Transcripts of conference calls between the Chiefs' Herm Edwards and Tyler Thigpen and Jets reporters on Wednesday afternoon:
HEAD COACH HERM EDWARDS
On RB Larry Johnson…
We're going to deactivate him this week.
On if that was his decision or a league decision…
On me. That's the best thing to do for the football team right now. I'll leave it at that.
On his QB situation and if it reminds him of the Jets in 2005…
I haven't gotten to the fifth one yet, I've only gotten to three so far. So we're doing well [laughter]. But yes, a little bit. The other one was a little bit different, though. We lost 12 starters along with playing the fifth quarterback. So that's a little bit different. It's just where we're at right now.
We have a very young team, the youngest team in the league. We went from one of the oldest to the youngest. A lot of young players are getting a lot of experience. We're not very consistent on either side of the football. That's what you see when we play, but they play hard. That's one thing I can give them credit for. They play hard; they don't play smart all the time.
The quarterback situation has been one for us all year. We've never had the starting quarterback play two games in a row, neither one of them. All three of them haven't played two games. Right now, Brodie Croyle went to injured reserve and Damon Huard went to injured reserve. We signed Quinn Gray today. We have Tyler Thigpen, that's our No. 1 guy right now, and Ingle Martin is No. 2. Quinn will be No. 3.
On Huard being placed on IR…
Yes, he has a thumb. He has some ligaments in his thumb. He's going to be out for a while. We had to make a move and put him on IR.
On signing Gray…
I've had so many quarterbacks come in the last three days, I'll tell you what, it's been "the Gong Show" again [laughter].
On if he has given Vinny Testaverde a call…
Not yet [laughter]. He's on my hotline, though.
On if he has considered Daunte Culpepper…
We visited with him, actually. We've talked to him. We've actually visited with him on the phone, but he hasn't come on campus. We don't know where that's at yet.
On if he's keeping communication open with Culpepper…
Yes. If it's right. It has to be right. We have a young team. At the end of the day, we have a young team. We are what we are. We went through the rebuilding thing this year. We knew we were going to struggle some. Obviously, we didn't feel we were going to struggle like this, but that's the way it's been so far for us.
On if he pursued Chad Pennington when he became a free agent…
I had conversations with Chad, but it just didn't work out. It worked out well for him. At that point, Brodie was our starting quarterback, he wanted to be in a position where he could start. He signed on with Miami and that was the right place for him to go at that point in time. He's playing well for them. I'm glad for Chad.
On if the Chiefs are keeping their spirits up…
Yes, they're a bunch of young kids. Are you kidding me [laughter]? Every time they walk into a stadium, it's new for them. They're excited. They've never played in New York City. They can't wait to see you guys.
On his impression of the Jets…
I think they're playing well. I think with the acquisitions they made on the off-season, they have a veteran-laden team with some of the holdover guys that are there. I think their defense is playing solid and playing very well.
Their offense, they could explode at any time and obviously the quarterback is a big key for them. He's playing well. He can throw the ball all over the yard. [Jerricho] Cotchery and Laveranues [Coles] are playing well, [Chris] Baker is playing well. The runners are very good, Thomas [Jones] and Leon Washington — he's a threat when he gets the ball in his hands anywhere. They're a good football team.
On his impression of Favre talking to the Detroit Lions about the Packers…
You've got those fish stories again. You know how they get guppy, and then after a few more stories it becomes the whale [laughter]. I don't know. I'm not involved in that. That's the first I've heard of it.
On his relationship with Chiefs GM Carl Peterson…
Very good. There's another story that's kind of running awry. You're still getting those curveballs up there [laughter]? Boy, I miss you guys, I really do. You guys always made it interesting. You guys are always digging for something.
On if it's quiet in Kansas City…
It's OK, it's all right. They're good here. They're good.
On if he's surprised to see how much the Jets have changed over three years…
When you change coaches and you change staffs, everyone has a different philosophy. It's the same thing that happened here for me. I had to change it. Now, we've really changed. We're rebuilding to what we're trying to do on offense and defense. That happens. When you change, you change. When you change the head coach, obviously you're going to change some players, too.
On the level of patience from the fans…
You know the fans are fans. They're upset. They don't like it. No one likes losing. They have a right to be upset, but that's the road we're travelling. That's where we're at. It's the right thing for this organization and for this football team, for the future of it. You just have to live through it.
On if they're conducting a team investigation of Larry Johnson…
No. We have all of the information basically that we need. Obviously, the league is going to get involved in it. The league has to do what they need to do. We'll just see where it goes. It's out of our hands now.
On how he is dealing with the season…
You guys trained me well. This can't take a toll on me. I'm OK. When you get into this, you know there's going to be times when there are going to be situations like this. I've had a couple of them in my career so far as a head coach. You deal with it.
You learn a lot about yourself, where you stand and what you stand for, when you go through times like this. I've always felt that I try to do the right thing on purpose. That's how I'm built. That's what I believe in. I'm good with who I am and what I need to do. I'm OK. I'm fine.
QB TYLER THIGPEN
On the uncertainty in Kansas City…
As a team you want one quarterback going into the season and playing the whole season. The reality of it is, the way the NFL works, you're never guaranteed any game. No. 1 could go down. In our case No. 1 and No. 2 went down. With this situation, we're going to make the most of it.
On if he envisioned starting going into training camp…
I didn't want to envision anyone getting hurt. The reality of it is something could happen where you're thrown into the starting role.
On facing Jets QB Brett Favre…
Watching him growing up, he's a great athlete. Anybody that's played this game or is a fan of this game knows what kind of player he is. It's quite an honor to be going against someone like that. Then again, I'm going against their defense, not him.
On if he wears a No. 4 jersey…
Yes.
On if there are any other similarities between him and Favre…
We both came out of small schools. He started off with one team and then went to another. I definitely don't want to dare consider myself right now, where I'm at, trying to compare me to Brett Favre. I have a long way to go to get to any accomplishments he's had. The Chiefs, offensively, we're just trying to get on the same page, move the ball and execute.
On what he has learned this year…
I put a lot of added pressure on me when I made that first start against Atlanta. I didn't really know all the things that came along — doing the whole media thing, all the things that go along with being a starting quarterback. I put a little too much pressure on me.
A bunch of family tried to call that week, and I was still talking to them when I probably should have put them on the back burner and focused on the football game at hand. I still focused on the football game, but I just had a couple of little distractions outside of football that I don't think I should let get in my way.
On preparing for the Jets…
It's different this week because going into that week I didn't know if I was starting or not. I assumed it with Damon [Huard] when I saw him on Monday and obviously with Brodie [Croyle] getting hurt on Sunday with a season-ending injury. This week, what I see differently, I know what to expect as a starter. I know what comes along with it. I know I have to do the media stuff. I know that I have to check the ball bag and feel good about all the balls, just all the little things that come along with the starting role as a quarterback.
On if he feels he is on the same page with the starting receivers…
Definitely. We had a good practice today. As a quarterback and receivers, you always want to have more practice time than you're allowed. We stayed after practice and worked on some things, but I definitely feel that after each series in practice today, I would go over and talk to them and see how they felt and let them know what I was thinking. Also in meetings after practice today, we're going to talk about things to get on the same page. I definitely feel more comfortable this time around.
On how difficult losing week after week is…
It's tough. Whether it's the NFL, baseball, football, basketball, it doesn't matter if you're losing. Whether you're playing a video game, if you're losing it's not fun. That's one thing that we want to do is get back on track around here and win some football games.
