Chiefs Training Camp Quotes: Doug Pederson and Tamba Hali

Jul 26, 2014; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs linebacker Tamba Hali (91) signs autographs after practice during training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: John Rieger-USA TODAY Sports

TAMBA HALI

Q: How is this camp going for you?

HALI: “No bad. I’m enjoying my time, getting better, working on things I can get better on – coverage, rushing, always.”

Q: Have you tried to be more vocal on the sideline?

HALI: “Yeah, these are the grind days. At this time in camp, a lot of guys can shut it down. I remember playing basketball, there comes a time where you hear the crowd, you have the coach screaming your name and out of nowhere, you play better. We’re out there getting our guys going, we’re talking and screaming and yelling out their names telling them to make plays just to keep their energy up. It gets them going. Every day, I hear from the guys who say you got me through practice just by doing that.”

Q: Last week, you were pretty vocal to get on the offensive lineman cut on Dee Ford, do you remember that one?

HALI: “Yeah. Sometimes it’s necessary, but then at times you don’t need to do it. It’s good when you can do it during a game against the other opponents, not against our guys – we don’t need that. You have 45 guys dressing for the game, once you lose one guy it can make a difference – we’ve seen that happen last year, losing (Justin) Houston for about six games. So we want to make sure we can keep our guys healthy throughout the season.”

Q: How are things now in the second year under Coach Reid and the staff?

HALI: “They’ve gotten a lot tighter on the little things. Last year, they came in and let a couple things slide with us. Now we have to focus on the little things. They’ve given us the breakdown on teams that have success. Their first year, usually it’s much tougher. We start to slip on doing the little things. Except for that, they’re the same people, they’re the same coaches, they still get on us if we’re making mistakes. They’re just doing what they do best as coaches, going along with it.”

Q: What do you mean by the little things?

HALI: “Little things meaning like the meetings, not weighing in, stuff like that.”

Q: What is it that you can get from these last three days? Is it conditioning and still game plan or what do you hope to gain?

HALI: “Well, when we start camp, basically we go four plays, five plays. Now we’re running eighteen play drives. From a conditioning standpoint, it helps. Mentally, you have to be able to know what’s going on. While we’re on defense knowing what the offense is coming out in, knowing how to adjust it and still play at high speed levels.”

Q: What are the capabilities of this team with the pass rushers they have? Have you been around a team that has this much going for them?

HALI: “No, not since I’ve been here. This is a real good group we have. We have five, six guys that can be in the game at the same time. They can get after the quarterback. I’ve never been around that. Not even in college and not in the league. That’s pretty awesome to have a bunch of guys that you don’t have to count on one guy. There are a couple other guys that can make plays too. That’s kind of good for our entire defense and team.”

Q:  How important is it to have counter moves?

HALI: “Very important. Once a good tackle studies you, they start to get a beat on what you do. You have to be able to do something else. Once they get that too, you have to be able to go back to something else. Most sacks come on counter moves. We rarely get sacks by doing one move and just getting there.”

Q: Last week Coach Bob Sutton involved a lot more packages with you linebackers; there was one with six of you guys out there. Is that all different and new from last year?

HALI: “Yeah. He’s just using the pieces like its chess. Putting all his best players out there, allowing them to do what they do best. We have about five guys, six guys that can rush the pass. He puts us out there. We call it the dog front. A bunch of dogs going after and barking. Pretty much.”

Q: How do things change for you as a pass rusher at outside linebacker as opposed to going inside against a tackle?

HALI: “A little bit. The difference is, well there’s not much difference. I don’t use a lot of speed being in there. I’ve been fortunate to play nose tackle, 3 technique, defensive end and linebacker. Since my Penn State days, I started in the nose tackle. I’ve been able to play all of those positions. When you have me in the back here you put me sometimes head over the nose, sometimes in a 3 technique because I love rushing, so that’s what I want to do. That’s what Bob’s doing right now. If you can rush, you can rush against any of these guys.”