Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
October 14, 2026
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, as far as the injuries go, (WR) Rashee (Rice) will be the only one that doesn't go today. Everybody else is scheduled to do something. So, look forward to the challenge of playing the Chargers, good football team. We know that. Records don't matter. They've been in every game, and they're playing their tail off. So, we're going to get ready for a tough AFC West battle there. (Chargers Head Coach) Jim (Harbaugh) does a heck of a job with that crew. Anyways, for that time’s yours.”
Q: What’s the process for T Josh Simmons practicing again?
REID: “I'm just going to ease (T Josh Simmons) him back in, yeah, ease him into practice. So, he's going to practice, but on a limited basis there, so.”
Q: What impact has Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy had on the team this season?
REID: “Yeah, so I've always said (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) he's a great leader of men, very fortunate to have three coordinators that are good leaders of men, but EB is tremendous with that and not that (former Offensive Coordinator) Matt (Nagy) wasn't. This isn't a comparison, so Matt did a heck of a job here and he's doing a heck of a job in New York. But I think EB is very thorough, he's demanding and I appreciate that, as a head coach, I appreciate that and the guys respond to it.”
Q: Do you think WR Rashee Rice will practice at some point this week?
REID: “Yeah, we're just going to see how it goes. (WR Rashee Rice) He's actually feeling pretty good as he goes here, but we'll see, I mean, those things, you start dealing with hamstrings, it could be a Week, it could be two Weeks. You don't know, but I know he's eager to get back in.”
Q: On DT Omarr Norman-Lott.
REID: “(DT Omarr Norman-Lott) He is getting better, yeah. He is getting better. He's out working out with the trainers and doing that, but he's getting closer.”
Q: Has your Bye Week routine changed over your career?
REID: “It's basically the same, so yeah, you can't get too far away from it. We're in-season, and as a coach, players, they need to take a step back. But as a coach, you stay pretty focused on the job at hand.”
Q: Do you give yourself a day off?
REID: “Yeah, it's not quite like that.”
Q: On having the Bye Week this early.
REID: “Listen, I'm not sure we've had one this early that I remember, but it doesn't matter. I mean, even a regular Week, you might leave town, but you’ve got an iPad with you. So, you're in a setup somewhere where you cannot get too far.”
Q: Does the early Bye affect your recalibration process during the week?
REID: “Yeah, I don't know about recalibrate. You go back through and you analyze everything, but you do that every week, too. I mean, you go back and you hammer it out as a coach. You’ve got all this technology now. If there's a difference from when I first started to now, it's you have everything, snap a finger, you’ve got it. So, that'd be the difference. You can get everything quickly and a lot of it.”
Q: What stuck out during the extra-analyzation over the Bye and this week?
REID: “It's a good job of your journalism degree there. Just reworded. Yeah, I'm not going to go into things that we did but I mentioned short yardage, we've got to do better there, yeah.”
Q: When it comes to the fourth and fifth receivers throughout a season, how much does the work that they're able to get during practice translate into game days and just those reps?
REID: “Yeah, that's a good point. They do get a lot of reps in practice, and we normally rotate guys in there anyways. I mean, guys need a blow, so the guys go in and have a chance to play. But we've got a good stable of guys at that spot and feel comfortable with it. (QB Patrick) Pat (Mahomes) feels comfortable with, and so we try to use them when needed, yeah.”
Q: On the Chargers performance this season.
REID: “Yeah, they play hard, and they're well coached, and they've got good talent. They've been injured in some spots, so that hasn't helped them but they're a good football team. It's basically the same group that we played against last year, that got after us, so we're aware of that.”
Q: What is the plan for T Kahlil Benson when T Josh Simmons comes back?
REID: “Yeah, I haven't even gone there. I'm just glad he's having a chance to come back, for sure. When you start dealing with backs, you’ve got to ease it back in, if you can get back in at all. So, we'll just see how he does. So, I haven't really even gone there. I know he's wanting to get back out there, and this is the first step of that.”
Q: Given WR Tyquan Thornton’s role was really evolving, do you anticipate a one-for-one play replacement, or do you try maybe a couple different guys for what he was able to do?
REID: “Yeah, that's the way things worked out for (WR) Tyquan (Thornton). He was having a very good year, and I'm sad to see what happened to him because of that, and he's a great kid on top of all that. But one man's loss, another man's opportunity to jump in and do that. So, whoever that might be that's got the call to make the play, then that's a positive. But I've trusted all the guys, and (WR) Xavier's (Worthy) still in there, too, going and he's coming off a couple good catches in our last couple games.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
October 14, 2026
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: During the Bye Week, do you self-scout at all and see where you’re at in the season?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, for sure. You always do. You go back and look at the games that you’ve played and try to see what you did good and where you can improve on that, and then the stuff that you didn't do as well and how you can make those things not negatives and make them positives. So, early in the season, but I thought we played some great opponents coming up into this week and another great opponent this week. And so, you learn a lot of things about who you are and who you can be.”
