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Q. When you think about that playoff game against the Saints in 2013, in your first year, what do you think about? What comes to mind?
CHIP KELLY: We didn't make enough plays, especially down near the end. I thought we put ourselves in a hole; we were down 20-7 at one point. There are a million things that go through your mind: you lost the game by two; missed a 54-yarder; we had the ball inside the 20, but then we probably had a bad call with a screen pass that got us minus 8 [yards] and then we took a sack on the next play that put us back another 11 or 12 [yards]. We ended up having a third-and-23 when we [initially] had the ball on the 15-yard line. You think about that series right there. If we had just kicked the field goal, we probably would have been in a better situation. We had to attempt too long a field goal [in] a night game, cold. And then not containing Darren [former Saints and current Eagles RB Darren Sproles] on the last kickoff, I think, was a big turning point in that game. They got the ball out, plus the penalty, out past midfield. So a lot of different things when I think about that game.
Q. You have referenced the state of kicking in the league. There have been 17 missed extra points this season. Has your opinion changed at all in terms of two-point conversions and your approach to it?
CHIP KELLY: Not right now, no. The ball hasn't moved -- my whole opinion was that they were asking you to go for two, but they never enticed you. They didn't move it to make going for two -- going for two is difficult. I haven't looked at the stats. What are the stats?
Q. 15-for-29 this season, I believe.
CHIP KELLY: 15. So it's 50 percent.
Q. Thereabouts.
CHIP KELLY: So, it's about the same thing, you know. You're not 50 percent on extra points, but you're 50 percent [on two-point conversions]. But then you get an extra point when you get that. So I haven't really looked at it that way.
Q. K Caleb Sturgis said earlier in the week that he's appreciative of everybody showing him support. How do you handle a kicker coming off a game like he had? Do you do anything different in talking to him?
CHIP KELLY: No, but I think all of us contributed to the loss. I mean, you can't pin that on one guy where he missed a kick so we lost the game. As I said, I didn't call a good game. We made other mistakes in other players. So it doesn't come down to one player. I think all of us, and we talked about it as a group, if we can just be one play better as a group, we've got a shot at it. So it doesn't always fall on just one individual's shoulders.
Q. So you told him that? You stressed that?
CHIP KELLY: Yeah, I mean, we stressed that to the entire team. Just like it's not one individual player that was the reason we lost that football game. There were a lot of us that could have made another play and if someone, just one of us, made one more play, then we have an opportunity to win the football game.
Q. Even though S Malcolm Jenkins and Sproles are a year removed from playing in New Orleans, do you believe the guys who played for a team you're about to play can generally help you with a game plan?
CHIP KELLY: I mean, I think they understand it. [The Saints are] different, though. Defensively they're different. They were more of a 3-4 team, I think, when Malcolm was there; they're not [now]. They're more of a 4-3 team now, so they've evolved in the two years since Malcolm's been removed from them. And then offensively, I think Darren understands Sean [Saints Head Coach Sean Payton], but I think what Sean does such a great job of, and it's why he's a helluva football coach, is that he always utilizes his personnel. So the personnel is different [now]. [Seahawks TE] Jimmy Graham is not there anymore. When we played them two years ago, they were a very tight end-centric operation, in terms of trying to get the [tight end] the ball, and rightly so, because of the talent that Jimmy Graham is. But it's a different kind of group. You've got different groups of receivers out there. So I think, obviously, Darren has a great understanding of the offense, but the offense is catered to the individuals and the individuals are different than when he was there.
Q. You mentioned on Monday that the running back on the first run play kind of didn't go the right direction.
CHIP KELLY: I didn't say he didn't go the right direction; I said he could have bounced it outside.
Q. Right, he could have bounced it out. Do you view that as leaving yards out there on the field?
CHIP KELLY: No, I just made that as a point that it's not always -- when we're running the football, it's a group deal. It's not just always on the offensive line. Sometimes it could be a different variation. If we bounced it, maybe we get a couple more yards than we did. That's all I'm saying.
