Assistant General Manager Mike Borgonzi Quotes
August 14, 2024
OPENING STATEMENT: “Hey guys, good to see everybody. It's good to be up here at camp. I think we’ve had some really good work here at camp. I think the competition has been really good. That’s credit again to our personnel department for all the work they put in throughout the season not only evaluating the talent piece but also the character and the makeup which is a long process throughout the season. Once we get them inside the building, I think we have the best coaching staff in the National Football League just in terms of teaching and developing these guys to really maximize their abilities out here on the field. We get another preseason game here this week to evaluate them, (I’m) excited about that. Open up to questions.”
Q: Are there any guys in this 2024 Draft class that have surprised you in one way or another?
BORGONZI: “I’ve been impressed with just some of the guys (who’re) being thrown right in there. Kingsley (Suamataia) especially, playing left tackle as a rookie in the NFL is not (an) easy job. He’s going to go through his ups and downs, but just as far as you know he’s coachable, the consistency with him. All the rookies really, Jaden’s (Hicks) kind of made an impact early on. You saw that in the game, and you saw it out here in practice, and that’s kind of carried over to what we saw at Washington State. I think – you’re hopeful that what you see on film is what comes out here in practice and so far, those two guys are standing out to me.”
Q: On filling Hollywood Brown’s role.
BORGONZI: “I mean we have some veteran guys here that have played, obviously we threw in J Wat (Justin Watson) right after – in practice here to kind of replace him (Hollywood Brown). So, it’s really, you know you’re putting together a puzzle at the end of the cut-down day and where you might be heavy at certain positions (and) where you might be light. You take that all into account, where you have injuries maybe at that position. We’re a couple of weeks away from doing that, but that certainly factors into it.”
Q: Is it easier or harder that you have one big cut?
BORGONZI: “I think it’s easier for us because we get another week to evaluate some of these guys. For us, it really doesn’t matter. It’s almost better that we can take a longer look at some of these guys whether it’s practice or that last preseason game.”
Chiefs Coordinators & Assistant Coaches Quotes
August 14, 2024
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE TOUB
Q: What was the overall impression of last Saturday’s game?
TOUB: “We’ve got a lot of work to do. You look at it and you – (look) at coaching. We just need to get more reps out there and make sure it’s clear what the rules are. Obviously, we made a mistake in the game – ended up costing us. It’s a great learning experience for us.”
Q: Who will be returning kicks this Saturday night?
TOUB: “Same guys. Same guys that you saw. We didn’t get a lot (of returns.) Like I said, there were a lot of touchbacks. I still want to see other guys. I wanted to see (Louis) Rees(-Zammit), but he didn’t practice today. He might not be available. We’ll see. I still want to see – there’s a lot of guys I want to see. We’ve got time to do that.”
Q: Is Xavier Worthy able to return punts?
TOUB: “Yeah, he’s able. He’s probably one of our better guys. The injury to Hollywood (Brown) kind of changed things a little bit there with his status. We said, ‘We’ll keep him out this game.’ We still got two more games. We might get him in there, but if not, he’s done a lot in practice to show us that he can do it.”
DEFENSIVE BACKS COACH DAVE MERRITT
Q: Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo has talked about wanting someone to step up and play on the opposite of Trent McDuffie. What’s your message to the other cornerbacks?
MERRITT: “(The) same thing. You want a guy to step up. 35, Jaylen Watson, and Joshua Williams have played a lot of football for us. Nazeeh Johnson, of course, coming back off of a knee injury but you want someone to step up and be able to claim that position and not have a guy rotating and always looking over his shoulder. We’re looking for the same thing and I echo what (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) Spags said.”
Q: How do you determine who is ready to take over that second cornerback position?
MERRITT: “Consistency in practice, consistency in technique as well as consistency in understanding and knowing the calls. You can feel when a guy is ready to take over and just take it. (I’m) not saying that he’s going to be clean in everything that he does but once you see a guy consistently, day in and day out, not having the big lows (or the) big drops, you know that ‘Hey, this guy may be ready to go.’ Again, we have a great thing going here because the fab five, all those guys have played, a lot. So, with 35 (Jaylen Watson) and 2 (Joshua Williams), Josh and Jaylen – either guy that goes in and starts for us – you have to understand, we normally play six DBs on the field, sometimes five because the NFL puts out three wide receivers. Both of the guys are starters, anyway, so we’re really just talking about base personnel when it’s just two wide receivers in the game.”
Q: Has Jaden Hicks been everything as advertised?
MERRITT: “Yes. Yes. He (Jaden Hicks) is playing probably four positions right now. Strong (safety), free (safety), dime (back) – so he’s everywhere. The kid is smart (and) he’s able to absorb a lot of information. His head is spinning a little bit, but he’s definitely everything that we thought he was going to be. You can see the skillset, he made a couple of tackles last week, which was pretty good. (His) block destruction, (just) continue to work on being physical and quick as you’re shedding those blocks but yes, he is everything he advertised.”
