Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
September 23, 2024
HEAD COACH ANDY REID
OPENING STATEMENT: “So, (I) had a chance to look at the tape and evaluate it. Obviously, (we have) plenty of things to work on, which is a good thing if you’re coming off of a win. We know there’s some things there that we need to do a better job with, especially playing a good Chargers team this week. I would tell you the same things that I told you last night, as far as the people that had the good games. There were some guys that really played well. I started with (Nick) Bolton just getting the wind knocked out of him and then sneaking back in there and making a big play like that was tremendous at the end (of the game) there. Maybe the best thing that took place was (that) nobody was pointing fingers, or everybody was supporting each other (and) working their way through. That’s happened, really, the last three games in these tight games, knowing that you’re going to get people’s best shot (and) you know you’re going to have to take it (the game) right down to four quarters. With that, (Carson) Steele had a nice day with 17 carries for 72 yards. I thought Rashee (Rice) played well. (He) had over 100 yards in receptions. Again, there were things that – all of these guys, we can all do better here - myself included. There were some positives that you could take out of this thing. It’s always good to get a win. Wins are hard to get in the National Football League, so when you start criticizing wins, there are a lot of variables that go into it. We’re finding a way right now, but we’ve got to clean it up and play better football. So, anyways, with that, time’s yours.”
Q: Patrick Mahomes was pretty critical of himself after the game last night. What are you seeing from him?
REID: “Yeah, listen, he’s (Patrick Mahomes) a phenomenal player and I thought he just kind of got into a rhythm (in) the second half and a lot of that’s my responsibility to get him into that rhythm earlier. We’ll go back and discuss all that and get that taken care of. I thought he really hit it well the second half there and had some beautiful throws – that throw to (Travis) Kelce on the deep cross and the throw to Rashee (Rice) – same route, two different throws though. It was spot on there but anyway, he ended up finishing well. We kind of botched up the last play when we weren’t trying to kill (the clock) – when we were coming out of the endzone there offensively. We had a missed route there. Other than that – listen, there are a bunch of things that we – like I said, we can clean up, but he’ll be alright.”
Q: You’ve had to kick short field goals the last couple of weeks. What’s it going to take to get the ball into the endzone?
REID: “It’s tough to win games like that in this league, (when) you’re just scoring three points. You get down in there (on the goal line), you’ve got to get it in (to the endzone). We’ve chose to run the ball a little bit down there and then we did have a turnover in that area, so we’ve got to do better with that – when we were throwing the ball.”
Q: What is it like for you in the last minute of all these close games?
REID: “Listen, I don’t think you get used to it. You don’t want it to come down to that. You’re trying to score as many points as you obviously can, but we’re – that’s how things go. The trust that the guys have in each other – I know that’s easy to say, but when you actually have that, the guys know that something good is going to happen because it’s very important, but you surely don’t want it to come down to that.”
Q: What have you seen from Patrick Mahomes’ footwork, and do you think he’s relying too much on his arm?
REID: “Yeah, I think – listen, I think he’ll (Patrick Mahomes) be fine there. Just getting him in rhythm, I think, is the important thing. That encompasses all of that stuff – the footwork and the knee bend and his drop and so on, and then the more we secure things up front, also helps. He came off a game where he had to get the ball out quickly last week with the pressure that was on him, but I thought the offensive line did a nice job here and I think Pat (Mahomes) will see that and that also helps (the) situation.”
Q: What did you see from Patrick Mahomes’ interception?
REID: “Well, we should’ve had the protection for him (Patrick Mahomes). We botched the protection or that’s a touchdown right there.”
Q: Where is Xavier Worthy now in the nuances of the offense?
REID: “He’s (Xavier Worthy) doing a great job with that. I pulled off on a couple of the routes just with some of the things they were doing, but he had a number of routes there in the first 15. I just chose to pull off of him because of what they were doing. But he can – he’s doing a nice job for us. He’ll have other games here where he has more grabs. He did a nice job with the quick game stuff that we were using him on.”
Q: What was your assessment on Wanya Morris, and can we expect to see him starting for the foreseeable future?
REID: “Listen, I thought Wanya (Morris) did some good things in there, so we’ll probably stick with that same thing. You saw where Kingsley (Suamataia) rotated in and played some tight end in that, so he was able to get some good reps in there. Again, Wanya had the good reps at the left tackle spot. Do they both have stuff to work on? Yes (laughs). We’ll keep – they’re young guys in a tough position with a tough go here and they’ve got another good one coming here this week that they have to prep for – a couple good ones. We have to make sure we keep growing but they’re surely getting tested early.”
Q: Is it ideal for Rashee Rice to get that many targets or would you like to spread the ball around even more?
REID: “I mentioned to you how Rashee’s (Rice) game goes is kind of how (Travis) Kelce’s goes so what they’re doing is they’re working hard to take Kelce out of the picture. Kelce is going, ‘Hey listen, if they’re going to do that then Rashee is going to get a lot of catches.’ He knows that, but somewhere that levels off and that play he did the second half and Kelce’s catch numbers went up there. Rashee is – he’s a force in there, he’s a good football player and he’s tough when he has the ball in his hands so I’m sure he’ll be getting a lot more attention as we go.”
Q: You referenced the stopped route that Xavier Worthy had on that last drive near the endzone. How much of that is still due to the young receivers and Patrick Mahomes trying to build the chemistry?
REID: “Yeah that actually wasn’t him (Xavier Worthy), that was his compadre (who) ran the wrong route, so he stopped so he didn’t run into him. Listen, Pat (Patrick Mahomes) checked to a play there and the communication got a little mixed up, so one of the routes wasn’t the right route. It wasn’t his (fault).”
Q: How important is it when your defense is able to stop the lead running back on the other team?
REID: “Yeah no, that kid (Falcons RB Bijan Robinson) is a heck of a runner, they’ve got two good runners. I thought we stepped up and did a nice job there. Up front, I started naming off the guys last night but I mean it’s really all of them collectively. That whole front seven is just doing a nice job of – and the safeties too were being accurate with our tackles there and physical which has been good.”
Q: With last night’s win, you won your 131st regular season game with the Chiefs, surpassing your regular season wins with the Eagles (130) as a head coach. What does this mean to you?