Q. In watching film of RB DeMarco Murray we see him constantly getting caught in the backfield when defensive players are shooting through and offensive players aren't blocking. Do you feel like there's --
CHIP KELLY: I would not make that correlation, so I wouldn't -- I would not go there. You can go there, but I don't go there.
Q. I'm not going anywhere. I'm just wondering, is he --
CHIP KELLY: And I say, no.
Q. Is he leaving yards out on the field?
CHIP KELLY: No.
Q. I think you've been asked some sort of variation of this question, but do you buy into the idea that Murray is a volume runner, where he needs a certain amount in order to get going?
CHIP KELLY: No. I think the big misconception is -- DeMarco was hurt and didn't play against the Jets and he didn't practice a ton last week, so we're trying to get him back up to speed. So I don't look at, you know, he didn't carry the ball. He carried the ball zero times versus the Jets because he was hurt. Then he didn't practice every day last week, so we didn't know how much of a volume we could have with him. So --
Q. But is he a volume runner, though?
CHIP KELLY: I don't know what volume runner is. I never looked at things like that.
Q. He said that he wanted to get lathered up. In other words, get a certain amount of carries, like 20 or 25 carries.
CHIP KELLY: Yeah, but if you have 22 carries for zero yards, we better call another play. You know what I mean? So, I mean, I would love to get everybody in a right lather and going, but when we're not having success running the ball at all, then it's tough to say, 'Hey, we're just going to make sure we get him 22 carries and he's lathered up.' I mean, it's the entire group. And it's not just one player that's involved in it; it's the entire group involved in us being successful rushing the football.
Q. How much of that falls on the running backs and how much is on the offensive line?
CHIP KELLY: It falls on everybody. It falls on everybody. It falls on the play calls; it falls on the play designs; it falls on the offensive line; it falls on the receivers; it falls on the quarterback; it falls on everybody. It's on the entire offense, [which] contributes to our success or non-success. It's not an individual sport. This isn't tennis. This isn't golf. You just can't say it's this guy's fault. It's not the way this sport's set up; it's not the way the sport's ever been set up.
Q. Do you sense you have a who's who this week on your offensive line due to --
CHIP KELLY: No, we don't. That's a good question, and we don't. You know, we'll see. Lane's [T Lane Johnson] going to go today and see how much he can go today. J.P. [T Jason Peters] will go today; I don't know how much he'll go today, but I was told he's going to try to do some things today. Allen [G/T Allen Barbre] went full yesterday, but we'll see how Allen is as we progress through the week and we still have Thursday, Friday and Saturday. But no, we don't have that answer right now. Not on Thursday.
Q. Do you still plan on having Johnson do some work at left tackle?
CHIP KELLY: We'll see how he goes through training and how he feels. It's tough to put a lot on his plate if, you know, he starts to do some things and says he didn't feel right. So we'll just monitor that as we go.
Q. You guys started 1-3 in your first year and you guys rebounded and made the playoffs. Is there anything you can look back to that season that as a coach or things you did – I know it's different players – but grasp things from that to help you with that scenario or the hole that you guys are in?
CHIP KELLY: I mean, I know we had the same record, but I think it was different circumstances and different, again, different players, a different time, a lot of newness to what we were doing. You know, you played three games in 11 days to open the season. We opened on a Monday night, played a Sunday and then played again on a Thursday. So the schedule was different. So there's a lot of different things. I don't think there's a lot, aside from the record being the same, that is the same.
Q. Are the players responding the same way as they did when they were 1-3 in 2013?
CHIP KELLY: Yeah, these players are -- they come out here every day and work, and I said that immediately after the game. It's not a matter of effort. It's a matter of execution. And that's what we all have to do a better job [of] so that we can execute better.
