DAVE CANALES: The guys, they look fresh just coming off of the week, getting our minds back and our bodies back.
So just a great day seeing some guys out there running around. Jonathan Brooks put together another great day. Really high hopes for him playing this Sunday. Feely had a nice day coming back in there, too.
Barno was another one who hopped out there. Took a number of reps today. Everybody was excited to see him back out there and the long journey he has been on to get himself back to help us out. So another guy to just kind of look at and evaluate as we go forward.
Q. Any concerns about some of the guys who didn't practice?
DAVE CANALES: All guys that had things coming out of the last game. So take advantage of one more day to get ready. They should all be practicing tomorrow.
Q. With Barno, looked like he was moving forward around pretty smoothly. What would it take for him to be cleared?
DAVE CANALES: It's just a comfort level of the workload, it's. It's kind of the same thing with all these guys. As they come back, they are physically ready to do it. The fitness level and the football fitness specifically is the part that we have to assess to make sure that we can put them out there for significant snaps.
Again, it's really hard to go into game thinking a guy is going to be on a pitch count. You really want to be able to count on them to play. So that's kind of the determination we are going to have to make with Barno.
Q. At center, have you guys made a decision there?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, Cade Mays took the snaps with the first group today. Brady took snaps, as well, and you know, he does some other things, too.
But Damien was out today with an illness. He'll be back tomorrow hopefully. Chandler got some good work in there and the group again just kind of, when one guy goes down, the next guy comes up and try to continue to just take the next step forward?
Q. To clarify, did you say Cade is going to start?
DAVE CANALES: Yes.
Q. Cornerback was an early season concern. Over the past ten weeks, how would you describe the chemistry between JC and Jackson?
DAVE CANALES: Yeah, it's been great to see the progress, the growth. It's really the whole thing, right, and playing together, the communication and the back half with the safeties, and kind of a different group in and outdoing that.
But I love where the guys are at right now just in terms of their formation identification, playing their leverage, being disciplined about being where they are supposed to be and making plays when the ball comes to them. So.
A lot of growth there, and I also know that it's the full thing, you know, to see our pass rush starting to come along and all those things, too. It really helps the whole thing.
Q. Do you consider them one of the most underrated duos in the league?
DAVE CANALES: I don't know about that. For us it's just about our weekly improvement and guys just owning our concepts.
Q. I know back early in the season Brooks gave you that kind of home run threat. What are you hoping for?
DAVE CANALES: I'm just hoping to see him play confident and fast and be able to capture the style of football he's used to playing. I know that's going to take time but I believe that he's physically ready to start that, go down that road and particularly with Myles out to give us another running back in there with Chuba to be able to carry the load.
Q. Bernie's style seems to real will he resonate with this running back group. What does he bring, not only to that group but your whole staff?
DAVE CANALES: I think just Bernie's spirit. He shows up every day with a genuine excitement and he lives with gratitude. I think if I could put it into one word, it's all over him. I know and I believe that it comes directly from his faith and just how thankful that he is that God has blessed him with this opportunity to continue to be in football. Loved it and loved it as a player. For anybody who is old enough to remember.
Bernie Parmalee with the Dolphins, I was kind of a Dolphins fan growing up. He just has that fire and also the mentorship part of it that he knows this thing is just bigger than football so he's investing in each person in the room and I know they can feel that love and respect.
Q. Do you have a good Patrick Mahomes story?
DAVE CANALES: Not really. Just watching him play, he's a fantastic player. He's awesome watch and we've got a great challenge for us is to be able to take in all the information of the whole offense and what he means for them.
Q. Is it natural when you're playing against a guy like that for opponents to be like, that's Patrick Mahomes, and also assuming that he's going to make a play at certain times?
DAVE CANALES: Honestly we just try to keep the focus on us. I know you guys are probably expecting me to say that. But it's the truth. You know, we play our schemes. We own our leverage. We can be tough against the run and can we affect the passer with our rush and be disciplined about our rush lanes because we know he's going to move and do those things.
It's about sticking to our plan, the different things that we're practicing on and making sure that we execute play-in and play-out.
Q. With all the guys returning on defense is there a new hope within that unit and how it is going to operate moving forward just because you guys had so many lumps early on?
DAVE CANALES: It's really good to get guys back but I think it's just the whole group starting with Gerald and just his dogged discipline and commitment to playing the core of our system. The fundamentals of our system. The little things that matter. Knowing the D&D. Knowing where I'm supposed to be at and just all the little details that come with it. That's the discipline required that when we have challenges and when you struggle, it's like we can't abandon things that we believe in. We have to just press in. Press in to the stuff we know, and that's what we've seen is weekly improvement in areas.
