Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
September 25, 2024
HEAD COACH ANDY REID
OPENING STATEMENT: “(I) don’t have any injuries for you, everybody will practice today. We look forward to the challenge of playing the Chargers, a very well-coached football team. They’ve got good players so we’ve got to have a good week of preparation. We have plenty of things to work on coming out of the last game, so we’ll start on that today. With that, (the) time’s yours.”
Q: What did you see from Kareem Hunt last week that made you think he was ready to be signed to the active roster?
REID: “I thought he (Kareem Hunt) had a good week of practice last week. He took the majority of the scout team reps, and it looks like he’s in pretty good shape. Now, the next step is just getting him in the game. He’ll rotate in and we’ll see how he does.”
Q: How do you see the workload between the running backs getting split up?
REID: “I don’t know, Adam (Teicher). We’ll just see how things go. I’ll play it by ear with him (Kareem Hunt). We’ve got three good running backs, so we’ll just get him back into the swing of things, see how it rolls.”
Q: On Kareem Hunt’s retention of the playbook.
REID: “I feel like his (Kareem Hunt) retention was pretty good and this week will help, too, just going through it. He’s got a pretty good feel on what we’re doing.”
Q: What is it about the run game that you’ve liked so far during these first three weeks?
REID: “I think – first of all, compliments to (Offensive Line Coach Andy) Heck and the offensive line and the players. I mean, they’ve done a great job of that. We’ve had positive yards and it’s a nice addition to everything. In this league, you’ve got to be able to mix things in there and it gives you a good power run game so you’re able to throw the ball.”
Q: How vital is it to be able to run the ball when you’re seeing the boxes that you’re seeing?
REID: “That’s important. That’s important. You always try to keep defenses honest and they’re doing the same thing back to you, so it’s a little bit of a cat and mouse game on the number of people in the box. It’s (the run game) been productive, so we’ve got good, positive yards from it.”
Q: What gives you optimism that Travis Kelce will pick up his production?
REID: “I know people are saying that he’s (Travis Kelce) old or whatever (and) has distractions and all this. The defenses don’t think that. We have another receiver (Rashee Rice), that plays opposite (of) him, that has a lot of yards and catches and that’s how this thing goes, so Trav (Travis Kelce) is fine. He just keeps being Trav. He works his tail off. He hasn’t lost a step and all those things, and he’s not distracted. That’s not the case. People are making sure they have him taken care of by some of these defenses.”
Q: Travis Kelce wants targets, but he understands that teams are double teaming him. How nice is that to have someone who is not selfish in that way?
REID: “He (Travis Kelce) literally knows – I mean, he does know that, and he collects people. Then, you have the checkdowns that we had last week. These big gains off of check – or Noah (Gray) standing in the middle of the field by himself. Four (Rashee Rice) being able to get one-on-one situations, that’s a tribute – and Trav knows that. I mean, he literally said – he came off the field and goes, ‘Man, just keep dialing them up and let them do that.’”
Q: You haven’t coached against Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh in a while. Any of the same characteristics from previous matchups?
REID: “First of all, he’s (Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh) a phenomenal football coach and he’s proven that at every level and that’ll be no different here with the Chargers. It’s a physical football team. When you play them, you know that – on both sides of the ball. Special teams, they’re going to be sound. They’re going to be able to – for everything that’s said, they’re going to be able to throw the ball as well as they run the ball, so you’ve got to be ready for a complete game. Their defenses are going to give you a variety of looks, you’ve got to be on your game when you play their defense. They’re one of the top defenses in the NFL right now, so (that’s) a tribute to how they have gone about their business there.”
Q: Are there things about Rashee Rice’s game that you didn’t fully appreciate until now? Is this the player that you envisioned when you drafted him?
REID: “Rashee (Rice), yes, he’s as good as we were hoping he would be. The thing you don’t know, Adam (Teicher), when you get into this is the work ethic and he works his tail off. His willingness to get with Pat (Mahomes) and to listen – ‘Hey, let’s work in this area.’ To get with (Travis) Kelce and drain Kelce of some of his knowledge. He’s very receptive to all that.”