Q. Does Saints S Jairus Byrd change how Saints Defensive Coordinator Rob Ryan does anything with safeties?
CHIP KELLY: I don't know, because the only game we've seen is the last game, and he didn't play. He played in their sub packages. He didn't play in their base packages. So I'm sure Rob's happy to have him back. Jairus is a helluva football player. But we don't know how they're totally going to deploy him because he didn't play in the first three games. He did play against Dallas, but it was only in sub looks so you don't know what he's like if he's out there in base defense.
Q. Both C/G Julian Vandervelde and C/G Josh Andrews are inside guys. If T Jason Peters is down, is that a problem having two backup guys, inside guys or is there enough versatility?
CHIP KELLY: Yeah, because you have [G/T] Dennis [Kelly] and Dennis can also play tackle and [G/T Matt] Tobin can play tackle, so we kind of have a center/guard combination. We have two. If you look at the way it was set up with nine guys, we had two center-guards in Julian and Josh and we have two guard-tackles in Tobin and Dennis.
Q. The last few times we've talked to you, it feels like you've been putting more on your own shoulders in terms of responsibility up there. On Monday, you were pointing to execution.
CHIP KELLY: Execution is all of us. It's just your interpretation. It's always on our shoulders. If we don't win, I think every person in this organization takes responsibility. It's the one thing I'm proud of this group is we don't make excuses or allow others to make excuses for us. If we don't win, we are what we are. We're a 1-3 football team. So that falls on everybody's shoulders in this organization. Coaching staff, players. We're all in this thing together, and it's not one individual's fault. I think I've tried to stress that. You just can't blame it on this person. It's not just one individual's fault. It's all of us collectively have to come together and that's the message I've had to our team. If it's been interpreted here differently, it really doesn't matter to me. I know the message that's sent to our team and I think they understand that.
Q. You're using a lot less 12 personnel this year so far. What's been driving that?
CHIP KELLY: I think how people defend 12 personnel. What that gets you from them. So when we put a personnel grouping on the field, what does it elicit from them, and then that becomes part of your determination. What do you want to face? So you can say, 'Hey, I want to feature this.' But if they say, 'We're going to do that,' maybe that doesn't match up with what we want to get accomplished. So that's really always how we base our decisions in terms of what personnel groupings we're going to deploy.
Q. Generally, when you play 11 personnel, you're looking for nickel defenses?
CHIP KELLY: That's what people have done, yeah.
Q. The way they use their running backs, how big of a challenge and what kind of challenge is that for your backers and your safeties?
CHIP KELLY: Obviously, [Saints RB C.J.] Spiller is a very talented player. Outstanding speed guy. And that was evident in overtime. The linebacker for Dallas was matched up on him, and he just ran by him and it was an 80-yard touchdown to end the game. So you've got to be conscious of him. But the other two guys can be used. [Saints RB Mark] Ingram is a tough, hard-nosed, physical runner and [Saints RB] Khiry Robinson can kind of do both. So I think you've got to be aware of who's in the game. Obviously, I think there's a little more of a deep passing threat when C.J.'s there as opposed to Ingram in there. But that doesn't mean it's not a challenge when Ingram's in there, because he's such a physical runner.
Q. Did you try to get Spiller during the offseason?
CHIP KELLY: Did we what?
Q. Did you guys try and get Spiller?
CHIP KELLY: Did we try to --
Q. Previously?
CHIP KELLY: No.
Q. When he was a free agent?
CHIP KELLY: No. I thought you meant did we try to trade for him. No, we weren't involved with Spiller.
Q. Is Saints QB Drew Brees un-blitzable or, I guess, as un-blitzable as --
CHIP KELLY: That's a good question. Unfortunately, the answer may be yes, you know what I mean? I mean, he's one of the all-time great quarterbacks to play in this league, and I think he's so in tune to what they're doing and he's so sharp in what they do. And you listen to his work ethic and how much he studies and how much he works at the game and it makes it very, very difficult. But I hope the answer isn't yes. We'll find out on Sunday.
