On importance of having a coach with prior playoff experience:

"I think it's really valuable, and Matt's been around a lot of success, so you know we'll definitely lean on that as a team, but I just think, when you think about his interview and that whole process, really there's so much research that goes on before the interview, you feel like you have a lot of those answers. But Matt, you've been around him long enough to know, he exudes confidence, and that's infectious to the entire organization, not just the players. But the thing that I remember about the interview is when he came in, the night before [the Chiefs] had just played the Tennessee Titans and immediately he went to that game, kind of what went wrong, and what he learned from that, and I thought that was impressive."

On coaching staff:

"I think when you talk about a coaching staff, immediately everybody thinks about the X's and O's, and play-calling and schemes, and obviously that's important and that's huge. But I think another huge component is the development of our players, and we can draft the right players but they can fail or succeed based on that player development that takes place, and I think it's an organizational effort obviously, and I think our coaches take a lot of pride in developing our players and that's good to see."

On possibility of playing Vikings in back-to-back weeks:

"I've never experienced that, and I think all we can do right now, all our focus is on directly what's in front of us, and then the rest of it is just going to play out, however that happens, and I think right now, we're locked into this opponent, and it's going to be a difficult environment today and we've got to be ready."

On reactivating offensive lineman Kyle Long to the roster:

"He's worked extremely hard to get himself back and in a position to play. He really, it's a credit to him, our doctors, our trainers, our strength coaches. You know, he obviously gives our offense a huge boost when he's in there. We're excited to get him back out there with his teammates."

On offensive lineman Bryan Witzmann stepping up during Long's absence:

"I feel fortunate that we were able to pick him up when we did. You said his knowledge of the offense, that was important. We could just put him right in, and he's done a great job, and I think he's a true pro just the way he approaches everything, and again, we're fortunate to have him."

On Vikings defense:

"You look at this team as a total team and I think they're just overall solid in so many areas, and can't say enough about the job coach [Mike] Zimmer and [general manager] Rick Spielman have done in constructing that team, because I just think they're a real solid team. On offense, they're kind of clicking on all cylinders right now, and then you said it, the defense is playing at an elite level. They're first in sacks; they're first in third down; they're first in red zone, so this is a really good team we're facing."