Chiefs Quotes
October 22, 2026
VICE PRESIDENT OF SPORTS MEDICINE AND PERFORMANCE RICK BURKHOLDER
OPENING STATEMENT: “Hello, I haven't seen you guys in a while, which is a good thing. Alright, so I want to talk about (T) Josh Simmons and give you a little timeline here. On August 17th, Josh came to me with calf discomfort and feeling that he couldn't post on a single leg in training camp practices. This was the same leg that he had knee surgery on in 2024. He was evaluated by our physicians who thankfully suspected a low back injury instead of a lower leg or knee ailment. So, we obtained an MRI in St. Joe (St. Joseph, Missouri) that confirmed that he had a bulging herniated disc in his lumbar spine. That disc problem was higher up than what we normally see in our offensive linemen, which complicated the case. We recommended a second opinion, as we always do with all of our injured guys. And through his agent and Josh, they selected a spine specialist in California that we have used previously and that is really well-known in the NFL. He went there, was evaluated, and the recommendation was to do rehabilitation, not surgery, with the intent that we would do an MRI in the near future to see what that disc looked like. So, Josh continued to progress and the repeat MRI a few weeks later showed that the disc had improved. So, no surgery was recommended and rehab would continue. Throughout this process, we've had frequent communication with the second opinion, with our doctors, and Josh and his agent. Josh worked his tail off. He worked diligently with my staff every day and has improved to the point where he returned to practice in a limited capacity last week. However, we feel that he's plateaued in the rehab process as he's trying to get to the final steps of recovery with return to competition and he's just not there yet. After discussion with Josh yesterday, we gave him some time to talk with his family and his representatives to investigate next steps as he goes through this process. And that's why he was listed yesterday as both personal and with a back injury as we determined these next steps and he took the day off to get with his people. It was decided and agreed upon by everybody, his people, his agent, him, myself, (Head Coach) Andy (Reid), (General Manager Brett) Veach, that he should be placed on IR (injured reserve) to give him more time to return to full function. He'll continue with the rehab process with the goal of returning to play at the high level that he achieved in the past. I give a lot of credit to Josh, my docs, my physicians, and my staff. I just give them a ton of credit for navigating through this injury to the point where surgery is not recommended and that he just needs more time to return to full function. So, I hope that shed some light on the situation, and I appreciate you guys always.”
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE TOUB
Q: Are you working with K Harrison Butker on his mechanics?
TOUB: “No, (K Harrison Butker) he's a human being. Every once in a while, he's not going to hit the ball exactly the way he wants to and he missed that extra point, but he came back and made another extra point, another big field goal right before the half right after, so it wasn't affecting him there. Then the long field goal, the 53 (yard), it was like about a foot outside the right post. So, we're not hitting the panic button at all. He had a real good day of practice yesterday, made 10 for 10, and we tested him on some long ones and made those and made short ones and made them all. So, a lot of confidence in Butker.”
Q: How would you evaluate your return game last week?
TOUB: “(WR) Nikko (Remigio) did a real good job going up and getting– I mean, we had him backed up, so we're getting field position. So, we go return game. He ends up missing the punt. It was a short punt. Nikko, because we have him deep because the punt is a bomber, he goes all the way up and catches that thing. I wish he would have went up and caught it with a fair catch and been done because it would have been a great play. He went up, he caught it, he's still alive. He tried to do a little bit more than he should have. He got a little greedy there. He'll be the first one to tell you. Spun out, had to fumble. I depend on him. He's a reliable guy. He's a good catcher, a solid catcher, and he's not a fumbler. That's not in his DNA. He's just trying to do too much on that particular play.”
Q: On P Matt Araiza.
TOUB: “Yeah, the ones that–the bomb kicks. (P Matt Araiza) Our guy's a bomber. He bombs the ball, and he hits it 65 yards. So, it's hard for a gunner to get there and stop him for a 2.8 average. They're going to get the ball, and then you have to cover it and hold them to a 10-yard average, and that's good coverage because ultimately, what you're looking for is your net. The net is the most important thing. It's the second number. Where do you end up? Where does your defense have to play and that's the key. So, our guy's a bomber. We have to live with that. We get down there and we cover it and if we give up a 21-yard return like we did last week, that's not good. So that's where we've got to do a little bit better.”
Q: What's your confidence in WR Nikko Remigio moving forward?