DEFENSIVE LINE COACH JOE CULLEN
OPENING STATEMENT: “What a great day out here at St. Joe in training camp, (I) appreciate everybody being here. (It was a) great spirited practice. (It) seems I’ve been here for about three months, and it’s been a great camp. (It was a) great physical camp, (a) tough training camp the way (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid goes about it, and we’ve had great work. Defensive line going against (Offensive Line) Coach (Andy) Heck. I’ve been with him before. It’s been a great training camp and with that, I’ll open it up to questions.”
Q: What have you seen from the interior defensive tackles?
CULLEN: “Well I know – obviously Chris (Jones) had a great training camp up to the point (of) getting nicked up, but he’s – he’ll be back. Turk (Tershawn) Wharton had a dominating training camp, just strong (and) he’s physical – love where he’s at. Getting Mike Pennel back was really big, and he’s done a great job in training camp. He’s just so big and physical in there at the point of attack, but they’re really developing. Neil Farrell has done some good things, (he) just has to be more consistent and then we’re getting (Derrick) Nnadi back and the young guys have really worked hard.”
Q: What do you see as a role for Neil Farrell?
CULLEN: “Well, I’ll tell you he (Neil Farrell) really picked it up at the end of the year and we’ve got some competition there, in terms of that nose (tackle) spot. You have Mike Pennel (and) you have Derrick Nnadi who have both started a lot of years in the league. You have Neil (Farrell) who came on at the end of the year, you have Matt Dickerson, who had a good – really did a nice job in the game (and) we know what Matt’s done here for us. So, it’s – there’s some competition. I expect Neil – Neil’s a big physical guy at the point of attack and when he plays low pad level and uses his hands, he’s hard to block.”
Q: Do you have any inside-out flexibility guys to help out with the depth on the edge?
CULLEN: “Yeah, we do. Chris (Jones) obviously in passing downs we move out there. Turk (Tershawn Wharton) can do that. Earlier in camp we’re moving Turk outside in some base situations so he’s – there’s a 290-pound guy that’s quick and physical, but absolutely. We’ve got Mike Danna, George (Karlaftis), Felix (Anudike-Uzomah), and even Truman Jones who has done a nice job. (They) all can move in or out and then we’ve got Turk and Chris that can go out when we they have to.”
OFFENSIVE LINE COACH ANDY HECK
Q: What have you learned so far about Kingsley Suamataia and how he is fitting in? What’s his comfort level on the left tackle position?
HECK: “Yeah, Kingsley (Suamataia) – you can see it right off (the bat) – his talent, his physical talent. (He’s) big, strong, (and has) great movement skills. He’s shown a knack for being able to pull and make blocks in space. He’s a young guy that’s trying to grasp all of our techniques and as well as the playbook, so that’s a work in progress. (For the coaches), (just) kind of figuring out how does he learn best so we can help him grow as quickly as possible.”
Q: What’s been the key to starting rookie linemen and making sure they are ready?
HECK: “Well, first it starts with our scouts bringing in good people. Guys with requisite skills, size, strength. We’ve been fortunate here to get some really good guys in here. When you talk about Creed (Humphrey) and Trey (Smith), Kingsley (Suamataia) has that ability that you can put up against anybody. Now, it’s just a matter of execution, details (and) learning our offense.”
Q: Joe Thuney seemed to be helping Kingsley Suamataia. From your perspective, how helpful is it to have a veteran helping and filling in the blanks for rookies like Kingsley?
HECK: “That is huge. So, Joe (Thuney) especially, but not just Joe – I mean all of our veteran guys are fantastic with our young guys. We’ve got a super young (offensive line) room with seven rookies, but you talk about Joe Thuney grabbing Kingsley (Suamataia) it’s like another coach on the field. He’s able to be supportive, he’s able to push him, he’s able to hit him on some details, (or) maybe answer a question that he didn’t have a chance to ask in a meeting. That is absolutely invaluable and that’s one of the reasons we’ve got such a great culture in our room.”
WIDE RECEIVER COACH CONNOR EMBREE
Q: What have you seen from Xavier Worthy and his ability to grasp the playbook so far?
EMBREE: “He’s been great. He’s been working hard and picking up the playbook. That’s probably been the best thing, or most impressive thing, to me is how quick he’s been picking up the playbook.”
Q: What are you guys asking Rashee Rice to do as far as being better this year?
EMBREE: “With Rashee (Rice), I’m just really asking him to now just develop into a leader. Last year, any rookie – he’s just trying to focus on himself, know what to do, (and) do his own job. Now that next step is do your job and help out all the other receivers.”
Q: You won the Super Bowl but led the league in drops. How do you work on that this season?