Q: How did you feel about Carson Steele’s performance on Sunday against the Falcons?
REID: “I thought he (Carson Steele) did a nice job for his first game. I thought he did a real nice job. He’s got to fix a couple of things on protection, but he’ll take care of that. The run game – he was hitting the right holes, working the daylight, he was finishing runs, and we corrected the trying to elbow guys when going through with his carry hand and cleaned that up from the week before. He gives you an honest down. He’s going to run hard, he’s a big kid and he’s going to come at you.”
Q: With as many of these down-to-the-wire games that you’ve had early on in the season, do you find it to be tougher on your guys as opposed to later in the season, or does it matter?
REID: “I think the guys expect to come into these things (games) playing four quarters. When you play good teams, you’ve got to come in with that mindset. I think we are all seeing the parity in this league is ridiculous – I mean, everybody on any given Sunday, Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday, whenever we play, you’re going to get an honest game. It gives every city the opportunity to have a potential winner and that’s what the league was striving for, and you’re seeing it. We expect to get the best every Sunday – or every gameday.”
Q: When watching your defense, how much have you noticed that other teams are trying to get their tight ends involved?
REID: “That’s observant because, really, the tight end’s kind of your quarterback’s best friend – those inside guys that play inside the hash (or) number area – those are real quarterback-friendly guys. The thing the NFL has right now is some really good tight ends that just aren’t blockers, but they can get out and matchup with the safeties in this league and nickels. Our safeties work on that like crazy, our nickels work on that like crazy. Those are big bodies (tight ends) that you’ve got to try and leverage. They’re normally bigger than what you are on the backend there, so you’ve got to really be disciplined with it.”
Q: Patrick Mahomes mentioned he thought his fundamentals were off, what is the process this week of fine-tuning that?
REID: “He’s (Patrick Mahomes) very hard on himself about that. We just go back and work your basic fundamentals, techniques, and get into a rhythm – during the game and working on it in practice. I don’t ever worry about him working on those things, so he’ll be fine.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
September 25, 2024
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: What do you feel like you need to work on and how do you start that process of working on it?
MAHOMES: “I think the first week there were good things. I thought I was pretty on time and in rhythm. Then last week, I felt like I started off alright and then kind of got worse as the game went on and then obviously this last week, I feel like, especially the first half, I was a little out of rhythm, not making throws that I usually make. (I) got a little bit better in the second half but now all you can do is go back and practice. I think what I learned at least from last year is that it’s not always going to pay off like right now but if you continue to work at it, it will pay off in the long run. My hope is that it happens faster than it did last year but all you can do is get back to work at practice.”
Q: Is there something different that you will work on this week due to how last week went?
MAHOMES: “I think you just have to really emphasize it. Even on the little throws, sometimes you go through a practice and there’s throws that you almost know you’re going to complete regardless and so you kind of just throw them as completion throws instead of throwing them to the exact accuracy that it needs to be in the game like moment. That’s going to be one of my goals this week is – even like if you look at that shallow cross a lot of times in practice you throw it and (it’s) just right on the guy’s body for a completion. I’m going to work on making sure that I’m leading him in case there would be a guy behind him where he needs to catch the ball and run. Just little things like that you take them for granted and a lot of times when you’re going through these early year practices but I’m going to try to make sure that I stay on top of those things.”
Q: What has allowed Rashee Rice to have such a great start to the season?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean he’s (Rashee Rice) just making plays. I think you’ve seen that he’s been more versatile this year, he’s got to run more and more routes. Then, the way he’s able to catch the ball and make stuff happen after the catch, I mean he’s a hard guy to tackle. Being able to do both those things, I think it helps that the speed out there is kind of helping spread out the field for him and there’s a lot of attention on Travis (Kelce) but when he’s getting those one-on-one matchups, he’s winning and that’s all you can ask for a guy. He seems like he’s getting better and better each and every week.”