Q: What did you learn?
MAHOMES: “I don't want to give away too many secrets. I just continue to hit the deep shots when they're there, but then when it's not there, I maybe get the ball out of my hand a little bit quicker and get it to the guys where I'm not taking some of those hits in the Raiders game. I feel like there were times I was holding the ball a little longer than I had in the previous games, and so, I'm being better at that. I just keep getting it out of my hand like I was in the earlier games in the season and not getting into some old bad habits.”
Q: Has your Bye Week routine changed?
MAHOMES: “I think the only thing that's changed is chasing kids around more. As they get older, it's not as much laying around and not doing anything. You're home now. You're dad. And so, you have to be around. You have to chase kids around. (QB Patrick Mahomes’ Son) Bronze (Mahomes) loves to play tackle now. So, I didn't not get tackled all week. So, I'm ready to go for this week.”
Q: Are there any positives to having an early Bye Week?
MAHOMES: “I mean, for me, it gives my knee an extra week just to rest and stuff like that. I mean, obviously, I felt great this season and being able to rehab and do stuff like that. But it kind of gives me another week where I can kind of, alright, I got through that first few games, kind of reset, reevaluate where I'm at, and then kind of move forward going ahead. And so, obviously, winning there helps out a ton. And then getting a week of rest, kind of seeing around the NFL, what everybody's got, and then kind of come back with the right mindset is big.”
Q: Does it stand out to you, just the different ways you guys have moved the ball, as far as you mentioned hitting some deep shots and play action and running the ball?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, 100 percent. I mean, we've been explosive, and that's been huge for us. I think the biggest thing is about being more consistent kind of throughout the game. There's been kind of spells in each game where we necessarily haven't played our best football. But having those explosive plays helps out a ton. And so, we have to continue that and then be more consistent throughout the entire game and that will kind of take us to the next level.”
Q: How easy of a sell was it that you were going to be playing under center more coming off an injury?
MAHOMES: “I mean, it was easy once I saw (RB) Kenneth (Walker) running the football. I was like, we've got to make sure that we give him the best chances to succeed. Obviously, he's ran the ball terrific under center, and the offensive line’s took it upon themselves to fire off the ball and get that stuff done. And I knew if we were able to do that, the play-action game would open up even more. And so, then it's about me just being the best quarterback for this team. It's always going to be different, and this team was about being under center, getting him going and then play-action off of it. I'm sure the defenses will adjust, and we'll have to adjust off that as well. So, I just always want to be the best version of myself for the team, and that's what we've been up to this point.”
Q: What's your message been to WR Cyrus Allen and the guys about stepping in and being ready to take on what you guys have going?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, it's that they're ready. Like, they've put in the work. Obviously, we've had the guys in front of them with (WR) Tyquan (Thornton) going out there and playing great football, and so they've had to put in the work at practice, and they've been doing that and doing that. And so now their number gets called, and they're going to step into the role and do their job, so I'm excited for them. We'll put them in position to succeed. I have a lot of trust in those guys, a lot of confidence in them, and so we'll continue to push it forward.”
Q: How much does it help that when guys like WR Jalen Royals and WR Cyrus Allen step up and get more reps in practice, does that translate on gamedays?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, it's going to make it easier for them (WR Jalen Royals and WR Cyrus Allen). I mean, when you're going to get thrown in and you never know which position you're going to be at and what route you're going to run, it's hard. That's part of playing in the NFL is you don't get those reps that you necessarily would have had in college and high school and stuff like that. And so, I thought they did a great job of stepping in whenever their number's been called. But now they'll have a full week of kind of getting those reps in, and we'll put them in position to succeed where they can do their best things. And so, like I said, I have a lot of confidence in those guys. They did a great job at training camp, and when their number's been called in the season, they've done a great job as well.”
Q: When you see the early Bye Week on the schedule, do you think to yourself, ‘Okay, this is how I'll make it work for me and be good for me?’
MAHOMES: “I mean, yeah, that’s the sort of thing you think about before the season. But once you get in the season, it's just like you're focused on that week. Like you just focus on that week, and you try to win that week, and then you move on to the next week, and it kind of keeps going over and over again. And so, it surprised me, I forgot about Halloween, because (QB Patrick Mahomes’ Wife) Brittany’s (Mahomes) like, ‘What are we going to be for Halloween?’ and I'm like, I didn't even think about that. I'm so locked in on this week and the season and stuff like that. And so, the Bye Week, it happens when it happens, but at the same time, you've got to go out there and execute. It's different every year, and so every year is different.”
