Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
December 4, 2024
HEAD COACH ANDY REID
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, really there are no injuries to talk about. We did make the move - (Spencer) Shrader down and (Matthew) Wright up at the kicking position. (We) look forward to challenge of playing the Chargers, (they’re) a good football team, as we know. We look forward to bringing them here to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. It’s always a great atmosphere and two good football teams playing each other. With that, the time’s yours.”
Q: What do you mean when you say Spencer Shrader is down and Matthew Wright is up?
REID: “IR.”
Q: IR for Spencer Shrader and active for Matthew Wright?
REID: “Yeah.”
Q: How’s Harrison Butker been progressing?
REID: “Yeah, he’s (Harrison Butker) – potentially, yes. I mean, he’s doing – he’s doing good. We’ll just see how it goes here in the next week or two, but he is making good progress so that’s a plus.”
Q: On still having success with three different kickers.
REID: “I always start with (General Manager) Brett (Veach) and his crew of bringing the guys in. One of the guys (Matthew Wright) we knew so we had confidence there but you’re into your third kicker so it’s a little different. I think it was good for Spencer (Shrader) to get in there and do this thing. He was productive when he – before he got hurt. That was great for him and whatever lies in the future for him. Likewise, (Matthew) Wright, he’ll go this weekend so if he just continues doing what he’s been doing – he’s done a nice job for us.”
Q: Will Isiah Pacheco’s workload increase? Did he only have seven carries because he isn’t in football shape yet?
REID: “He (Isiah Pacheco) ended up with 20-some-odd plays but yes. I would say yes. It was – (we) wanted to get him into the mix (and) get him caught up with the speed of the game. We were thinking right around 20 plays. (We) didn’t necessarily care (if it was) carries or not. I’m glad it worked out that way though so he could – he came out healthy, feeling good (with) no setbacks.”
Q: Why was this year the year that Noah Gray really took a step forward?
REID: “It’s probably more opportunities. We’re doing a little bit more double tight end stuff and he’s (Noah Gray) had a good blend in there when they were doubling (Travis) Kelce, he took full advantage of that. He’s a good player. Listen, he works tremendously hard at his job, he’s very smart and you knew that he would just continue to get better and better.”
Q: What’s going to be the process of determining your left tackle for Sunday?
REID: “Literally seeing what we can do at practice and how he (D.J. Humphries) feels and communication there. Just playing it day-by-day so (we’ll) see how it all ends up. I think it’s probably going to go that way throughout the end of the week here.”
Q: D.J. Humphries will get snaps with the ones then?
REID: “Listen, he (D.J. Humphries) took some snaps last week, but this will be faster for him. Last week was a short week so this will be a better indicator to see where he’s at.”
Q: Will Joe Thuney be your guy if D.J. Humphries isn’t ready?
REID: “That’s one of the options, yeah. That’s one of the options. Wanya (Morris) can still be in there too.”
Q: Has the workload for DeAndre Hopkins been a reflection of what have in for him or is there some kind of management going on to make sure he is fresh?
REID: “Well, some of it’s just making sure he’s (DeAndre Hopkins) got everything as we go. I mean, we’re way into the offense and that’s a tough position that he’s playing. He’s so smart (that) we probably increased it faster than what we normally would do with him, and he’s handled it – and has had quite a few snaps. We’ve got this rotation kind of going. It’s not one thing over another but we have some guys that we feel (like) can do a nice job in there and he’s obviously one of them. The quarterback (Patrick Mahomes) seems to really trust him, too.”
Q: How do you plan on using D.J. Humphries? Do you plan on rotating him in or keeping him in the whole game?
REID: “I think eventually you want to get somebody in there that does a good job. I mean that’s – and really can stay in there and be that guy as we develop the young guys. You’re going to have some hiccups, so we know that. We knew that going in, but we’ll see if D.J. (Humphries) can do that. If he can do it, then if he can’t (then) he can’t.”
Q: How challenging is it to incorporate a guy like D.J. Humphries at this point in the season who hasn’t been in your offense very long?
REID: “Well listen, two of those three are veteran guys that we have an option to put in there so you’re kind of banking on that. I mean Joe (Thuney) hasn’t had a bunch of snaps there either, Wanya (Morris) and Kingsley (Suamataia) have taken most of the snaps so – and D.J. (Humphries) hasn’t played other than the X number of years before this – nine years or ten years before this. We’re banking on that part of it with a couple of those guys. The veteran part of it can step in there and take care of it.”