TOUB: “I have a lot of confidence in (WR) Nikko (Remigio). Just the thing that he needs to do is not try to do too much and that's the bottom line, keep doing what he's doing. He's our best catcher and let the plays come to him. He tried to force that one. He got it. He did a great job catching it. He tried to do too much. Just let the plays come and be patient and we roll.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR STEVE SPAGNUOLO
OPENING STATEMENT: “At 12 o'clock, so I'm just going to say, how are we doing? I can't go either way, right? I don't really have anything. I'm just fired up to have a nice day and go back out and practice. So, with that, I'll open it up.”
Q: Can you talk about what you've seen from DT Chris Jones so far this year?
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, steady, rock steady. (DT Chris Jones) He's doing a really good job as an 11-year vet. As a double-digit vet, I think he's doing those things that you really want guys to do, which is lead by example. I told him this maybe a month ago that I think his practice habits are the best they've ever been and I think sometimes, I remember coaching some other guys later in their careers, and I think they figure out if they want to stay at the level they're at, they've got to make sure their practice habits stay up and I think he's done a really good job of that.”
Q: How good was it to get multiple sacks in a game?
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, listen, this game is all about confidence and you get a little frustrated when you don't finish with the completed, whether it's catching an interception, forcing a fumble, or making a sack and we've been really close. I think (DE) George (Karlaftis) has had a lot of pressures and guys have had hands on, but it's kind of twofold. When that happens and you're not making them, you’ve got to figure out how to be under control and finish it. And we did a little bit better job of that this past week, and hopefully that continues because when the quarterback—it's a little bit demoralizing when you do really good on the coverage end and they do really good rushing the passer, and yet he finds his way out of there and they complete it but it was good to get a few of those last week.”
Q: On Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba.
SPAGNUOLO: “(Seahawks WR Jaxon Smith-Njigba) He's elite, really elite. There's a lot of big name wide receivers out there in the NFL, and just in talking with people and you ask questions—and (Seahawks Head Coach) Mike Macdonald's a good friend and (Seahawks Assistant Head Coach) Leslie Frazier in Seattle, but everything that comes back about him as a person, high character, and you have that kind of talent and that kind of high character, that's a pretty good thing to have and then you're on the other side of it. It's a pretty tough thing to defend against. So, we’ve got a lot of respect for him.”
Q: What have you admired about Seahawks Head Coach Mike Macdonald’s defenses over the years?
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, so (Seahawks Head Coach) Mike (Macdonald) and I worked together at Baltimore. He was actually my quality control coach when I was in Baltimore and he was young then and you could see then he was going to be what he became. Really intelligent, he used to feed me things, and he'd draw cards or have some insight and I'd be like, ‘Wow.’ It was like, he'd been coaching for 20 years in the NFL. So, not surprising to me that he's as successful as he is and I think he does a great job with his team. I mean, every once in a while, I'll listen to a press conference and whatnot and a lot of respect for Mike. I'm happy for him. I'm happy he's doing really well. Not this week, though.”
OFFENSVIE COORDINATOR ERIC BIENIEMY
OPENING STATEMENT: “All right, good afternoon. Coming off a good team, tough win against a defensive opponent who I thought played their tails off. Obviously as an offense, we felt we could have played a lot better in certain areas. But when it's all said and done, we found a way to win. Now we're off to the Pacific Northwest to go against the defending Super Bowl champs. So, with that said, I'm all ears.”
Q: In these five games, based on your teaching along with Running Backs Coach DeMarco Murray, where do you think RB Kenneth Walker has improved the most?
BIENIEMY: “You know what, I just think (RB Kenneth Walker) his overall approach on how he handles the game. One thing we challenged him is making sure he can be a complete back to play on all three downs. You know, we know what he can do when the ball is in his hands. One of the things I talked to him about is, you know, what can you do when the ball is not in your hands? Because in this offense, this is how we measure success. You can do a great job picking up the blitz. You can be that professional in the classroom. On top of that, your work ethics in the training room and in the strength and conditioning room is going to tell me a lot about who you are as a person. Now I'll be able to see what you can do and put it on display. So, I think he's done a great job with that, and I think he's continuing to do a great job with that.”
Q: What difference do you want to see in terms of execution and mentality going forward in the short yardage?
