Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo Quotes
August 8, 2023
Q: What are your takeaways from Bryan Cook here in camp?
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah so Bryan (Cook) is really going to become the quarterback of the defense. Him and Nick (Bolton), and (he is) especially the quarterback on the back end. One other thing about Bryan (Cook) is he’s always looking for feedback. He came the other day and he wanted to do some more drills. That’s one thing he’s got, we saw that when we were looking at him out of (The University of) Cincinnati, his work, he loves football, passionate about football and we’re banking on him in that regard.”
Q: On how the defense has done well against the offense.
SPAGNUOLO: “I remember all the ones we weren’t successful on. We’ve had our moments. Today, that first team period that you saw was third and seven-plus. We should, from a statistical standpoint, we should win those. We won a number of those today which was good. The other day, it was a third and two-to-four and those were challenging, we didn’t win as many. So today we had a little more success, but it might have been more of the situation. The thing about that situation – I talked to the guys last night – is we’ve got to get them in that situation to be able to do what we do. They’ve been working hard. I got no complaints with the work ethic. I enjoy working with this group. They’re eager, very eager group.”
Q: Are there guys you’re particularly interested in seeing in the first preseason game?
SPAGNUOLO: “Obviously all the young guys that we don’t know anything about, (I’d) put them all in the same category. Maybe guys that are getting off of nicks, and bumps and bruises, see where they’re at. Other than that, the guys we know about certainly, (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid typically doesn’t have them out there too long. I think I’ve probably said this every first preseason game, I’m particularly more interested in finding out where we are as a tackling group. Where we are at eliminating big plays. You got to do that stuff first before you think about being any good.”
Q: How have the second-year guys like Joshua Williams and Jaylen Watson been handling trying to take steps forward in year two?
SPAGNUOLO: “At times, it’s up and down, but they’re light years ahead of where they were last year, so that part’s good. In the midst of the middle of training camp, everyone has an off play here or there, but the expectations for them are so much higher now than they were a year ago and we try to keep that expectation up high.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
CB JAYLEN WATSON
Q: How comfortable do you feel right now, compared to last year?
WATSON: “I’m super – I mean everything just slows down and the process just seems a lot slower than it did last year. Just everything (was) happening so fast, the offense moving so fast, now that I know what I’m doing and the guys I’m playing next to, I can move faster and more comfortable.”
Q: Defensive Coordinator Coach Steve Spagnuolo said he wants the second-year guys to put the mistakes behind them from rookie year and move forward. How do you feel you are doing with that?
WATSON: “I just try to stay consistent; I think that’s what (Defensive Coordinator) Coach (Steve) Spags (Spagnuolo) looks for who can he trust on the field. That’s what I try to do when we practice, I try to show the coaches that they can trust me to be in the right spots and the right places and my teammates can too.”
Q: What have you seen from Bryan Cook as far as improvement from him?
WATSON: “Bryan (Cook) has always been a person that has always been in the playbook, knows what he’s doing back there. Loud and confident last year behind Juan (Thornhill) as well, so we know if he went down (Bryan) Cook would be the next man ready. He’s just continuing to do that this year. He’s been a leader putting us in the right positions and he’s doing a great job.”
Q: With the first preseason game coming up, how excited are you to face another team?
WATSON: “I’m very excited. You know, training camp – you kind of get tired of each other, we’ve been here so long, you get tired of playing the same players. You get to play another opponent, so that’s always fun when you get to tackle, hit a little bit, and get our pads warmed backed up. Should be a great time.”
LB NICK BOLTON
Q: What do you want to get out of the first preseason game?
BOLTON: “Yeah, I think we can come in and get a lot out of it. Tackling for one, stopping the run, run game hasn’t really been a huge thing in this training camp, we’re more pass oriented. So, getting an opportunity to see how we compare against the run, get D-linemen inside blocks, linebackers stack and shed getting off of blocks and tackling on the perimeter. I feel like those are big things especially Weeks 1 through 5. As a defense, the kind of things we want to be on top of to help us out.”
Q: How would you compare how the defense has done this training camp versus last year?
BOLTON: “Yeah, I feel like this training camp for sure, I think everybody’s a little bit older in the scheme wise. J (Justin) Reid’s a second-year guy, I’m going into my third year, (it’s) Willie’s (Gay) fourth year, (L’Jarius) Sneed’s fourth year. So, the communication part, where we left off, where we were coming in from last year to this year, it’s night and day. Everybody’s communicating, everybody feels more comfortable. We can talk to each other, give people hand signals and know what each other are thinking. It helps us out a lot. So if we can keep doing that, keep building on that, I feel like we’ll be in a good position.”
Q: How excited are you to see the rookies and how they can tackle in the preseason games?
BOLTON: “Oh yeah, I’m excited for sure. We’ve got a lot of young rookies that came in, learning the scheme, and helping themselves get the scheme part down, so they can just strictly learn about playing just football and just hitting, tackling, making plays out in space, and trying to get back to where they were. I tell all the rookies that the goal is to try to mentally get to the part where you feel like you’re back in college again. Just go out there and line up, you hear the call, you go out there and just play. So, if we can get those guys to that point, I know we will be good and set up for the rest of the season.”
Q: Do you sense a different confidence in this group this year?
BOLTON: “Yeah, I think (it’s) a testament to our coaches, how much time people have put in the offseason. Granted we played at the end of February, so our downtime wasn’t as much as it was the year before. So, guys picking up where we left off and just understanding the communication of what we’re trying to do in the grand scheme of things. I think that’s helped propel us to where we are right now, and going against the offense, you know what they bring to the table. (They’re) the best in the league at what they do, so we can go out there every day and compete and make everything contested – even if they do catch the ball, make it contested – and that’ll help us down the road.”
TE BLAKE BELL
Q: Are you guys ready to see some different faces to hit when the first preseason game comes around?
BELL: “Absolutely. You know it’s always fun to come out here and work against teammates and stuff, but I think most of the guys would say the same thing, we’re ready to hit somebody else.”
Q: You guys don’t fully tackle here at camp. What’s it going to feel like once you get tackled in the first game?
BELL: “Yeah, I think it’s different. Here, you got guys trying to thud you and hitting you up high. A lot of the time in the games, safeties come and try to get your ankles and knees for some of us bigger guys. It’s fine you know; you get good work out here still, too. Sometimes in short yardage goal line (drills) we go live. Not that that’s really crazy tackling, but that’s still going live. I think we’ll be excited to get out there, especially defense, to hit some dudes.”
Q: After getting hurt in the preseason last year, how are you feeling now and how excited are you?
BELL: “I’m feeling good, I really am. You know just trying to get back this offseason and trying to stretch to keep my body loose a little bit. I’m feeling good. (It was) such a freak injury and the doctors did a great job last year getting me fixed up. The trainers did a great job, too, as well so I’m feeling great ready to roll.”
Q: Do you see more things coming out of this offense that we didn’t see last year?
BELL: “Yeah, always. You know I think that’s what’s great about the offensive staff, they’re always thinking. You see the ‘Ring Around the Rosie’ deal and plays like that. That’s why they do such a great job, and then all of a sudden, that’s when they give it to us. Pat (Mahomes) does a great job of just making everything fun in the huddle and doing these types of plays. So, you never know, we’ll see.”