That's continuing to be the progress and the players are owning that part and they can feel that and their confidence grows with knowing -- it's about knowing what I'm doing and knowing where I'm supposed to be at and how quickly can I get that information. Communicate it inside out. So I see that happening with the group and confidence comes with that.
Q. What challenges will the Chiefs defense offer?
DAVE CANALES: It starts up front. You've got Chris Jones. You've got Karlaftis. You've got guys that they have got depth in their rotation up front. They have a really solid group of linebackers as well playing behind them. So I just think that being able to make sure that we are covering the first level in the run game and the pass game, it always starts there. And then just the variety of things that Spags can throw at a team.
We just have to be prepared for those answers and any time there's multiplicity in a defense, I think the premium goes on things that we know really well. Instead of trying to attack specific things that they are going to have variety, let's do our best stuff as fast as we can to try to put a little bit of stress on them.
Q. Do you remember having any particular reaction when you saw this stretch of games when the schedule was released, beginning with this Chiefs matchup?
DAVE CANALES: Honestly I saw the schedule. I looked at it and I knew that the commitment had to be weekly improvement. Let's get our system in place in all phases, offense, defense and special teams. Let's get our communication and processes from a staff standpoint the way it is.
So I try not to look too far in advance. Of course, we had to plan for Germany and we had to plan for the bye week and the different things that came along with this. But our schedule has been predictable, playing on Sundays.
So that part of it, again, that's the challenge, right, is can we just focus one week at a time and can we just be really connected to the things that need attention, that need improvement.
Q. What have you noticed about Cade since he's been back here, and obviously it's a numbers game, that you thought could really help the guys?
DAVE CANALES: Just eagerness, eagerness to be able to help in any way possible. I think from the minute that we had Austin get injured, we immediately was like, where's Cade, and he was in New York with the Giants. The conversations and all that, you know, his excitement to come back here, he loves it here. We love guys that want to be here that want to be invested in what we're doing and just the willingness to apply himself and to get after it.
So I just kind of saw that look in his eyes, the gratitude, here we go, get another chance to get back and help.
Q. At center, what are his strengths for you guys?
DAVE CANALES: He's really thought not rum game he did a great job last week pairing with Rob and Damien going against Dexter. That was a little bit of an advantage for him is this is a player that I've played against. And all camp against Brown and you go against Dexter Lawrence and the likes, and so I think some experience playing against those types of guys.
And on top of that, just his ability to get the runs, get the passes, directed and ID it the right way. So that there was no drop-off from an assignment standpoint was great.
Q. Wide receiver group looks very different than what it looked like when Adam last played. How will his return impact Jalen Coker who has seemingly taken on his previous role?
DAVE CANALES: We are very flexible with where we can put guys and whether you're the X, F or Z, kind of traditionally, the F is like traditionally slot term.
But the way that we play our system is we try to put guys in different positions for the concepts and for the matchups, and Feely gives us a lot of flexibility with being able to take advantage of matchups when we can. The development of Jalen, as well, to be able to use in different spots really gives us some flexibility, and I think just in general, you know, just Adam's professionalism, the way he approaches his day, the way he prepares his body, his mind, the way he attacks practice and all that. It's such a good thing for a young group of guys to be able to see, this is what it looks like to be a pro who has played and had success for a long time.
So he brings a lot, you know, and just a lot of wisdom and side conversations about different coverages and things like that.
Q. In your experience, what's the hardest thing for a rookie receiver to latch on to, especially as you get to this point of the year?
DAVE CANALES: It's always about the details, the subtle details in formations. Are you supposed to be two yards from the numbers or four yards from the numbers? Are you supposed to be a yard outside the tight end or three and they are all so critical to the schemes that we try to do, and that's particularly difficult for young guy who is kind of just want to hear the play and go run the play. But there's all these other things that happen. And then you talk about NFL defenses and the way that they disguise coverages and things like that.
Those are all the things that, again, we are still growing through, and every week is a great lesson for those guys to be able to see it and follow through with Rob Moore who has done a great job of spending time with the young guys to get them up to speed.
And again, those guys, we have been pleased to have two young guys, even with the little subtle things that I would love to be perfect, they make plays when the ball comes to them, and that's been so refreshing for us.
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