OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, welcome back. Great to be back (at) Missouri Western State University, man. We love this place, and it’s a great place to have training camp. We appreciate all the people and the jobs that they do for us here. They roll out the red carpet and again, take care of us like no other. So, we appreciate all of that and we look forward to getting this camp going. As far as any of the injuries go, I can update you real quick. PUP, the people that will start on PUP, (Kristian) Fulton will start on PUP, Jawaan Taylor and Tre Watson. Those three will start there but everybody else is good to go. We should be ripping and ready by tomorrow. We jump right into it with testing tomorrow and then we have meetings, both business meetings for the NFL and also meetings for the football part of it. Other than that, we look forward to the season getting started. It should be a great environment up here for learning and for conditioning with the heat that we are going to have – and we normally have up here. It should get us ready and build a nice foundation for us to start the season. As far as Rashee (Rice) goes, I mean that is obvious news out there. Now, we’re going to progress as normal with him, he’ll go in and take all the reps that he'd normally take. We always rotate that position, so depending on what happens here, in the future, whoever needs to play will be able to step in, and they’ll know what they’re doing and be in good shape to do it. But like I said, just progress as normal. Other than that, time is yours.”
Q: Do you have any idea of the timeline for the punishment handed down from the NFL for Rashee Rice?
REID: “No. I don’t have anything.”
Q: Have you had any conversations about it?
REID: “No.”
Q: What is the length of absence you expect for Kristian Fulton and Jawaan Taylor?
REID: “Well we’re hoping that – we’re hoping that its relatively fast. I’d tell you, Jawaan (Taylor) is probably closer right now.”
Q: Is there anything different about coming to training camp after a Super Bowl loss?
REID: “This part stays tough. It’s never an easy camp and it builds you a foundation that you can bank on. It’s important that the guys come in with the right frame of mind, (and) they know that. They pass a word down to the young guys that they better be ready to go. That helps us in the long haul.”
Q: What would it mean to be able to sign George Karlaftis to a long-term deal to this organization?
REID: “That would be a great deal. I think that’s already done, just so if you need some breaking news (laughter). That’s a great thing. And he’s a heck of a player, and he’s done a great job here, and he’s profited from that. Our team also profits from him being around, so it’s a win-win there.”
Q: What did you see in him late in the season last year?
REID: “He is a relentless player, I mean that’s what you get with George (Karlaftis). He’s smart; relentless. You can trust and know that he is reliable, so you can trust that he is going to be there and do the right things and go 100 miles an hour doing them. Very well respected that way.”
Q: How do you plan to start with the initial left tackle rotations with Josh Simmons and Jawaan (Taylor)?
REID: “Oh, Jawaan (Taylor) is out for the beginning, so we’ll just flip those two guys, and they’ll work in there, and we’ll go from there. (Offensive Line Coach) Andy (Heck) rotates all those guys anyways.”
Q: How important was it for you as a coach to have these young, core guys locked up for long term deals?
REID: “I mean it’s great to have, great from a coach's standpoint to have that. The tough job is with each, having to juggle the financial part of it. But we love having that. Continuity is a big thing, with your good, young players, and (General Manager Brett) Veach has done a real nice job with his group in the drafts. So, to sort all of that out, (Assistant General Manager) Chris Shea and the guys, they have to work through all of that, the money part of it, and they do a heck of a job with it. So, it’s an ongoing thing, as you go, you got to really have a good feel and a good plan for the future as you do it.”
Q: On Trey Smith being a sixth-round pick to being the highest paid guard in NFL history.
REID: “Yeah, how great is that? How great is that man? Sixth round pick. Came in with a lung situation and the blood clots and was able to work through that and it’s a great thing they were able to work through that, just for his (Trey Smith) overall health, football or no football; but to be able to come in and play at the level that he’s played at and that toughness that he brings with it. He’s an aggressive personality on the field. Teddy bear off the field, aggressive personality on the field, man. He brings it every game.”
