Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
August 17, 2026
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, as far as the injuries go, really today (T Matt) Waletzko hurt his knee out here, not sure how bad it is, we'll just get that checked here. (OL Esa) Pole had some dehydration, (S DeShon) Singleton tweaked his hamstring a little bit, and then (LB Jack) Cochrane's knee, didn't finish practice there. The rest of the people you already know, they're from last week. (CB Mansoor) Delane did practice today, did everything, was in all the drills and looked good, so it's good work for him as he goes through that. As far as the game goes, kind of like what I mentioned after the game, there were some good things, it was great to get the young players in and get them moving around a little bit and see how they do under that pressure of playing in a game. And there's some things we've got to clean up, obviously the five holding calls and the five illegal procedure penalties, you can't have those. I mean it's just that discipline. You've got to be more disciplined than that, so we go back and we keep stressing that. Anyway, both sides of the ball, plenty of stuff to learn from. But there were some really good things that we took out of it from some of the young guys there, and they got plenty of play time, which was good. Time’s yours.”
Q: On what the position coaches such as Running Backs Coach DeMarco Murray and Wide Receivers Coach Chad O’Shea are bringing to the offense.
REID: “I like the detail they're bringing to the group there. They're staying on the guys, and the detail of their work. They've got some young guys that they're dealing with, and new guys at the position, so from another team, so free agents. There's a lot of teaching going on, and they're doing a good job doing the teaching.”
Q: On the right tackle position.
REID: “Yeah, listen, (OL Jaylon) Moore has been doing a great job in there for us. But with that, (T Kahlil) Benson doesn't get any reps at it, and we want him to go against the better players and have a chance to continue to grow there. So, we just flopped him over and let Moore get some reps at guard, and then Benson get some reps at the tackle spot. But Benson held his own at the guard spot in the game, but listen, they need to be able to play both as we go through this thing and it's a good experience for them, but it's not one over the other. Like I said, Moore, he’s put together a lot of good days here, and played good the other night, or yesterday, whenever we played here. Saturday. All the days are running together (laughter).”
Q: Do you feel good about where G Trey Smith is at?
REID: “Yeah, (G) Trey's (Smith) doing good. We'll see. He's getting close, so we'll see where it goes. I don't know if you'll see him this week, but he's getting close.”
Q: What is the process of trying to catch CB Mansoor Delane up with the defense?
REID: “Yeah, so the doctors have done their studies. He had one done the other day, and looks like he's healing up pretty good, enough to where he can get out here and do some things, and then we'll just monitor and see how he does with the extended play. He hasn't taken that many reps as what he did today, so we'll just see how he does.”
Q: Where do you want to see RB Emmett Johnson go from here?
REID: “Yeah, he did a nice job. He ran hard. Some of his footwork, (is) getting him going in the right direction early. I'm not saying he went the wrong way, he tried to tie the footwork up at the back with the O-line, and you've got to be able to set those guys up, and there's got to be a certain amount of patience, and your angle becomes important on that, that you take to the line of scrimmage, so he can work on that. But as far as the effort, ability to make people miss, he’s got a pretty good idea of his vision. All those things were positives.”
Q: What has it been like to see RB Kenneth Walker up close and what can he add to this team?
REID: “Yeah, he comes to work every day. He works hard, so I like that. He catches the ball well, blocks well, runs well, so yeah, I like what we see, for sure.”
Q: Is there something you can add to your practice to get that discipline that you can talk about?
REID: “Yeah, well, you've got to put yourself in the right position, so you're not doing those things. On the offensive line, we're overshooting things a little bit, and we've got to make sure we cover up bodies on that in the run game, and last game, you've got to let go. There's a time and a place where you've got to let go. It's not an effort thing. It's putting yourself in the right position, discipline in it, and then you do the same thing in practice. You work on that and then it's our responsibility to hold the guys accountable during practice.”
Q: On the depth in the TE room.
REID: “They're all getting better, which leads to great competition there, so I like what we see. (TE) Jake (Briningstool) and (TE) Tre (Watson) are doing a nice job. (TE) Jared's (Wiley) doing a good job, so happy with that spot. We've just got to keep growing. They've got a few things they can correct from this game, which will be good for them, but the energy's right, the willingness to block is right. We've just got to keep growing there.”
Chiefs Players Quotes
August 17, 2026
TE JARED WILEY
Q: On differences between last year and this year regarding injury.
WILEY: “Stiffness. I had a lot of stiffness last year. Still was dealing with some swelling and stuff like that. I would say the main thing though is mentally – just mentally trust yourself. Being able to do OTAs this offseason was a huge help. Just working through a bunch of that stuff and then by the time the season gets here you repeat these things so many times that you don’t even think about it anymore. Where last year, I felt like I was thinking about a lot before I was going in and out of breaks, before I was doing stuff.”
Q: What was it that got you over that hump with your ACL injury to where you felt comfortable?
WILEY: “Honestly, just a lot of stuff in the offseason that I did this year. I was able to actually workout instead of rehab this offseason, so that was big. You know, getting with some of my guys, route running, weightlifting, stuff like that. I was even doing Pilates. Literally whatever I could do to just try to work through some of those growing pains again.”
Q: On Saturday’s game catch.
WILEY: “Yeah that’s one of those for me — those types of catches are what I’ve prided myself on since I was in college. Making those hard grabs. I’m a big guy and the quarterback trusts me to put it up there where nobody else can reach it. Just stuff like that. Being able to be kind of a safety net or safety blanket for my quarterback whenever he is in trouble, however that needs to look.”
CB MELVIN SMITH
Q: Describe last season for you:
SMITH: “Last year, it was a good learning year, coming in, the playbook and having to learn the playbooks, learn how things are ran here. Last year, to learn under guys like (Rams CB) Trent (McDuffie), and guys like (Rams CB Jaylen Watson) JWat, (Bengals S) Bryan Cook. It was just a really big learning year, and trying to soak in everything, be a sponge to them.”
Q: What were some of the biggest things you picked up from guys like (Rams CB) Trent McDuffie, (Bengals S) Bryan Cook and (Rams CB) Jaylen Watson?
SMITH: “Really the way that they carry themselves on and off the field, the way that they practice, the way they move off the field, the way that they study. Things of that nature. Just really being on the sidelines, just watching them play every route almost. I picked up everything from them, honestly.”
Q: How do you feel about Preseason Game 1?
SMITH: “It was good. Good opportunity [to] show what I can do to the coaches, gain trust, and really just to be out there with my teammates, that’s all I can ask for.”
DE EMMANUEL OGBAH
Q: It’s been seven years since you’ve been up here. Can you talk about how different it is?
OGBAH: “You know just coming back, it’s been a long time. I always knew I was going to come back eventually; I just didn’t know when. But it feels good being back. I did not miss the dorms, but you know it feels good being back here.”
Q: What did they tell you about coming back and where you can fit in with the team?
OGBAH: “Just whatever they need me to play. Just attack whenever my name is called, and I’ll be ready to go.”
Q: What do you think of DL Peter Woods and DE R Mason Thomas so far?