we failed. But our overall work ethic and philosophy of staying on the field and allowing reps on the field to build stamina and leave the field on Thursday exhausted and drained thinking my legs are dead and I can't play on Sunday and, all of a sudden, you line up on Sunday and your fresh and ready to go. When you've got to call on it in the heat in the fourth quarter or wherever it may be, it's there. I think our young guys grew confidence in their stamina. They felt good in the heat. At least that's the impression I got from it.

"So, you come out of that win saying, 'see, what we're doing is right. We've just keep doing everything we're doing better through all four quarters.' But how we prepare and how we coach and the philosophy of the program has a foundation to it. First off, it's worked before."

PETRO: After the Miracle of the Meadowlands how did your Eagles team respond that next week?

VERMEIL: "Well, we went on to make the playoffs that year for the first time in years. Otherwise, we would have been 8-8. All of a sudden, we're 9-7. It made a difference. You never know what your first win of the season or first loss of the season is gonna do until the season is over. All of a sudden you're 8-8 or 9-7 because you won the opener or lost the opener. I think last year, seven of the 12 teams in the playoffs won the opener. Only one of the teams in the playoffs in the last few years has a losing quarter in any phase of the season - meaning losing more games than they won in a four-game series. Only the Patriots were 1-3. But that is very, very unlike a playoff team."

PETRO: In Philadelphia, did you win the next week?

VERMEIL: "You know, I don't remember. I can't even tell you who he played. I think we did the next week. But that probably has nothing to do with how we'll do. But all I know is that when you come back to work after winning you feel better about everything you do regardless. Believe me, they know that Santa Claus came early. They know what they did wrong. But they also know if we hadn't scored 37 points prior to the last play of the game, the last play of the game would have made no difference. They also know how tough it is to score 37 points in an NFL football game especially on the road in the opener and against a team that did not allow other teams to do that last year. We also know how tough it is for a defensive team to go on the field the first series of the season on the road and start on their own 15-yard line. We don't hide the truth from these guys in any way. Sometimes they don't like the truth, but they know the truth."

CARTER: Did you see New England last night versus Pittsburgh?

VERMEIL: "I didn't see it. I was here and turned it on at the very end of the game and it was 30-7 and I said, 'oh, holy (inaudible).' We played Pittsburgh last year so I know how they are. To me that is an extremely well coached football team. I have nothing but respect for them. I have used the New England Patriots as a glaring example of what people can do if they do things right, the right things right. Everyone does things right, it's the right things right. Make the right decisions in personnel, make the right decisions in how you prepare, make the right decisions in how you play. Nobody has done any better than how those guys have done."

LAMB: Kind of off the subject of football and back to 9/11, are you aware of the amount of generosity displayed by Chiefs fans and Lamar Hunt donating at last year's Giants game?

VERMEIL: "I know they did a good job but I can't tell you how much money in dollars. I just know there was a very positive contribution made by the organization and fans and the community and the country."

LAMB: An article in USA Today said that there was $450,000 dollars in that game alone and it is believed to be the largest single day contribution in sports. I guess Lamar Hunt matched the fans $220,000. What does that say about the people of Kansas City and your owner?

VERMEIL: "Well, first off it doesn't surprise me if all those facts are true. Lamar is not a guy who talks about what he does."

CARL PETERSON, President and General Manager: "That $225,000 dollars was matched by players, Chiefs coaches, Chiefs staff, employees of the Chiefs as well as the Lamar Hunt family. We are very proud of our fans because they stood up and initiated it. It was Lamar's idea. Whatever you do fans, he said, we as an organization will match. I think the other thing you want to put in our locker room is the fireman's hat from Kansas City as well as a boot in which this money was collected because it was a tribute to our fans, our players, our coaches and our staff and our Kansas City community. I think you are right. I don't know of another organization that contributed that much, our an NFL franchise that contributed that much. I think you all know what a great job of our fans did in greeting the New York Giants. The Giants took out a full page ad in the Kansas City Star to thank us for that."