Q: Can you give us an overview of what you’re going to be looking for at left tackle with that position and training camp?
REID: “You look, you got to look for the best guy, I mean, to start with, that can fill in that spot, (so) that we can have a little consistency there. We didn’t have that last year and so let’s work at it and see what we come up with. We’ve got some good candidates for it, and you know, we’ll just see where it goes.”
Q: You always wanted your camps to be hard for a reason. How moderated are they since you first became a head coach? I know the rules changed a little bit.
REID: “I’ve been in this with you (laughter), so you know. We’ve been around awhile, so it’s way different than when we first got into it, but within the rules, you’re always player safety (conscious). That is number one on this thing, so you don’t want to put those guys in a bind. But at the same time, it is a tough sport. It’s tough. So, there is a point where you gotta reach down and you got to be able to push yourself through some things and these camps still do that, it’s just at a different level then maybe what it was when I first became a head coach.”
Q: Do you still feel that late in the season in the December games, you can picture how they draw from this and this time?
REID: “Listen, I listen to the players. That’s what I do. I use those guys as kind of the thermometer on things. They tell you. They go, ‘Man, I’m glad we did those long drive drills - we hate them, but I’m glad we did them.’ They pay off in the end.”
Q: When it comes to Josh Simmons, how much of that are you interested in? Just the conditioning part of it and has he been given the all clear to fully participate?
REID: “Listen, he (Josh Simmons) stayed up here this whole break, he has been here and working his tail off, and so it looks like - and the way he finished phase three – but it looks like he is ready to go. We’ll keep an eye on him and see where he is at but his conditioning was good when he was out there, and he seems to be a worker so we’ll just have to see. He’s never been through one of these. So we gotta see how it goes.”
Q: We always ask the players what they bring. For many years when you come here what do you bring when you come and stay at the dorms?
REID: “It seems like I brought less this year (laughter) so I don’t know. Maybe Shrop (Assistant Equipment Manager Chris Shropshire) took care of me (laughter) I don’t know. It felt like I didn’t bring very much. They got all the shorts and everything for us and that is all you wear up here.”
Q: Is the first team meeting tomorrow? Are the players reporting?
REID: “Yes.”
Q: Given you’ve had some time to think about it, is there a certain message you want to start training camp with for the guys?
REID: “Yeah, I’ll hit them with that (the) first day, but expectations are always high. That’s a plus and the guys that have been here have earned that right to have it that way. But at the same time, you gotta maintain that and even strive to be better. The AFC West is a tough conference and it’s not getting any worse, that’s for sure. These guys have good coaching, and they have good players so just that alone is a great challenge for us and so here we sit and we have an opportunity to put ourselves in a position to make ourselves better every day we go through this thing so let’s do that.”
Q: How important will this camp be for Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy?
REID: “Yeah, sure. It’ll be great to have them (Hollywood Brown and Xavier Worthy) out there. When they were together out there last year, that was – for camp – for the part of camp that they were there, that was a positive for us.”
Q: Do you find yourself having to place a timeline on when you expect to have a decision on who is starting at left tackle?
REID: “I think by the time you get out of this thing you’d like to have an idea of who that is, right? You want to have a feel on it. So, we evaluate these guys every play, Herbie (Teope). For – whether it’s a light practice or a hard practice they’re evaluated and graded, and so on. So, we’ll see how it all sorts out.”
Q: On having a battle at left guard and left tackle.
REID: “Yeah, I’m okay with that. These are young guys that are going to get in there and compete, and I think that’s a positive thing, and we’re going to come out with somebody that’s a good player. So, I’m good with it. Yeah.”
Q: On Rashee Rice returning from injury.
REID: “We’ll keep an eye on that, yeah, for sure. Yeah, Sam (McDowell) – we’ll keep an eye on that part. But as far as pulling back because of suspensions, or whatever that whole thing is, then you know, we’re going forward with it and then we’ll monitor him as far as the injury goes.”
Q: But he came out good from the summer?