Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
November 20, 2024
HEAD COACH ANDY REID
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, everybody will go today for practice, as far as the injuries go. (We) look forward to the challenge of playing the Panthers. They’re playing real good football right now and (they’re) well coached and they have good players. They’re playing – like I said, they’re coming off two good wins there. Anyways, with that, the time’s yours.”
Q: How much do you foresee Isiah Pacheco playing on Sunday if he plays?
REID: “We’ll see on both those two – Charles (Omenihu) and him (Isiah Pacheco). (We’ll) kind of go through the practice and see where we’re at this week and we’ll go from there. We’ll just have to see. (It’s) a day-by-day type (of) thing.”
Q: Do you sense it’s easier to reach the guys about the details or urgency after a loss?
REID: “I think – listen, I think the guys have been receptive all the way through so I wouldn’t say that. We’ve got a couple (of) things (that) we obviously have to fix so (we’ll) keep working on those.”
Q: What’s the potential for Kareem Hunt and Isiah Pacheco in the same backfield?
REID: “We’ll (laughs) – we’ll find a way. Both of them (Isiah Pacheco and Kareem Hunt) are good players so we’ll find a way to get both of them in (the game) - if and when that takes place - but that’s a good problem to have.”
Q: How’s Isiah Pacheco been? Have you had to keep him back for his own good?
REID: “Listen, he’s (Isiah Pacheco) a sparkplug now, emotionally. He’s something that – he’s worked his tail off to get to the point that he’s at now, so we’ve got to keep an eye on him that way. He would have played three weeks ago if he had his choice (laughs). That’s sometimes how it goes. I appreciate that though, that mentality. That’s what’s helped him, like I said, get to this point.”
Q: How did Charles Omenihu and Isiah Pacheco look in practice last week?
REID: “Both of them (Isiah Pacheco and Charles Omenihu) took all of the scout team reps so they did a nice job and I thought (they) got some productive work.”
Q: Anything stand out to you defensively about the Panthers?
REID: “So offensively, they obviously have a good running back (Panthers RB Chuba Hubbard) and a good quarterback (Panthers QB Bryce Young), he’s playing good football right now – (a) wide receiver, 17 (Panthers WR Xavier Legette) is a heck of a player and they have a very good offensive line. So, they’re moving the football the last couple of games very well. Defensively, it starts with their front. They’ve got a good defensive front. Their linebackers fly around, we know one of them from Denver – (Panthers LB Josey) Jewell. He knows that defense and he’s the one that’s kind of hitting things up there from that standpoint. Then, their secondary, they have two good corners and two good safeties. They just got 20 (Panthers S Jordan Fuller) back so he’s – they have a lot of trust in him and he’s a good football player.”
Q: On the inconsistency with the deep balls from Patrick Mahomes to Xavier Worthy.
REID: “There are things that – little things – here and there. It could be him (Patrick Mahomes), it could be not being able to see it, just worries the way the defense is playing it, whether it’s a possible pressure situation there. It’s been a variety of things. It will happen, it’ll click here. He sure had a nice game though. He was positive in that last game.”
Q: What lesson did the young guys learn on Sunday and after watching film on the game?
REID: “Yeah, the guys – listen our attitude is great. Those guys have been – they want to get better. They want to learn. It’s always been that way since they’ve been here. That game (against a) good football team – gives you that experience. You take it and you learn from it, and you move on. I mean, I’m not going to go – I can’t go through everything there but as far as that but they’re receptive to it. The best part is they’ll go try it so that’s a – that’s the important part.”
Q: The Bills were successful playing you in man coverage. Does that play into your game planning this week or will you more so look at what the Panthers have been doing?
REID: “Probably a combination. We’re trying to focus in on them (Panthers), that’s where it’s happening and then they’re improving as they go along. They’re coming off a bye week so you know they’re going to be fresh and ready to go and so we try to hone in – they’ve got good coordinators there. The schemes are sound and you have to make sure you spend the time exhausting yourself on that and then the techniques and fundamentals of their players so you get – you’re right there.”
Q: On Hollywood Brown’s status.
REID: “Making very good progress. I can’t tell you a time when he’ll (Hollywood Brown) be back but he’s another one that’s excited to get back out here and get going. I appreciate the way he’s approached this whole thing.”
Q: Do you know anything about Panthers Head Coach Dave Canales?
REID: “I don’t really know him (Panthers Head Coach Dave Canales), but I know where he’s come from. I’ve had a chance to meet him and talk to him and that at the owner meetings – sharp guy. I think he’s doing a heck of a job down there. It looks like the guys believe in what he’s saying. They’re playing hard.”
Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes Quotes
November 20, 2024
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: What did you see that you guys need to improve upon going forward?
MAHOMES: “There’s just – I think, a couple plays here and there kind of changed the momentum of the game. If you look at the throw to Xavier (Worthy) down the sideline, or even the throw in the second – in the third quarter on second down where I hit Trav (Travis Kelce), I could’ve probably hit Noah (Gray) if I just wait on the progression. (It’s) just little plays like that are what make the difference in a big game and so (it’s) just stuff that you have to go back, look at, learn from and try to get better at.”
Q: On if the mindset changes after a loss.
MAHOMES: “I think just having – like you said, a sense of urgency from the beginning of the games. I feel like offensively we can be better in the way we start and the way we play throughout the entire game because you can tell whenever a lot of times in the fourth quarter when we need to score, we go right down the field and score. If we can play the entire football game like that, it won’t put us in these situations where (we’re) in one-score games at the very end.”
Q: Do you think it’s easier to get everyone’s attention where there’s a consequence like a loss?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, we have a lot of veterans, so they know what we need to do, but obviously a loss kind of heightens everybody’s attention to detail. I think that’d be the biggest thing, but at the same time, we know it’s a long season. You lose a football game here and there, but you try to learn from that and try to be better the next week.”