Q: What are you guys going to be for Halloween?
MAHOMES: “I can't tell now. There's options because you never know with kids. So, we have multiple options, so I don't even know yet. I just know a couple of the options.”
Q: Do you ever give the rookies or any of the younger players pop quizzes on schemes or routes?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I wouldn't describe it as pop quizzes, but you test guys and you talk to guys throughout routes. So, in training camp and in early parts of the season and maybe in practice, when something happens, I go up to them and talk to what they're thinking and kind of how I'm thinking. And you hope that sticks with them, is that they have these one-on-one conversations, either on the sideline or on the field, and so that when it happens in the game, they're ready for it. And so that's all you can do. You can't prepare for everything, but at the same time, you can prepare for the reps that you do have. And I thought we've done a great job of that, and we'll do that this week as well.”
Q: Is there an example where you figured out that that was a good sort of path to do for young guys?
MAHOMES: “I think it started with (TE Travis) Trav (Kelce). I think that was kind of the biggest thing when I first got into the league. And he always would just talk to me after every play. And so, then when we got to games, I would know what he was thinking, and obviously that's kind of blossomed to what it's blossomed to. So, I try to keep that going. I've done it with (WR) Rashee (Rice) now. I've done it with a lot of these guys that we've kind of been through here, is that we have these conversations. And so that when we get in the game, we're on the same page thinking. If we're not, we talk about it on the sideline right after and try to be on the same page the next rep.”
Q: On being the offense being cleaner on the drop backs.
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean, that's kind of what I was talking about earlier, is we've got to be consistent throughout the entire game. Obviously, we've had the explosive plays, which are awesome, and you want to keep those going. But I've got to be more consistent getting the ball to my hand. I've got to be more consistent going through my reads and getting to the right progressions. But the guys are getting open, and I think that's the most important thing. And as I get more and more comfortable getting back at it and I can start getting through those progressions, we'll hit those guys. And if we can take that consistency to another level, I think the offense will even take another step.”
DE GEORGE KARLAFTIS
Q: Can pressure be as effective as sacks?
KARLAFTIS: “Yeah, I mean, there's a lot of things that go into it, obviously, from protection and the quarterback getting rid of the ball and all that kind of stuff. Ultimately, for us as a front seven, defensive line, we’ve got to get the quarterback on the ground by any means necessary, and we’ve got to do a better job of that. Now, even pressuring, we're doing a lot of different stuff and hits, hurries, pressures, but at the end of the day, we’ve just got to get the quarterback down. That's on us, and we got to be better in that area, so.”
Q: What do you like about this team?
KARLAFTIS: “I could say this. I've been a part of some great teams that have won Super Bowls, and this reminds me of teams that, I could speak for this team right now, that it's a resilient team of guys that are hungry and that love football. So those are three characteristics that can go a long way, and we’ve just got to remain humble and hungry, and I think we can take it as far as we want to.”
Q: What type of mentality do you have to match against a desperate team that may have no wins at this point?
KARLAFTIS: “Listen, it's a divisional opponent, so those games are really, really, really important. With them not having gotten any wins, they're going to be hungry. They're going to be hungry to get their first win, and they'd like nothing more than to get a win against us. So, we’ve got to be on our stuff. It's a team that their record, I don't think, is indicative of the team that they are. They're in every game, and we have a lot of respect for them. It's a team where we know them, they know us kind of thing, with them being in the division, and we’ve got a lot of respect for them at the end of the day. So, we’ve got to be on our stuff this week.”
S ALOHI GILMAN
Q: You were in the same draft class with Chargers QB Justin Herbert, how have you seen him through the years develop?
GILMAN: “Yeah, it'll be a fun experience. Obviously, I’ve got a good relationship with (Chargers QB Justin Herbert) him, same draft class. We were the last two guys there before I ended up getting shipped off, but I have a good relationship with him. We've grown over the years. He's grown as a player and seeing him grow and do the things that he has been doing has been awesome to see. He's a great person as well, so you always root for guys like that, but it'll be fun out there on Sunday.”
Q: For you, what difference do you see in terms of the Chargers offense with Chargers Offensive Coordinator Mike McDaniel running the play calls now?
GILMAN: “Yeah, definitely different. Seeing, obviously, a lot of shifts, motions, and things that is a little more gadgety for them, and (Chargers Offensive Coordinator) Mike McDaniel's offense, I played against him when he was at Miami, and it's a little bit more unique, their style of play, so you’ve definitely got to be on your game plan and be in tune and be ready to roll.”
Q: What are some of the keys to just creating more takeaways?