Chargers
- Field Yates reports that the Chargers attempted to claim Texans’ recently signed DT Taylor Stallworth off of waivers, but Houston had the higher priority.
- Chargers S Derwin James (quad), CB Bryce Callahan (core), and RT Trey Pipkins III (knee) did not practice on Thursday. (Jeff Miller)
Chiefs
Chiefs HC Andy Reid supported OT Orlando Brown, Jr. and OT Andrew Wylie despite their down performances. Reid said the team has gone up against some great pass rushers off of the edge and has made for some difficult matchups.
โWell, theyโve gone against some good players,โ Reid said, via Chiefs Wire. โWe do try to help them with chips like with anybody thatโs in there. These defensive ends that weโve played are pretty good and the two that weโre playing this week are pretty good too. Thatโs part of it.โ
Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy said the team isn’t making excuses for it’s pair of tackles, but they do acknowledge the need to help them against some of the league’s best.
โItโs not an excuse for those guys, but every week weโre going to get everybodyโs best,โ Bieniemy said. โEvery week is championship football. Those guys know every week what theyโre going to be faced (with). As a coaching staff, we could do a better job of helping them out as well, knowing some of the premier pass rushers that theyโre going to play against.โ
Bieniemy is preparing for the Broncos pass rush tandem and will do whatever they can to make sure they keep QB Patrick Mahomes upright.
โ(Baron) Browning No. 56, the kid was an inside (linebacker), now heโs outside wreaking havoc,โ Bieniemy said. โNo. 53 (Jonathon Cooper), I canโt think of his name, but these guys can play, they get after the quarterback. So, weโve got to make sure that weโre staying in tune and giving them the necessary help. Those guys know that in certain situations, help wonโt be provided. They also understand that they can be better in certain situations, but as a coaching staff we can be better as well.โ
Raiders
Raiders HC Josh McDaniels doesn’t view Thursday’s 17-16 loss to the Rams as a “step back” for the organization but that they must find a way to limit mistakes that are preventing wins.
โI donโt look at it as a step back. We didnโt finish the game โ thatโs the reality, you know?โ McDaniels said, via ProFootballTalk. โI thought we were ready to play. I thought we competed. We got off to a decent start and then we didnโt capitalize. The bottom line is, until we figure out how to stop losing games with mistakes that we do ourselves, then it makes it very difficult to win. So, you canโt really win until you stop from losing. And thatโs penalties, turnovers, things like that that contribute to that. Weโve talked a lot about that. We obviously need to do a better job of coaching it and trying to get us to play better.โ
McDaniels reflected on conceding double-digit leads over the Cardinals, Titans, Jaguars, and Rams so far this season.
โLook, itโs 60 minutes, you know? Everybody will point to the last play, or the last four plays, or the last drive, what have you,โ McDaniels said. โBut thereโs plays in every quarter that couldโve helped us extend the lead. Thereโs things that we couldโve done in all three phases that wouldโve put us further ahead in games. And, look, thereโs a lot of things that go into a result in a National Football League [game]. You know? Iโm thinking of six, or eight, or 10 of them right now that couldโve changed some outcomes of drives either way. So, these are hard lessons to learn. They are. Like I said, you always play to win. Weโre aggressive and try to do those kinds of things. But weโre 1-yard shy of a first down on the third-and-1. And they make a stop there and if we get it, the gameโs over. So, thereโs a lot of things we could point to right now that wouldโve helped us close the game.โ
McDaniels added that they must finish games more effectively when they are holding a lead.
โWeโve got to be able to extend a lead if we have one and keep competing, not let our foot off the gas, no relaxing, and try to play the same way we were playing when the game starts,โ McDaniels said. โSo, just obviously, I havenโt done a good enough job of being able to get us to do that.โ
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