BIENIEMY: “The mentality is to move the chains. We've got to find a way to move the chains. Hats off to the Chargers. I thought they did a hell of a job of stopping us. Regardless of what takes place, there's always a mentality that we've got to find a way. So, they did a hell of a job. We didn't. So, we've got to go back to the drawing board. But when it's all said and done with, if you want to beat a good defense like this defense that we're about to face, you've got to find a way to be better. So those are the little things that we're working on.”
Q: From the offseason maybe to Week 1 to now, how do you feel T Kahlil Benson has progressed in his role?
BIENIEMY: “I think (T) Kahlil (Benson) has taken the necessary steps every single day. He's working, and that's a credit to (Offensive Line) Coach Andy Heck and (Assistant Offensive Line Coach) Corey Matthaei, his assistant. They do a great job with the communication with those guys, do a great job with the drills and making sure he's fundamentally sound. I think every snap that he takes, it's a new one, and there's a new situation or something being presented to him. Is he perfect? No, he's not perfect. But what he is doing, he's working at his skill set to perfect himself, to be better each and every situation that presents itself. He's going to continue working. I think more than anything, we're just happy and excited, and we want to keep pushing him and keep him moving forward.”
DEFENSIVE BACKS COACH DAVE MERRITT
Q: On CB Mansoor Delane.
MERRITT: “Trending. (CB Mansoor Delane) He's a young man, as we all know, came in and next thing, he ended up having an injury and set him back for a little bit and going into training camp, he was set back even a little more, but all of a sudden now he's back. And to be honest with you, it's just the fact that he's back out there running around because there's nothing wrong with his legs. It's all between the ears but he's trending to be where we want him to be. He's getting better.”
Q: CB Mansoor Delane seems to really embrace the physicality of the game. Is that how he was when he came in?
MERRITT: “I would say (CB Mansoor Delane) he had that in his DNA, and we had to continue to bring it out of him. I think when you look at a lot of these young guys, you have some guys that are going to come in the league and they're just natural physical guys and there's other guys that you're going to have to train them and teach them along the way of this is how you stay safe when you go to take on the block or when you go to tackle. There's techniques that you use and one of the things that we use all the time is stepping to contact, stepping to contact and making sure you're creating hard joints. So, he has embraced that and has done well.”
Q: Could you explain “stepping into contact?”
MERRITT: “Just one of the things that we teach here, and I've been teaching it for 30 years, is stepping to contact and really creating a situation whereas if you step with the right foot, then the right shoulder, if they come in at the same time, you're going to actually create more power. It's like pushing a car. It's really just leaning into someone. Well, how do you do it? You want to kind of anchor and push into it. So that's another thing that you do with block destruction. That's what you do with tackling as well, and that creates power. That creates knockback.”
Q: On DB Nohl Williams.
MERRITT: “Yes, I think (DB Nohl Williams) that young man, we were just praising him yesterday, and he doesn't receive that too well in the sense that (CB L’Jarius) LJ (Sneed), myself, and a couple other guys were just saying, ‘Boy, you're really playing really good football,’ and Nohl kind of always just shut that down because he remembers his M.E.s (mental errors). He remembers some bad plays, but we're saying you've made enough good plays that have helped us win. So, I think where he's trending to is, in my opinion, he's one of the better corners in the league right now. I think that he's playing at a high, high level. I think they did away with the Pro Bowl, but still, I think he's playing at an all-star level right now. So, if he can continue to do that and come up with some more plays for us that can excite and wow the crowd, I think it's going to be good for his future.”
WIDE RECEIVERS COACH CHAD O’SHEA
Q: Have you noticed just in the early days this week, WR Cyrus Allen reaction to increased opportunities?
O’SHEA: “Yeah, (WR) Cyrus (Allen) has had great energy this week. He had great energy last week in preparation to play in the game. So just again, pleased with the way he approaches the day. He's done everything we've asked him to do, and I'm just really excited about his future.”
Q: What do you like about WR Andrew Armstrong?
O’SHEA: “Yeah, (WR) Andrew (Armstrong), I'll start with Andrew as the person. Andrew gave us great confidence early on that he would be able to meet this opportunity and do a great job because of just the way he goes about his day. You know, he's a great worker. He's a tremendous person. He's very intelligent. He understands the game of football. He's a great teammate. You know, the guys really respect him because they respect the way he works and he goes about his business. So, that gave us great confidence that when he went in there that he would be a dependable player for us and we were pleased with what he did in game one.”
Q: What are the challenges for you when you have to do some option routes off the Seahawks defense?
