Herman Edwards Quotations

There are certain players that bring more to your team than just being a football player. If you're talking about Tony Richardson, he brings a whole lot to this team besides being a good football player. We're going to do everything we can to bring him back.

We're in a situation where time is of the essence,

We're getting to the point where you don't say I'm an African-American coach. I'm just 'Coach.

We're going to miss him, there's no doubt about that, ... I'm not all of the sudden going to make it a doom-and-gloom situation. He's out. He's done. There's nothing more to say.

We're going to get a good football player. Last time I checked, I had a saying a couple of years ago that you play the game for one reason and one reason only. Right? That hasn't changed for me. You play to win.

When we first watched him in college, we knew he was an athletic guy who could make plays. We liked his ability to play in space. We always felt that that he was getting better and better, so we liked him from the beginning. (He's) become a pretty great player for us, a good sub guy that really can play all three (linebacker) positions.

We're going to have to make sure we do things that he feels comfortable doing.

We have to have a different mind-set - that was established today in our meetings, ... I think our players took hold of it and did a good job of practicing. It was a pretty fast practice, guys moving around where they were supposed to go.

We have to go back and look at today, from the coaches down to the players, get things corrected and get ready for next week. It's one game. You hate to lose a game, but at some point, if you lose it, you lose it. What we have to do is get our confidence back.

We were approached by his agent at the Senior Bowl. We visited - a very short visit. We haven't heard from his agent at this point in time. I haven't heard from Terrell.

We'll see where he's at come Wednesday and we'll determine what we're going to do.

We did it looking at what was best for the players and best for the team.

We thought we brought him along right, ... So happens to be all of a sudden now something is happening. I just think that's what we all understood, so that's what we did. That was the plan. We didn't jump to a conclusion. We had a plan and that was the plan.

The problem with that is you've got to win. You can't expect teams to keep losing. There's some teams in the division that are good teams and we can be a good team, too, but we're not playing consistent enough to be a good team.

There are a lot of bad stats this year.

When I got the job here in New York, there were a couple guys who were supposed to be the favorites. You don't worry about that. If you get your day in court, you go in there and talk to them.

The plan right now is for Brooks to be the starter. You've got to let the poor guy play, see what he can do.

No one called me up from the booth saying we should challenge it. That's what those guys are supposed to do. I didn't get a phone call.

Monday Night Football and the bubble-gum card ? that was kind of important being in the league if you could do that.

Monday Night Football' and the bubble-gum card -- that was kind of important being in the league if you could do that.

Obviously those players aren't trying to do it on purpose, ... but those mistakes hurt you.

Obviously they're still talking. We'll see where it's at.

Obviously it's one game. You have to take a look at yourself and say, 'Did you play up to your expectations and if not why? Why didn't we perform?' We have to look at it and learn from it and move on.

Obviously it's not what you anticipated going into the season. It would be good to get a win at home.

Obviously, if we don't win a game soon here, we're going to have a high draft choice,

Obviously, he had some opportunities. But he felt his best opportunity right now as a coach was to go to Washington. I wish him a lot of luck. He's done a great job here with our offense.

Right now, it looks like he's going to run a lot.

I wish we could have made more of a game of it, but it wasn't. They took us behind the woodshed and whupped us.

If we had to play tomorrow, ... Kingsbury would be our starting quarterback.

I don't hope this happens to any coach. Ever. Ever. Ever.

I don't even know, ... I'm not trying to start a quarterback controversy and say who the quarterback is. Anything is possible. But I'm not saying we're switching, I'm not saying that.

I anticipate doing the same thing. You do (want to play them more), but you also understand the big picture. For the most part, what we have to do is we have to have a good practice session this week. I think it's very, very important to get some continuity going with our offense. It really just boils down to what we're going to become on offense and play to our strengths. That's the whole key between now and when we open up at Kansas City.

Buffalo came out and got hot early, ... They ran the ball very, very well in the first half. I thought in the second half we got some momentum and got back into the game, but they did a good job of rallying when we got back in the game.