Q: How is Travis Kelce handling not having as much production as he would like?
MAHOMES: “I think he’s (Travis Kelce) handling it amazingly, honestly. Honestly, I was – I feel like I want to give him the ball more whereas he’s just like, ‘I just want to win, man. I don’t care, I’ll run these routes and take guys with me so that other guys can get open.’ We understand he’s an important part of this offense and we want to make sure that we’re still featuring him but at the same time, if defenses are going to take away him, I’ll feed the ball to other guys and let them make plays. As the season goes on, if we continue to show that we’re going to throw it to Rashee (Rice) and we’re going to throw it to these other guys and they’re going to make plays, teams are going to have to do those one-on-one matchups and that’s when Travis will eat.”
Q: Do you think the younger Travis Kelce would’ve been as accepting on not getting the ball like he is now that he is older?
MAHOMES: “In all honesty, I think he’s (Travis Kelce) always been this guy. I mean what’s been great for me in my career is that he wants to make an impact in the game and he wants to make plays but he wants to win at the end of the day. If we’re winning, he’s good with just going out there and playing hard, blocking, doing whatever he can to impact the game. Whenever we‘re winning games like this, that’s everybody, man. You just want to win at the end of the day. He’s doing a great job of being a leader on the team, playing hard (and) doing whatever he can to make an impact in the game. When you do that in this league, usually good things come and I’m excited for him to go out there and make an impact receiving the ball as well.”
Q: What was it like to have Kareem Hunt back last week and how does it feel that you will get to play with him this Sunday since he’s been elevated to the active roster?
MAHOMES: “It’s super exciting, I mean you can see how hungry he (Kareem Hunt) is, you can see he’s still (got) the explosiveness, you can see the way he runs the ball between the tackles. Obviously, you come in and you would have training camp and stuff like that, but he pushed through man, he really did. He took that last week as his mini training camp, and he would finish every run and then would run back and would get it again. I thought we did a great job with the run game last week with the running backs that were there and so it would be nice just to add Kareem in there, let him get going and kind of have another dimension to that run game.”
Q: Do you think it serves you well to win by such close margins as the season goes on?
MAHOMES: “It definitely makes you more comfortable in those situations. I think more than anything for me, I think just executing at a higher level in the fourth quarter would be nice for the offense especially. I mean if you look at that second half last week, those first few drives in the third quarter, we were moving the ball well, moving it right down the field and then it’s like in the fourth quarter we didn’t finish the game and so that’s the next step for us. If you look back at our history, even in some of these close games usually we get the ball in those four-minute modes we can kind of run the time off and if we don’t, we leave enough time where (Defensive Coordinator Steve) Spags (Spagnuolo) and them can close the door. Spags and them have been doing that but we’ve been doing it with a little bit – I would say too much time. With five minutes on the clock and six minutes on the clock and stuff like that. I think offensively we have to help the defense out by running some of that time off the clock or scoring a touchdown to kind of put the game out of reach. Then, the defense can be the defense and be Spags and be creative and get those game ending interceptions instead of having to really hold it down there at the end in the redzone.”
Q: Can you give an example in the Falcons game where there was a lot of attention on Travis Kelce?
MAHOMES: “I just – I remember there was a play, I don’t know if coach talked about it, but we did a play action play and I was going to throw it to Travis (Kelce), it was kind of a designed play. I remember the linebacker and both safeties were all three looking at Travis in the middle of the field and I ended up throwing it to Noah (Gray) for like 13 yards and Noah literally just ran a sit (route) right over the ball in the middle of everybody and not one person went with him. That’s the impact that he has on the game. It helps out other guys but at the same time, if we show that Noah is going to catch that mid 13-15 yards, whatever it is or if he takes a guy and Rashee (Rice) catches the ball and breaks the tackle and gets 15-20 yards, I mean teams have to adjust (and) if they don’t, I mean Rashee is going to have 2,000 yards (laughter). It’s part of the game, I obviously want to give him the ball and let him make an impact in the game that way, but the more defenses respect him, other guys get open (and) other guys make plays.”
