Highlights

TODD HALEY: “Everybody was full [practice] today but Brandon [Flowers]. He’ll be listed as questionable.”

Q: Was there any improvement with Brandon?

HALEY: “Yeah, there actually was. He’s been fighting through.”

Q: What kinds of things have you seen in Matt Cassel that lead you to believe this is the guy you want to work with and take you guys into the future?

HALEY: “Matt’s experience-wise as a quarterback: not great. Every game is adding to that experience. He has his experience from last year and now he has his experience from this year in a pretty difficult situation as far as making some major changes early.

“I think Matt has shown the competitiveness necessary. He shows the arm, he shows the accuracy, he understands what we’re trying to get done. He protects the football very well for the most part. Now, we’ve had two hiccup games here and we have to go back to how we did it early in the year which is protect the football at all costs. That is a prerequisite to playing the quarterback position.

“Those are some of the things you can build on and as he improves in some of the experience areas – which are only going to improve with experience – you have a base to build on.”

Q: He has said he needs to stop having one bad play leading to another bad play. Why is that happening?

HALEY: “I probably don’t have the answer to that right now, but I recognize that it’s occurring. Again, that’s just part of the process with a bunch of younger guys that don’t have a lot of experience. It’s just learning how to roll with the ebb and flow of the game. it’s not going to go exactly the way you plan it and you’ve got to be able to adjust and overcome at times. Again, to me, it’s one of those things you don’t like to see happen but when it does you’ve got to learn from it, you’ve got to talk about it, you’ve got to talk about it as a group and try to make progress. It’s not easy when things go bad. You see that all over the league. Once things turn and go south a little bit it’s hard to pull it back together. The good teams do and the teams that aren’t ready to be good don’t.”

Q: Is the concept of one play at a time one of the toughest concepts for a player?

HALEY: “Yeah, without a doubt and that’s the whole thing about staying in the now, so to speak. Again, you see it all the time. A team thinks that, hey, we’ve got no chance, and then all of a sudden some things don’t go according to plan and you would have had a chance if you had done the things you talked about. It goes all the way from the big picture of the season down to a game and each play. Guys have to stay in the present tense and the idea that each play could be the difference in the game. You gotta play it like it is and not get too caught up in too much else.”

Q: Seems like there are two sports where that is so vital but so tough. In football you have about 30 to 45 seconds between plays and the other is golf.

HALEY: “No doubt. It killed me at times for sure. You have to stay in the present tense and that’s a pretty good analogy as far as mentally. Whether it’s a cornerback, kicker, quarterback, you have to put one play behind you and go on to the next one because there is some time to think about it where some other sports you don’t have time to worry, you’re on to the next play.”

Q: As the guy who draws up the plays and puts together the game plan are you able to spend as much time as you would like during the week with Matt Cassel doing film review or talking to him?

HALEY: “I don’t think you ever can feel like you spend enough time in that role. No different than the last couple of years I was the coordinator [in Arizona]. It always felt like you wished you had more time and it came down to texting and calling on the phone after hours. That’s the same stuff that’s going on now. I think as a coach you always wish you had more time. But we fill the day and that’s a priority for me when we get down to the nitty-gritty of the week.”

Q: Are you guys on the same page?

HALEY: “I don’t think you can have a quarterback and a play-caller that aren’t on the same page.”

Q: So being head coach doesn’t cut into that or been a problem this year? Is he clear on what you want?

HALEY: “As a coach, you always wish you had more time, but as far as time spent and time communicating and making sure the coordinator and quarterback are on the same page I think it’s been adequate, prefacing if I could bring him home at night and we could sit around the Haley house I’d do that.”

Q: The Chiefs escaped the possibility of a black-out for the first time in 20 years. How do you feel about that?

HALEY: “That’s something I don’t think I can get caught up in worrying about. I’m happy from the standpoint of the fans because that’s a big thing. But my focus is trying to get this team ready to beat the Bills. Knowing when we get this thing going right where we’re consistently competing and winning games that won’t be something we have to worry about too much. Winning solves most of those problems.

“My first day on the job one of the things that most excited me was the fan base and having come here as a visiting team and knowing just how hard it is to play here. It’s a really difficult place to play and win. So, whenever you have that advantage that’s a big thing as a coach and as a team. I don’t think you can necessarily measure it. When teams like Kansas City win a bunch of home games in a row for a long time like they did that gets pretty intimidating for the visiting team.”