Q: What is it about Noah Gray that allows him to have one of the highest catch percentages in the league?
MAHOMES: “He (Noah Gray) does everything the right way. He’s learned a ton from Trav (Travis Kelce) and so he knows how to kind of work within the rules of the offense and get himself open. He’s just a guy that’s going to be in the right spot so as a quarterback you know if you’re going to give him the football, he’s going to make the play happen. He’s not going to talk a lot. He’s going to come in – he’s going to come to work, do his job, but at the same time, those are the guys you want on your team because you know that he’s going to do whatever it takes to win.”
Q: What are your expectations for Isiah Pacheco when he comes back?
MAHOMES: “I think you said it. I think it’s going to be us trying to hold him (Isiah Pacheco) back because he’s a guy that wants to be out there as much as possible and he wants to play, but at the same time he wants to win. He knows the long-term goal that we have. Our goal is to get him back as quickly as possible but at the best time for him and his body so that we can have him for the long haul. Whenever that is, I know he’ll be ready, and he’ll be that energizer bunny that everybody loves to see.”
Q: What do you like about Tyquan Thornton’s potential?
MAHOMES: “Obviously, in season (I) haven’t watched a ton of film on him (Tyquan Thornton) but just from the highlights that I have seen – I mean, (he has) a ton of big-play ability. Someone that has a big frame – I didn’t realize how tall he was until he got in the building. I’m excited to see him on the practice field working and I’m sure guys like Carson (Wentz) and them will give him chances downfield and we’ll get to see that speed. (He has) a lot of talent (and) a lot of ability and I think it will be good to get him worked in within the offense and see what he can do.”
Q: Did the early interception and touchdown mess up the plan that you guys had to start the game?
MAHOMES: “Not necessarily. Interceptions are always kind of a bump in the road because you don’t want to have those, but at the same time, I think (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid does a good job of going back to it (and) going back to the way we want to go about a game. I mean, obviously with them (the Buffalo Bills) scoring from the interception, you have to try to find ways to get back in the end zone and you have to keep the game close, keep it tied or whatever that is. I don’t think it does much. I mean, I know for me, it’s just you (have to) keep firing. You don’t want to throw interceptions, but at the end of the day once they happen, there’s nothing you can do about it. You just learn from it and try to be better the next time.”
Q: On the play calls during the game.
MAHOMES: “I mean, for sure. Obviously, we didn’t run a ton of plays this last game, so with the interception kind of stalling out that drive quickly and then kind of how the flow of the game was, we probably threw the ball more than we might have wanted to from the beginning of the game. I thought (Head) Coach (Andy Reid) did a good job of getting the run game back going as the game went on which opened up other things as well. I think more than anything, just having the offensive line that we have and those three guys (Trey Smith, Creed Humphrey and Joe Thuney) in the middle running downhill is hard for defenses to account for. If we can run the ball downhill it opens up everything else. I think Kareem (Hunt) and all of those guys do a great job of doing that. You kind of have to play the flow of the game. You can talk about it on the sideline, but all of us have full belief on whatever (Head) Coach (Andy Reid) calls we’re going to go out there and execute.”
Q: What type of challenges do the Carolina Panthers present?
MAHOMES: “First off – great defensive coordinator. I played against him (Panthers Defensive Coordinator Ejiro Evero) when he was in Denver. (He’s) very smart, very intelligent and he kind of gets his guys in the right position. They have a lot of talented players. I think you’ve seen that these last few weeks is that they play hard and they’re playing better football as the season goes on. It will be a great challenge for us going there to play them. They’re coming off two wins and a bye (week) so they’re going to be hungry. It will be a great opportunity for us to go out there and try to find a way to get a win.”
Q: On the missed deep throws to Xavier Worthy.
MAHOMES: “I think you’ve seen it as the season’s gone on that he’s (Xavier Worthy) playing faster. He has more confidences about me being on the same pages as him. I can sit here and we can practice it all we want but until we start doing it in the game, there’s nothing much more that I can really say about it, but I’m excited for it. I believe it’s going to start happening and once it starts happening, the offense is going to really take off.”
Q: Has each play been a little bit different?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, they’re all different type of plays. Some of them he’s (Xavier Worthy) the first read, some of them it’s kind of an alert type (of) read. I think more than anything when you look at the film, you see him getting open, you see him utilizing his speed. Then, now it’s about me making the throws where he can score touchdowns. If we score those touchdowns, like I said, it changes the entire ball game.”
Q: As a leader, how do you help the rookies ramp up to the playoff standard?
MAHOMES: “This is kind of the point where you have got to start taking off. You have to kind of start building – you want to do it all season long but it’s a long season. As we kind of get to this back stretch you want to be playing your best football going into the playoffs. As you get close to Thanksgiving and everything like that, you want to start showing progression and stuff that we’ve worked on throughout the year. I feel like we’re close to doing that, but we want to keep building and keep getting better so we’re playing our best football at the end of the season.”
Q: How much do you think that first half against the Bills can be momentum for Xavier Worthy for the rest of the season beyond the deep ball threat?
MAHOMES: “I think more than anything is you just saw the confidence that he (Xavier Worthy) was playing with which you could tell that he has more confidence within himself and what he can do within the offense. Whenever he’s playing confident and not thinking, he’s playing fast and it’s hard for people to account for how fast he is so I’m excited for him. I thought that was a good jump off point. We have to keep him more involved in the offense throughout the second half, but at the same time, I think that’s going to help the offense go.”
Q: Do you find it harder for you to be more patient with your tackles struggling?