Q: Are there guys that you’re looking to load manage in the next few games?
REID: “Possibly. Not this week.”
Q: Former college and NFL coach Mike Holmgren was chosen as a coaching finalist for the PFHOF. Can you speak on key parts of your career that he’s enabled?
REID: “The best I’ve ever been around (Former college and NFL coach Mike Holmgren). I just – I thought he was great at the college level (and) I thought in the NFL he was phenomenal. I’ve been a head coach now for a couple years and I still look back and go, ‘I don’t think anybody’s done it better than what he’s done.’ I’ve seen it all for 20-some-odd years so it’s a – he just had a great way about him with people. He was tough enough, he’s a brilliant guy so he just had a great handle on things.”
Q: If he didn’t make good on his promise to you when you were at Missouri, would you still be a college coach?
REID: “Yeah probably. I’d probably be coaching the offensive line. Maybe get out of the box.”
Q: Did he also get you to San Francisco State?
REID: “No, so (former Head Coach at BYU) LaVell Edwards was friends with (former Head Coach at San Francisco State) Vic Rowen at San Francisco State. That’s where (former college and NFL coach) Mike Holmgren came from, was San Francisco State. Then, in return – it was a trade.”
Q: Jim Harbaugh has had success as many levels what are his strengths?
REID: “Yeah, he’s (Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh) done it (at) every level really. He comes from a great family – great football family. His dad (former college coach Jack Harbaugh) is a phenomenal football coach, could’ve easily coached at this level – been a head coach at this level. He’s got a great feel, he knows it from the player’s standpoint, he knows it from the coaching standpoint. (He) has a good balance of things that he works with, a good demanding coach on his players, good teacher.”
Q: How have the Chargers evolved since playing you last?
REID: “They’re more familiar with their schemes, that’s really the bottom line so it allows them to play faster.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
December 4, 2024
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: How are all the changes at left tackle affecting you this season?
MAHOMES: “I don’t know if it’s affected me too much. I mean, I’ve played with all those guys before, and I know those guys are out there battling – they’re out there and they’ve played winning football before. I just go about my business, go about my process and try to stay within the scheme of the offense and then when stuff breaks down, I try to go out there and make plays so that’s what I’m going to continue to do.”
Q: Did you talk to Head Coach Andy Reid about making a change at left tackle after the last sack in the fourth quarter?
MAHOMES: “I did not, no. I was more upset just because I felt like there was people open and we hadn’t scored in the red zone so I knew that was a big drive. I think I was just more upset about the fact that we didn’t execute at a high enough level in the red zone.”
Q: What are your initial impressions of D.J. Humphries?
MAHOMES: “You see how talented he (D.J. Humphries) is. The physical gifts are there. It’s been cool to watch him interact with the other guys, too. You can tell he’s smart. He’s willing to teach guys which is big in that room. We have a lot of young guys there and so I’ve been very impressed. I’m excited for him to get more and more work with more and more practice and hopefully be ready to go as soon as possible.”
Q: Do you enjoy the problem solving and resetting everything as you go through the process of the season?
MAHOMES: “I don’t know if enjoy is the word for it, but I think it keeps you motivated which I think can be a good thing in the end. I think sometimes I look back on the year (where) we lost in the Super Bowl, and we were very dominant throughout the regular season and it’s just kind of like you get in this point where you start coasting because you’re just – you’re winning games, you’re just kind of doing the normal thing. Whereas if you look at us last year, even though it didn’t go the way we wanted it to, I feel like we just continued to work every single week, and we knew we had to get better and we didn’t let the details slip. We ended up playing our best football at the end of the year. That’s the hope is that with all of these close finishes, we’re getting wins but it’s keeping us hungry so that we can try to continue to get better as the season goes on.”
Q: Do you feel like you’ve evolved already this season?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think we’ve done better offensively. I can speak to of course – I mean, just – we’ve done better executing the offense (and) going to the right positions – I’ve done a better job of giving guys chances to make plays. It’s just little plays here and there that have kind of stalled out drives. If that’s the deep shots that I’ve missed to Xavier (Worthy or) other guys or if that’s the red zone and not executing at that time in the red zone. There are plays in games that if we just make that play, the offense scores 30 points and we’re not even having this discussion.”
