Short-Week Concern: Nagy Highlights This Shocking Figure

On the biggest challenges with the Dallas defense:

“Well, you can see, from evidence of this last game, how tenacious they are. I mean that defensive line, they fly around. Their defense right now, they're playing with a lot of confidence. Anytime you get into these short weeks, your short days, hours, you're trying to get as much as you can, see what you can, and you just see on tape, like they fly around.

“And I have a lot of respect for Coach (Matt) Eberflus and what he does on defense. And I think the biggest thing is, again, I know they've given up some points early in the year, but I think right now, when you watch the film, you see that they're flying around. And they just had a heck of a game against Philadelphia.”

On Patrick Mahomes returning to Texas to play the team he watched growing up:

“It'll be special for him, anyway you look at it. I mean, we for four years now, we've been going back and forth on Pennsylvania vs. Texas high-school football, and so I know how much pride he has in Texas and going back home. So, it'll be big for him, but at the same time, he keeps it all in perspective.”

On what makes Mike Caliendo such a good plug-and-play option at guard:

“He knows everything. He's just, he's a guy that every day in practice, I think back to, like in training camp, just the way, how focused and where he's at. You go back to last year in the Super Bowl, and not just the Super Bowl, but before that, being able to step in and do the things he did is valuable for us. So, we have a lot of trust in him, and we think he's in a great spot.”

On what concerns him most about the short week:

“Short-week wise is you really have to just lock in on what you do well. There's so much that goes into it. Just right after the game, guys are banged up. We had 96 plays. So, on offense, that's a lot of plays, and so guys are usually -- it's the second day, which is today -- that guys get the most soreness. So, there's a balance of the physical part, but also taking care of them there.

“But then also the mental side of how you handle that, because that's very important here. I mean, in two more days, they're out there, back out on the field, with the possibility of a lot more plays. So, we have to make sure that there's that balance of giving them what we see with Dallas, letting them understand what we're doing. So that in the end, you want to be able to play fast.”

On Rashee Rice and his ability to spark the team on Sunday:

“The stuff he does after the catch, strong hands and making big plays at big-time moments. I mean, that's what was so neat to see. One of the ones to me that was just so critical in that game was when we were backed up and he made that catch over the middle, running after that.

“He's hard to bring down. So, he plays physical football. And I just, I really like his growth there as that game went on. And I think he's really starting to, getting back into conditioning and stuff like that, I like where he's at.”

On Kareem Hunt’s stamina and rebounding following the fumble:

“Well, again, we joke with him. I mean, 30 carries and for somebody that’s no spring chicken with where he's at. But I mean, he's so tough. I mean, he's such a valuable part to this offense. For him to come back the way he did just shows his leadership. I think the guys, too, on the sideline, where they were so great with him, just being there for him.

“And that's probably one of the things that throughout that game, as that game went on, it was early on, it just didn't go the way we wanted it to go. But the guys stuck together, and then we found a way to win in the end, all three phases. And it was a team game, and that was a part of it.

“I mean, when you lose the ball down there in the red zone, that's a big, big play. But the defense stepped up. Everyone stayed together, and then those guys made plays as we moved on.”

On Josh Simmons in his two games back, especially Sunday against the Colts:

“He's doing great. I love his athleticism. He's physical, he's nasty. Really, he sets the tone on the offensive side of the ball for us. I mean, you put on that tape -- and we couldn't spend too much time on the tape -- I mean, you got to get right into the next game. So, but you see it, and you see what he's doing, and there's some nastiness. And I think anytime you can get nasty on the O-line level, man, that's a beautiful thing.”

On the slow starts over the last two months, especially in the first quarter:

“I think that it’s more of, when you look at, we get down into that big red zone and there, for whatever reason, there's these penalties. And you look at them like, which ones can you control? And so, a few weeks ago, we had some holds early on. When it's illegal shifts or motion stuff like that, that's so controllable. Those got to be eliminated. If it's a hold, if it's a facemask,  it can become more gray because of how it goes on. But in the end, you can't do it.

“So, you have a touchdown taken away in the first half. Can't do it. I don't care; you just cannot have that happen. So, but we battled back. We've been talking about it. The guys know it. We emphasize it. But you got to do it, now. And when we don't do that (penalties), we're pretty good.”

On the first RPO, the interception, and breather runs:

“Yeah, that was tough. There was probably a little bit more of those. Again, those are two, when you can get in a rhythm, I thought we were able to, even when we weren't scoring touchdowns in the first half, we were moving the ball. So, there's a balance of those breather runs. And then when you have RPO runs, too, sometimes you all know when it's a throw, obviously, you think it's maybe a pass call, and it could be an RPO.

“Or sometimes, it's a a just a straight run call and it's a breather run from the gun that looks the same. So, in the end, we don't care. We just, we want to be able to get production and stay positive. I mean, it helps us in the play-actions. That helps us in the screen game. And when you're calling breather runs for your team, it's also, we call it a breather run for a reason. It takes one less thing off the quarterback to think about on every play. So, those are good.”

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