Dick Vermeil Players Quotations

There are organized plots and plans to get you one way or the other. But every once in a while someone gets trapped. We always assume our players are not guilty of any major problem until someone really clarifies it for us.

Obviously we weren't getting it done going in the direction we were going. We had to make some changes and spend some money and when we went after somebody we had to get them. We've gone after defensive players before and didn't get them. This year we got a few of them.

Now the players are going to say we don't need to practice on Thursday.

I think we do ... as good as the best job in the National Football League of making sure players are aware of their vulnerability, their profile. There's no place to hide in Kansas City. Our fans know our players. (We tell players) to use common sense and to be aware of the problem areas. Stay out of the bad areas. Be alert for certain things.

We know our players so well, especially the kids that have been around. Least likely normally to have a problem is the kicker. It isn't always their fault, but automatically it's their name because nobody else knows anybody else that was involved.

You don't realize how intense it gets until you study the practice tapes, ... There were some unbelievable collisions with good players against good players.

There's nothing like having talent. I've been on the field a long time, and we've never had better football players sitting in this room, collectively. We have some talented players on defense who can run and make plays. Our draft and free agency were good, and then the maturity of the kids that were already here blended together. I could just see from watching practice against our offense, it was going to be a much better defense.

I'm disappointed in myself. The coaches lost, too. When you come out and lose like that, the coaches got beat, and the players got beat. It's not just the players. Maybe we have to do a better job when we get up here.

I know this -- none of our players said Champ Bailey didn't play hard when we beat them by three touchdowns last year out here.