Q: Do you feel like this is a championship team and do you feel like there is a point that you need to get to by the end of the season?
MAHOMES: “Every team (that) I’ve been on I feel like has been a championship team. It’s been plays here or there that have - either we’ve lost in overtime in the AFC Championship game or lost in the Super Bowl. I feel like we have the talent, and we have the coaching staff, and we have the work ethic to go out there and win any football game. It’s about going out there and doing that on a week-to-week, day-to-day basis. I feel like we have those guys that are motivated enough to do that, but it’s not going to be easy, and it never is. You have to really play your best football at the perfect time in order to win a championship and that’s what I’ve learned through my time in the NFL.”
Q: Does the goal of wanting to win the Super Bowl create any stress among the team?
MAHOMES: “Honestly, I don’t know. I mean, that’s the reason you play the sport. I’ve never had a team that I didn’t believe could win the Super Bowl. I don’t know what I would be doing and how I would be acting if we weren’t going to the playoffs. My goal at the end of the year is to win the Super Bowl and nothing else matters.”
Q: On taking advantage of any unwritten rules for quarterbacks.
MAHOMES: “I’m just playing football at the end of the day. I don’t feel like I’ve ever put anybody in jeopardy of not wanting to hit me. I know when you get in the open field, guys want to hit you, and I get down when I feel like it’s necessary to get down but there’s times in big spots in the games where I know I need to get first downs, and I go for it. It’s not taking advantage of any rules. I think it – more than anything it’s me being smart in the moment of knowing when not to (slide) and when to go for it. You’ve seen that from me in the playoffs and I feel like you see that from me in big spots in games because I know that sliding at that moment is not going to get us the win and I’m all about winning.”
Q: Do you feel vulnerable when you slide?
MAHOMES: “No, I’m big on when I do slide trying to get the head down because at the end of the day, man, it’s a split-second decision and I know guys are playing the sport – I mean for the most part, ninety-nine percent of the guys are not trying to hurt anybody, they’re just trying to make plays. Those guys are flying down trying to stop you from getting first downs, so when I do slide, I try to get my head down as quickly as possible and try to avoid those situations, but that stuff happens in football. Luckily, (Jacksonville Jaguars QB) Trevor’s (Lawrence) alright because that’s the most important thing, but at the end of the day, I think everybody’s just going out there (and) playing the sport that they love as hard as they can and sometimes bad things happen, but hopefully we can move through it and learn from it.”
Q: How much do you respect Chargers QB Justin Herbert as a counterpart?
MAHOMES: “I mean, I have a ton of respect (for him). He’s (Chargers QB Justin Herbert) one of those guys that like, every ball he throws is the perfect spiral. You can tell he can throw the football as good as anybody. He works extremely hard, and I think what gets lost in it sometimes is how tough he is. He battles through a lot of injuries; he plays the game the right way and I’ve played him in a lot of great football games because that’s the type of talent that he is.”
Q: From your perspective, can you tell beforehand when Travis Kelce is going to lateral the ball to Samaje Perine? Is that more designed than people realize?
MAHOMES: “Well, it’s not designed at all. He’s (Travis Kelce) like the only person that would do it. I know it sometimes looks like that, but I think it’s more of him just being in this offense for so long that he knows where guys are that are running different routes. The play the other day, he was just kind of a checkdown guy – he was open. I was going to throw it to him (and) try to get as close as I can to fourth down so I can try to convince (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid to go for it and he laterals it to Samaje (Perine), and he makes a play. He does that in practice, and it started off as kind of a joke and then now it’s kind of become a thing. As long as he completes it, Coach is going to keep letting him do it, but he knows the consequences if he doesn’t.”
Q: What do you see from this Chargers secondary coming off a four-interception performance?
MAHOMES: “They’re so good at their scheme and they know where the weaknesses are in their scheme and how to cover those up and then they have the talent to do it. I think it all starts with (Chargers S) Derwin (James). I mean, he’s a great football player (and) he can play anywhere on the football field and he’s going to make plays happen. They have a lot of other guys as well that are playing extremely fast. This is a really good defense (and) it’ll be a great challenge for us.”
Q: Bills QB Josh Allen had a special lateral of his own this week. Do you think Travis Kelce had an influence on this league as of late with that play?