O’SHEA: “Yeah, this is a big challenge with not only the personnel from Seattle because they're outstanding, but their scheme is outstanding. They do a great job of disguising coverages, of making it difficult before the snap. So, we have just a great challenge ahead of us. I know the guys are working really hard in the meeting rooms with extra film study and extra preparation. And then, obviously, what's most important is our preparation on the field. So, looking to have a great day of practice today and know that this is going to be a challenging week, both from who we're facing and then the scheme in which we're facing.”
Q: On the process of trying to replace WR Tyquan Thornton.
O’SHEA: “Yeah, I'll start with a tremendous amount of respect for (WR) Tyquan (Thornton) and what he did with us this season. He was outstanding, and not only outstanding on the field, but he was even more outstanding in the meeting rooms and just being a great teammate with our guys. So, I'll say that, and we'll miss Tyquan. But I'm excited about the challenge of replacing some of Tyquan’s production, kind of across the board, as we say in the receiver room. It's our job as coaches to utilize those skill sets that we know we have a variety of different skill sets in the room, use those skill sets to try to find production in different ways that Tyquan might have had that we're not going to have now with him not being in there. But we certainly have enough guys in the room that we can be very successful in the pass game without Tyquan out there.”
QUARTERBACKS COACH DAVID GIRARDI
Q: Can you take us through the offseason and transitioning to being under center this season?
GIRARDI: “Yeah, I mean, you know, we went through our scheme of how, you know, during the offseason, we always go through that in ways that we can be better and things that we can do, and we felt that getting under center and a little more downhill, obviously we brought Ken in, so utilizing that in a place that we can grow and get better, and I feel like we've been able to do that.”
Q: What do you think has allowed QB Patrick Mahomes to succeed going under center?
GIRARDI: “Yeah, I mean, it's something that (QB Patrick Mahomes) he's continually grown on. Like, as his career's gone, now this year it's really the uptick has increased a lot, but it's something that we have worked on over the years, and so working through those things, fundamentals, obviously the run game, we do a nice job there, and that helps with the play actions and getting guys open down field, so it really starts up front, you know, and then, like I said, the run game, working for us, allowing him to, you know, play action, get guys to come up and get some more one-on-ones and things like that, so it's something we've been working on and really just a lot more this year.”
Q: With the addition of RB Kenneth Walker, how has that been able to kind of help elevate QB Patrick Mahomes as a quarterback?
GIRARDI: “Yeah, I mean, you know, it's great when you can just turn around, hand the ball off, and, again, everything starts up front. I think our line's done a great job. Our running back's phenomenal. They've got great vision, great feel, the ability to break tackles, make people miss, and so, you know, as a defense, when you have to go against that and you know that you have to prepare for the run game, you know, that's going to be a challenge, so that takes some stress off of (QB) Patrick (Mahomes) or some things that he feels like maybe he has to go there and play outside of himself. He doesn't have to. You know, we can hand the ball off and be perfectly fine there as well.”
Q: Do you ever have any moments as you’re watching film where you're shocked by what QB Patrick Mahomes can do?
GIRARDI: “Yeah, it happens all the time. I mean, the physical stuff you touched on, we see it in practice every day. There are numerous times throughout the year that we'll pause it and say, don't take this for granted, you know, the things that he can do, and that it's become so routine with him, but it is special to see and watch. That's the physical side of it, but, you know, mentally, he is sharp. I mean, he sees things one time, and he can retain it. There's times that, you know, you might not get, defense will change things up, and so you may prepare for something, and they come out and do something different, but he's had so much experience now that he's able to pull from that memory and make an on-field adjustment that maybe we hadn't seen on tape, but he's seen it before in his past. So those things stand out where he's just able to get to something quick right now, whether it's a route concept or a protection call or whatever it may be. Those are the things, and when he can see it, it's special.”
DT CHRIS JONES
Q: What are some of the biggest challenges that Seattle poses for you guys?
JONES: “Their scheme runs. I think (Seattle QB) Sam Darnold plays really great ball in that schematic. They have a really good running back, unfortunately their rookie got hurt. But they have a really good system of how they scheme their plays. They have one of the best receivers in the league, (Seattle WR Jaxon Smith) Njigba.”
Q: On relationship with Defensive Line Coach Joe Cullen.
JONES: “I think it’s just the passion of wanting to win, wanting to succeed and wanting to be great and push each other beyond measure. I think that’s what you got right there.”
Q: How would you evaluate your performance so far this season?