Q: How did you feel about Wanya Morris’ performance?
MAHOMES: “I thought he (Wanya Morris) did a great job. Every time his number has gotten called, he’s stepped up and done a great job blocking in the pass and the run game. He’s getting better and better and it’s a great thing to have guys that can step in and play great football. When called upon, that’s what you want on any football team and I’m excited for him and his future.”
Q: What have you seen from Chargers Head Coach Jim Harbaugh that makes you think they’re a little different than the teams in years past?
MAHOMES: “You can tell first off just how hard they play. I mean everybody on that entire team – they believe, they play extremely hard every single snap. They fly around to the football. You can tell that they understand the scheme and what they’re doing. Then, from everything I’ve heard from (Chargers Head Coach Jim) Harbaugh, I haven’t got to meet him yet, but I heard he’s a great coach (and) great person. I mean, (Former QB) Alex Smith talked very highly of him whenever he was here and how organized and how he got the team ready to go every single week. You’ve seen it at every stop he’s been, he’s won. That speaks to him and his mentality and how he coaches his guys.”
Q: What do you think should happen regarding NIL in college football considering you help with that at Texas Tech?
MAHOMES: “I don’t want to speak crazy a lot on it because I don’t know exactly all the details of that situation or really the whole deal. I think it’s – NIL’s a great thing for players and a lot of families that maybe not (have) gotten those opportunities to make that money and be able to make it in college. They’re going to have to figure out a system just kind of like any other thing whenever money’s coming in. Making sure contracts are signed, making sure the language is dealt out the right way and I don’t know what that answer is, but there’s definitely been some times where money (is) not being paid and stuff like that has affected the play on the field and these are young kids, man. I mean, I know they’re right at the edge of becoming adult, but I don’t know if I’d have been ready for that type of thing coming out as an 18-year-old kid. Hopefully, we can find some accountability both ways so that we can make sure that our game that we love and college football stays at a high level.”
Q: What have you seen from Rashee Rice over this last year?
MAHOMES: “I mean at the end of the day I think he’s (Rashee Rice) learned a ton. He doesn’t make the same mistakes. I always say that but it’s important because it’s not always the truth and he learns from his mistakes and he doesn’t make the same mistake twice. Then, I think at the end of the day, what I love about Rashee more than anything is he plays extremely hard every single snap. That’s something that can’t be taught. You have to have this mentality that you want to compete and win. It might not always be perfect. It might not always be the perfect route or the perfect way that he read the coverage, but he plays hard so that when you give him the football he’s going to run and make – get whatever’s there. It gives energy kind of like when Pop (Isiah Pacheco) runs the football, it gives energy to the whole team because of how hard and competitive he’s playing out there.”
Q: How much does that change you as a quarterback when targeting him in a game?
MAHOMES: “He’s (Rashee Rice) – I’ve obviously built confidence with him that I can go to him in these big moments – third downs, red zones and he’s going to go out there and make the plays happen. Kind of like in the fourth-and-six when I completed a pass in the Bengals game, he’s gained that trust from me, man, that he’s going to go out there and make the play and he’s going to compete. It’s cool to see, man, because he’s still a young player. He’s still going to get better and better but it’s cool to see all that hard work’s paying off.”
RB KAREEM HUNT
Q: What would a Super Bowl ring mean to you and make this journey come full circle?
HUNT: “That’s been my goal. I feel like any player who steps on the football field wants to get a championship ring. It’ll be a dream come true for me ever since I was a little kid. I couldn’t be more excited to help these guys defend that title and come back around here and see all these familiar faces and family here.”
Q: What were your emotions like when you found out you were coming back to Kansas City?
HUNT: “It was a lot, honestly. It was a lot of emotions. I was very excited – a little nervous and stuff like that. I said, ‘These guys know me (and) I’ve just got to go and be myself, man.’”
Q: If you are able to play Sunday, have you envisioned what it’s going to be like to put the uniform on again and what do you hope to prove to yourself more than anyone else?