Here is the info from Herm's presser
http://www.kcchiefs.com/news/2007/10/17/qa..._edwards__1017/
Q: How did RB Priest Holmes look?
EDWARDS: “He’s got fresh legs and he was bouncing around good. He was excited about practicing; there is no doubt about it. He bounced around well and we’ll see how he feels tomorrow, that’s the key. How is he going to feel tomorrow and the next day? That’s the whole key for me now. What is he going to do in the next couple of days and how is his body going to feel? He got banged around a little bit and seemed to take it ok.”
Q: Did he participate fully?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, he did a little bit of everything.”
Q: Could he possibly be activated and play on Sunday?
EDWARDS: “I don’t know, we’ll just wait and see. We’ll see.”
Q: Did you ever imagine that you would see what you saw out there today with him practicing?
EDWARDS: “What was surprising was that he decided not to retire and told us that he was coming back. That was surprising when that conversation took place, but from there, once he showed up, nothing else surprised me about the guy because of his history. I’m a big history kind of guy. I think that history shows you the past and kind of gives you a good idea about what is going to happen in the future. I just think that when you look at what he’s done before and accomplished when people thought he was out, he came back. This guy has a great mindset and that’s what life is about. Most people, if you listen to them, you get distracted. He doesn’t get distracted. He has great focus on what he wants to do and he wanted to attempt to come back and he’s put a lot into this. It’s been three months of doing what he’s doing every day and now he’s all of a sudden practicing and a lot of people probably didn’t anticipate that he’d be practicing or that he would check out before that, but he hasn’t.”
Q: Have you sat down and really got to know him?
EDWARDS: “I’ve had some conversations, but I don’t think that anyone really knows Priest Holmes. So I’m not going to sit here and say that I know Priest Holmes. I know what I see and I know the conversations that I’ve had with him have been good. I’ve been up front with the guy, I’ve been truthful with him and he’s been truthful with me. That’s what the conversations have been, I don’t bother the guy, he’s a veteran football player who has accomplished a lot in his career and that’s how I go about doing business. I treat everyone fair, I don’t treat everyone the same. With that being said, there was a certain agenda that he had to meet and he met that. When he came back he knew what I expected of him as a football player for this football team and he met that. I gave him leeway because he needed some leeway. He needed to do some things a little bit different and that’s ok. He’s practicing, which is good for him, so we’ll see where he’s at.”
Q: What do you need to see from him that will convince you that he’s ready to get back on to the playing field?
EDWARDS: “It’s just a matter of how his body feels after the next few days. It’s like people that ski, I would assume. When the skiing season is over and you go back to skiing you are pretty sore the first day. Sometimes, on the second day, you really don’t want to go skiing again. He’ll practice again tomorrow and we’ll see how he feels. That’s the key.”
Q: Do you need to see speed or contact from him?
EDWARDS: “You saw speed. He’s got quickness. He has quickness in the hole, he has burst, he has great acceleration, he has a good vision and he hasn’t lost that. He doesn’t have what he had four years ago, but he’s still ok. He got hit some today and he didn’t lie down and not want to come back. He got back up, dusted himself off, got back into the huddle and did it again.”
Q: Did you see a guy out there that can help you win?
EDWARDS: “I saw a guy out there that has worked his tail off for the last three months to do what he did today. He’s worked three months to be able to put on a uniform and practice. That, alone to me, says something about the person. He’s been out two years, he’s been anticipating this day and he got through it. Now, I have to see what happens tomorrow and the next day. There is still a lot to be seen, so we’ll see what happens.”
Q: Does he still fit in here with this offense?
EDWARDS: “Yeah, he’s a good football player. Good football players fit in with any offense or any defense. It doesn’t matter because you are a good football player. The one thing that’s good is that the guy knows the plays. It’s not like he’s been somewhere else, he knows the plays. They know him better then I know him. Mike Solari was the offensive line coach when he was the running back. He knows what he’s doing. If you ask (Priest) what plays he likes, he says that Mike knows.”
Q: How difficult is it to get your third running back on the active roster when he doesn’t play special teams?
EDWARDS: “Well, when you look at it, it’s really flipped. If he dresses, it’s flipped. We had RB Michael Bennett who really wasn’t’ a special teams guy and RB Kolby Smith and RB Larry Johnson. So we’ve already done that and it’s flipped.”
Q: How does the fullback position affect Priest when that was a position that he depended on for so long?
EDWARDS: “I think that FB Boomer Grigsby is a guy that we need to get some more reps to at fullback to see if he can be the lead guy. FB Kris Wilson is more of a position guy, his body is not built to do that and he’s done a great job for us. But you’re right, FB Tony Richardson was a great fullback for both backs and those kind of guys are hard to find. We’re trying to develop one, obviously in Boomer. I think Priest is excited to have the opportunity to play again, so I don’t think he’s going to worry about who the fullback is. He’s got his other issues that he needs to worry about. When he plays again, he’ll be worrying about holding onto the football, do I pick up the hot protection and those kind of things. I think those are the kind of things that we sometimes lose sight of.”
Q: At what point do you need to make a decision on Priest?
EDWARDS: “I don’t have to make a decision until Saturday.”
Q: Might it go that long?
EDWARDS: “Maybe.”
Q: Does the bye week enter into it at all?
EDWARDS: “No, it’s a matter of how he feels and where he’s at. That’s a conversation that we’ll have.”
Q: You obviously admire the dedication that he has shown.
EDWARDS: “No doubt.”
Q: Is that something that you are going to take into account?
EDWARDS: “No, when you decide this the main purpose is if he can help you win a game. At the end, that’s what you have to decide when you dress those 45 guys. Which 45 guys are the ones that give you the best opportunity to win games?”
Q: But you’ve seen how dedicated he is.
EDWARDS: “Yeah, dedication is a good thing and I applaud that, but if you put him on the 45 you have say that he can help us win a game and be productive for us. That’s how I think about it when I think about the 45-man roster.”
Q: How are you going to know that?
EDWARDS: “You don’t and that’s what I always say about young rookies; you don’t know until you play them.”
I still don't think he'll ever play again, but with each passing day I'm paying a bit more attention.
Agreed, Kolby Smith is also a reason that KC had enough confidence in their RB squad that they felt they could afford to trade away Bennett.
Ever watch football before this season?
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Agreed, Kolby Smith is also a reason that KC had enough confidence in their RB squad that they felt they could afford to trade away Bennett.