For some reason, the dark cloud won't go away. Kind of just hovering above us. Usually you get a breeze or something, it blows somewhere else. Needs to go away, I know that, got to go away because it's amazing to me.

If a performance of a player is not up to the standard that's acceptable, then there will be some changes, ... It could be during the game.

If anybody can do it, I believe Chad can do it because of his mental toughness and what he feels he has to prove. He's a unique individual, he really is. I mean, he played with that thing torn up those last five or six games (in 2004) and we made the playoffs. If anybody can do it, Chad can do it. I'm pulling for him and I'm praying for him.

For the remainder of this season, any time we are traveling as a team, we are all required to dress and act like professionals.

I get questioned for third-and -5, running the draw, trying to tie the game up before the half. I'm going to answer all those questions between now until the end of the season. I understand that. But the same scenario, they're on the 27-yard line, they missed a field goal. How about that?

He was chomping at the bit last night, so that's why we didn't put pads on him.

He was champing at the bit . . . so that's why we didn't put pads on him,

He was champing at the bit last night, so that's why we didn't put pads on him.

He has not played a lot of football since the season was over with, and it's a little bit of a new offense, asking to do some things a little different. One thing about Chad, he's very, very hard on himself, and he'll bounce back.

He hadn't played and hadn't practiced a lot.

He did well for a guy in his first practice. He's got good instincts and he understands our concepts.

He helped build the foundation here for how we play offense and we will continue to build on that success.

He has to learn to be more focused in on every play, every little thing.

He felt he could help us, but then we had some offensive line issues,

He doesn't trust a lot of people. Fortunately, he trusts me. I can have conversations with Laveranues, and he'll come in my office and wonder when my wife is going to bake him some cookies.

He gives more than he gets so he's really like Curtis Martin. At the end of the day, those guys are who make the league great because of what they do on the field, how they conduct themselves as professionals and what the do off the field. His legacy as a player goes far beyond his football career.

He gave us the best chance to do what we needed to do to win the game. I had reservations, but he was able to go in and do some things.

He looks good, strong, I know he can run. We had a good talk about the program we're going to put him on. He wants to play in the opener, he'll play in the opener, we'll see how many snaps he can play.

He'll have a heck of a career, ... That's what you want. You drafted a guy you think will be here for 10, 12 years. If he can stay consistent, stay healthy he has the ability to do that. I know he has the mind-set and the work ethic to do that.

He'll do what he has to do to come back. But it is tough. He's a little down.

We've been through a horrific season. It's not fun for the players, it's not fun for the organization. We just kept fighting. That's something to say about those men in that locker room.

We talked. But I knew Al was the kind of guy who every year is going to be in the running to be a head coach. He's a guy who's primed to be a head coach. He's always going to be a candidate. You want to make sure you have some kind of consistency with your offense.

He's a good player and he'll play in this league with another team.

He's a little rusty, but he's still got to play, ... His rust is still pretty good.

He's always answered the bell. When you come out of the locker room, he's always the guy that's standing out there before the team and making sure everybody touches everybody. And this is the first time he touched a guy when he wasn't in pads.

He's got no chance of playing in this game.

He's got to get his mind mentally ready to play Kansas City. We know one thing: When he is healthy, we win games.

He's got some confidence and he hasn't really blinked. He's got pretty good hand-eye coordination and he's had some balls come his way. I just wish he'd get his hands on more balls and pick one off . . . Sometimes you see it, but you don't trust it and go get it.

His stamina is the best it's ever been. I think it's more consistent. He's not making mental errors and he's just playing hard. Before, James seemed good for about two or three plays, but now I think he knows that he's the starter and he's the guy.

He's going to play right away. That's what we drafted him for.

He's a tough guy, he wants to make the kick. He looks forward to helping us win games with his leg. When he goes in there, he has an excellent chance to make it.

He's going to go get it looked at now, so well see where it's at.

He's big and physical and he has long arms. Chad will throw him the ball when he's tightly covered because he can go up in a crowd and come down with the ball.

