Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
August 20, 2026
OPENING STATEMENT: “Good to see Herbie (Teope) (laughter). Great to have the military out here. Appreciate everything they do for us, so we can do what we do, all of us in this tent included. Then we appreciate the people here at Missouri Western State University, St. Joe (Missouri). They took great care of us, everything from food to making our beds to cleaning our room and that can be a chore, I know, with some of my guys, but they do a great job of helping us out, and we appreciate their hospitality. With that, the way the quarterbacks will play this week, we'll go a quarter and a half with (QB) Justin (Fields), a quarter and a half with (QB) Garrett (Nussmeier), and (QB) Chris (Oladokun) will take the fourth quarter. It'll be somewhere in that area. Don't hold me to the play on that, but that's kind of going in, that's a rough itinerary. And then the rest of the guys will follow that schedule. So, as far as injuries go, (LB) Jack Cochrane and (DB Chamarri) Connor tried it today. We backed them off. They will not play. (WR Jeff) Caldwell with his hyperextended knee, he won't play. (DE Ashton) Gillotte has a plantar fascia that ruptured. He won't play. (WR Jimmy) Holiday won't play and (T Josh) Simmons and (G) Trey (Smith) won't play on the offensive line. The rest of the guys will get up and have an opportunity to get out there and do some things. We'll just see how play time goes as we go through this thing. With that, that time's yours.”
Q: What is your biggest takeaway from camp?
REID: “Yeah, I'll tell you, they worked. They worked hard, and I appreciated that. I thought we made progress. I mentioned before, I think it's the young guys that you're really looking at here. We have a number of them, and how they’ve progressed and continue to progress will be a big part of how this team does. So, I appreciate the way they went about their business. You have examples like (TE Travis) Kelce, he's the oldest guy on the team and came out every day and worked to where you had to yank him out of there to give him a breather. Then (QB) Pat (Mahomes) doing what he did with his knee and didn't miss a day and (DT) Chris Jones, (LB Nick) Bolton, you have leadership like that, that's important. And the guys, I thought, followed right along with them.”
Q: Speaking of TE Travis Kelce, he's been here since you got here in 2013. What kind of foundational piece has he been to you and these training camps?
REID: “He's great. His attitude's great. He gets on guys. He's not afraid to do that. He brings energy. He knows when to cut it loose a little bit and have some fun. And then, he likes to give (Offensive Coordinator Eric) EB (Bieniemy) the business and that's always entertaining too. So, it keeps everybody on their toes.”
Q: You mentioned last week with the other injuries that there wasn't anything significant. I think with the newer ones, you have T Josh Simmons and DE Ashton Gillotte, what is the status?
REID: “Yeah, (DE Ashton Gillotte and T Josh Simmons) they're not—these aren't like extended injuries. They'll be back in, just nicks and bruises type thing. So, they're working through them, and they'll be back in and going.”
Q: Do you feel good about the health of G Trey Smith?
REID: “(G Trey Smith) He's making progress, so yeah.”
Q: Who jumped out at you? Are there some names of young guys that really stood out in your mind as you break camp?
REID: “Yeah, you could take that rookie class and look at them. They all, I thought, had their day and they've added some consistency to their game. We always talk about stacking days and improving every day and find one thing you can work on to get better at all those. All the same, I thought they handled that and tried to do that. So, you could take that whole class there, and I'd give them a thumbs up on how they went about their business.”
Q: I know you said QB Patrick Mahomes was not going to play this weekend. Is there any consideration to having him take maybe a series in the preseason finale? Is there any discussions about that?
REID: “Nate (Taylor), if you want him to do that, we'll put him in. We'll see how it goes. Yeah, we'll see how it goes.”
Q: You’ve got to spend some time watching football across town here, St. Joseph Goats game a couple weeks ago. How cool was that? And get to see (WR) D’ionte Smith, former Chief, and just getting to catch all that in.
REID: “Yeah, (D’ionte) Boo Smith. It was fun to watch. (St. Joe Goats Owner) Steve Craig, I know, is a big part of this community and he takes a lot of pride in that team and I loved the show. It was great. I would have liked that the air conditioners didn't break in the building, but that's alright. Kept it football. It was a hot day out here, and we just continued our day there. But congratulations to them for winning the championship. Doesn't matter what level you're at, it's a championship and they were the best at what they did. My hat goes off to him. It was fun. With the exception of getting hit in the head with the ball, it was good.”
Chiefs Players Quotes
August 20, 2026
LB NICK BOLTON
Q: On if there is an advantage to being away at Missouri Western State for training camp.
BOLTON: “When you’re here, it’s just ball. There’s not really outside factors. You have family and stuff that you can talk to when the day’s over with, but from the time you wake up to the time you go to bed, it’s just football. I enjoy it, I think the guys enjoy it. It’s been a great framework and has worked for us the past couple of years, so we are going to keep doing it.”
Q: What’s been the most amazing part to you about the last nine months with QB Patrick Mahomes?
BOLTON: “Just seeing how much he’s committed to the team. It doesn’t have to be that way; he came in as the season was over with, I came back just to pack up my stuff and he was already there. I came back a couple of times throughout the summer and he was there. I think I came down, took a vacation for a week and he came back and was there so, his commitment to the team and how much it means to him on a personal level but, also for just being a first teammate for his brothers.”
Q: What has it meant having TE Travis Kelce out here each camp with you?