Chiefs Coordinator Quotes
December 11, 2025
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH / SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE TOUB
Q: How has Nohl Williams been on special teams?
TOUB: “Nohl’s (William) playing great. A rookie, very productive, hard to block (and) draws penalties. He drew a penalty on the kickoff, too, as well. We get the tackle at the 25 and then now we’re on the 10. All that stuff helps. Just the effort is outstanding. He’s a good player.”
Q: On returns without Nikko Remigio.
TOUB: “The kick returns were good. The punt return, we had a lot of chances – our defense played great. They made them (Texans) punt eight times in that game. (Texans P) Tommy (Townsend) had a good game too himself, hung the ball pretty well, but there were a couple of times there where we might have been able to get something. We had a punt returner (Xavier Worthy) in there that (was his) first time in an NFL game and he got us through the game with the fair catches. Probably would need more work to get more confidence to be able to time it up and see that the coverage was good (and) blocking was good so he could get it fielded, but Nikko’s (Remigio) coming back. Nikko is going to go right back in there again.”
Q: How do you keep it light as a team moving forward?
TOUB: “I have a saying it says, ‘make plays,’ and now I have a saying that says, ‘have fun making plays.’ That’s our moto going down the stretch. We’re going to make plays. We know we’re going to make them (so) have fun.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR STEVE SPAGNUOLO
OPENING STATEMENT: “Good to see everybody. I don’t have a lot to say, we’re a little disappointed in what happened last week. But the one thing about this league, you wake up on Wednesday and the guys come in and you go back to work. It’s an NFL Wednesday, and I thought the guys worked really good yesterday and I anticipate that happening today as well. With that, I’ll open it up.”
Q: On Chris Jones’ recent success.
SPAGNUOLO: “I think he’s (Chris Jones) kind of (motions upwards) it feels like he’s been on that trajectory Sam (McDowell) for a little bit the past few weeks. I think I’ve said this to you guys before, I love the way he’s practicing. He’s in tune. He’s just different. Something happened, maybe he had some of those oranges back three or four weeks ago, but I think it’s showing up in his play on Sundays.”
Q: On what the defense has learned about the Chargers offense.
SPAGNUOLO: “Great point. We thought - really I remember going into that game thinking they’ll try and control the football with the run game and boom they came out and I think that first drive, they might’ve ran it twice. There was a couple in the red zone. We’ll see. They (Chargers) do both (running and passing) really effectively. They got the running back (Chargers RB Omarion Hampton) back who was hurt. They believe in running the football, so I don’t think we can ever discount that they’re not going to just line up and do what they do running the football but certainly the quarterback (Chargers QB Justin Herbert) is an issue, both with his arm and with his feet. I think he’s (Justin Herbert) playing outstanding. He refuses to get – he got sacked I know a couple times in this last game, but he refuses to go down in certain situations, and he just fights tooth and nail and finds a way to will this team to wins. That’s what he’s been doing, pretty impressive.”
Q: How do you match the Chargers relentlessness and toughness as an offensive group?
SPAGNUOLO: “Well, we got to play the way we did in that stretch like we did in the last game. I felt our guys did that same thing in the Colts game. It’s been one of those years where we played really really well, and then there’s a couple of things here or there or a play off and it makes all the difference in the game from the defensive perspective. They’re on a roll right now, the Chargers, so we certainly got to match that. The energy in (GEHA Field at) Arrowhead (Stadium) will help us, and I think our guys are professionals and they will go out there and give everything they got.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR MATT NAGY
Q: Where is the offense right now?
NAGY: “It’s stating the obvious, not what we’ve wanted the last couple of weeks. I think you get into these moments, and you go back to the middle of the season (when) we were hitting on all cylinders, guys felt really good but for whatever reason the last couple of weeks there’s been the same thing that’s been going on. Whether it’s the execution, the play call, it’s everybody all together and I think that’s where when you come into this, we got to make sure that – these moments aren’t easy it’s something where when you go through these times, it talks about adversity reveals character and I think that’s very important to understand as we go through this. It can show where people are, and how are you going to battle through this? Are you going to start with yourself? And we do that. In the end, we have to win the game. In the end, we have to play better on offense. In the end, we have to coach better. So, all of us know that, and we understand that. We also have a guaranteed four more games, and I think the mindset for us is as we came into this thing at the beginning of the week is let’s look back at what we didn’t do well and let’s make sure that we understand we all have a job to start with ourselves (and) get better with that. Then you got to do it. We’ve been saying it, but it hasn’t been getting done. The leaders that we have in the room (and) the players that we have, we believe in all of them and it’s our job against another really good – for us offensively a great defense. It’s a big challenge, but it’s time to do it. These guys care, you saw that after the game. These guys – it has nothing to do with the lack of effort it has nothing to do with not caring, these guys want it. This is new territory for us, so it’s how do we handle this new territory.”
Q: On players like Esa Pole getting chances to step up.
NAGY: “It’s a good point. Shoot think of some of the – you think of when an injury happens, and you think of Tom Brady and just how that happened at that point in time – that’s a much different example but your point is valid that sometimes guys get an opportunity that maybe they wouldn’t have gotten for whatever reason. When a guy like Esa (Pole) steps up and does what he did in that moment after the very first play, (I) cannot begin to say how proud I am of him of now what he did. That’s great for him (and) that’s great for us, that’s important. You’re not always going to be spot on with your evaluations until sometimes guys get real chances. He got a real chance and now for him, what’s he going to do with it? He does have a game on tape now and that’s one example.”
Q: On playing to players’ strengths.
NAGY: “You need to go around your players’ strengths. And I think with Esa (Pole) as a tackle, just being able to see him go up against those two really good defensive ends (Texans Will Anderson Jr. and Danielle Hunter) is a challenge. The other part of your question with the type of positional value or how a guys strength is with a running back, wide receiver (or) tight end, you have to be able to take your offense and use their strengths for what that is. We have a lot of different guys that are very talented on this team (and) on this offense. It’s being able to make sure that we’re putting them in the right spots so they can excel with their strengths, and then whatever their weaknesses are, we got to stay away from that stuff and help them develop in the offseason. But without a doubt, you need to do that, and that’s important and that’s something our job (is) as coaches.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
December 11, 2025
DT CHRIS JONES
Q: What flipped the switch for you these last few weeks?
JONES: “I don’t think it was more so flipping the switch, it’s just being able to watch film over the bye week, correct some errors, probably footwork and hand placement for me. I watched that, corrected it and just continue on throughout the rest of the season.”
Q: How much have the Chargers changed from Week 1 to now?
JONES: “They’re still a resilient team. (They) got a few injuries. I have much respect for the quarterback (Chargers QB Justin Herbert), he’s tough. He’s a tough one. I think he’s playing with a broken hand, a broken left hand right now and still doing it. So, I have much respect for those guys, and the head coach (Jim Harbaugh), their head coach. That team goes off their head coach. He’s (Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh) old school. I have so much respect for him and how he goes about it.”
Q: How important is finishing tackles in this matchup?