He's fine. Nothing wrong with him, just sick.

He was pressing a little bit, and he just couldn't get anything going. It was just one of those days for him.

He was the best guy, regardless of if he was sitting at home on the couch. When you look at all the other guys who were coming in here, he was the best guy.

He was taking what they were giving him. He was slinging it really well. Jay also did a great job of not trying to force it too much.

He's playing as good as he can play, that's all you can ask of the guy. He's got to get help along the way.

He wants to play. He just wants to make sure he's OK, and I can understand that. That's something you don't deal with lightly. I anticipate he'll be back. I'd say it's 50-50.

He didn't blink, ... He was like, 'I got you, coach. I got you.'

He didn't have to do that because I know our stand with Mr. Johnson, we've had a relationship for five years, a very good working relationship. Our relationship was formed on one thing and one thing only: trust. We both trust each other, we both understand what we're trying to do here.

He'll be in the flow of the game, we hope we don't get into a game that's 70, 80 plays. If he can get 20-something plays in, that would be great. We want to rotate those guys because it's going to be hot out there.

He likes trying to make the big kick,

Kevin's trying to do a lot of things in the right manner, and you have to really allocate your time when the season starts,

It could be more ugly football for us.

It didn't look good. We are keeping our eyes open with all these guys, but he did have a good workout.

I thought Brooks did a great job of performing,

I thought Brooks did a good job, for the most part. When he throws the ball our receivers have to catch it. We have to do a lot of things better on offense if we're going to give ourselves a chance.

I think you can see that he's getting the feel for it again. It takes a long time, even for a veteran guy like that. People don't realize that he changed systems, and that's very difficult without a training camp.

LaMont is having a really good year running the ball and he's had a lot of catches. He's playing good for them.

I think we have to finish off some blocks. We're close, but instead of making 1 or 2 yards, if you finish some things off, you make 4 or 5. All of a sudden, it keeps you out of third and long.

I think what's going to help him, he's in with the first group, ... That's always settling for a quarterback, rather than playing with some guys that were probably some good high school, college players, and won't make your team. He had to do that for three years, survived it. Now he's going in with our first group.

I think Brian is on his way, I really do,

I think that's what's going to help him. That's always settling for a quarterback, rather than the preseason when you're playing with some guys that probably were good high school, college players, and probably won't make your team. Teams are blitzing you. That's a scary moment. He had to do that for three years, survived it.

I think that's what's going to help him, ... That's always settling for a quarterback, rather than the preseason when you're playing with some guys that probably were good high school, college players, and probably won't make your team. Teams are blitzing you. That's a scary moment. He had to do that for three years, survived it.

It is harder for me because we know all the work he has put into it,

James was a character. He was a good kid. He was kind of a computer nerd. He could do anything with electronics.

I said we're going to put Brooksy in, ... He grabbed me and said: 'No, I can still be O.K. I'm all right.' I said, 'O.K.' I kind of knew where he was coming from. He couldn't throw it very far but he could throw it. He could do some things that we tried to do.

Opening day, I'm not shocked at anything. I've been around for 26 years of opening days, and a lot can happen. We didn't handle it very well. They did a better job of coaching, and they played better.

Our passing game, we'll see. I think it will improve as we play, but I think you've got to establish the run in this league.

Our offense was very, very sluggish. We didn't play well and we didn't play smart.

Our mindset was to get him in the game to kick field goals and he did that,

Our mind-set was to get him in the game to kick field goals, and he did that.

I think players in the league recognize that and he'll have a great opportunity this year.

I think Charles Woodson can do whatever he wants if his mind is right. It's according to what he wants to do.

I think offenses need rhythm. When you play and you go three-and-out, that doesn't produce any rhythm for you. You start pressing.

I tell ya', ... that's the most pampered right arm since Zsa Zsa Gabor slapped that Beverly Hills policeman some years back. But Chad's worth it. He's our guy. As soon as he can throw 20 yards downfield, we'll know he's back at full strength.