Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
August 20, 2025
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, as far as injuries go, (Jake) Briningstool will be out, (Jack) Cochrane (will be) out, (Ethan) Driskell (will be out), Mike Edwards (will be) out, Nazeeh (Johnson), Omarr (Norman-Lott) and (Jalen) Royals (will be out). Everything went good today. Guys worked today, (we) had a good practice today. Today was like a Friday practice, (it) simulated what an in-season Friday looks like. Again, (a) good day with a little bit of heat out there. I saw a lot of you guys go inside (laughter), time is yours.”
Q: Do you have any idea on how much playing time the starters will get?
REID: “I’m just going to play it by ear. They’re going to start. They will start it off and then we will see how it goes from there.”
Q: How important is it for you to see Kristian Fulton play as he is working back from his injury?
REID: “We will see how that rolls with him (Kristian Fulton). Then we will see how he feels and go from there.”
Q: How much do you want to see from Hollywood Brown?
REID: “I’m just going to play that by ear. I’m going to see how he (Hollywood Brown) does through warmups and all of that and we will just kind of go from there. This is day by day right there, so I don’t want no step backwards on that (injury).”
Q: What has gone into preseason playing time with the starters and the difference between playing three games instead of four?
REID: “Yeah, there’s just a little bit of a longer wait. Here at the – in between this game and the next game. So, I’d rather give the guys a little bit more time in this game. So, the timing gets a little closer to when we get to our game – (our) in-season game.”
Q: What is your message to the team as they approach the third preseason game and roster cut down day?
REID: “Yeah, so everybody can’t make the team, and they know that, I tell them that day one. (I tell them to) just make our job hard. Make it hard for (General Manager Brett) Veach and his crew and the coaches to get rid of them. That’s how they’ve gone about their business. I haven’t seen guys counting numbers and lines and doing all of that stuff. They have come out and worked hard, for the first guy to the last guy and I have appreciated that. Then it’s a tough day, that’s not part of the job you like. But inevitably you got to almost cut half a team. So, that’s not an easy thing.”
Q: Is it easier or harder to do it all at once?
REID: “Yeah, I think it’s, I think it’s okay. Yeah, I think it’s okay. I think it gives guys maybe a better opportunity to go on, especially the way these practice squads are set up now. You got a lot of numbers there that you can work with. So, you get another look, potentially at the guys through practice there. So, I think it’s a good thing. See what their attitudes are, especially if they know they’re right on that border. See how they handle all of that.”
Q: Is there a little bit of the feeling that everybody is feeling drained but still trying to push through camp?
REID: “Yeah, so you know, we had two great days, and so the third day I just want to make sure they push through it. So, they end up doing it, it was a hot one out there today. And so, you know a little encouragement always helps.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
August 20, 2025
LB LEO CHENAL
Q: On Travis Kelce.
CHENAL: “Yeah, man. He’s (Travis Kelce) a special dude. When you talk about the greats but also being a great person – it’s an honor even being his teammate, and to call him a friend is pretty cool too. And then having that memory that I’ll share with my family for generations to come is huge and something I’ll always look back and smile on.”
Q: Even though these are preseason games, do you want to have a better showing this week than you did in Seattle?
CHENAL: “Oh yeah. The whole team felt it. Coaches, players, all of us are pretty upset with ourselves following that game. The best we can do is remember how we felt after that game and prepare ourselves (as) best as we can here and have some good momentum going forward.”
Q: How do you see your role expanding after training camp this year?
CHENAL: “I got a decent amount of opportunity last year, and maybe it’s some more situations regarding the quarterback – spying (on) the quarterback. I personally need to do a lot better job of getting to the quarterback when I’m put in those positions on the edge, or whatever. Because they trust me, (and) they want me to be out there, but they want to be able to say like, ‘ok, if we’re going to take out an edge rusher that we trust, is he going to do just as good or better?’ So that’s something that I’ve really pushed myself on and (have) taken that into account.”
WR JUJU SMITH-SCHUSTER
Q: What has impressed you most about Tyquan Thornton and Jalen Royals?
SMITH-SCHUSTER: “This offense is not an easy offense to learn, you know coming here – especially my first time (and) especially as a young guy coming from a college playbook where the hashes are a lot wider and the plays are a lot simpler. For Jalen (Royals), him just being who he is and being able to be coachable throughout those times and seeing Tyquan (Thornton) grow. I’ve been with him when he was with the Patriots, so seeing him come there to here and seeing (him) open it up and stretch the field has helped us out a lot, so it’s pretty nice to see that and these are coming along.”
Q: On him mentoring the young guys on the sideline.
SMITH-SCHUSTER: “I think naturally, I’m a people’s person, so I like to help out the guys, especially learning plays (and) studying plays. For me, I remember when I was a rookie and some of the older guys took time out of their day – who had a family, who had things going on (and for me to) just spend time with them. Throughout camp, I would spend an hour after practice or after meetings with the younger guys to try and get them to get their plays down because this is their livelihood. They’ve been playing football since they were kids, so for them, the more they can get out of a veteran, it’s nice to help them out. I know it’s a long way to go not just for them, but you know for the future. It is very important to help out those guys.”
Q: On how he has sensed Patrick Mahomes take it to another level.
SMITH-SCHUSTER: “I would say definitely him (Patrick Mahomes) coming into this season, you can tell he’s a lot lighter (with) mobility. You can see his next level of seeing the next play, seeing the play ahead and kind of visualizing it has helped us out a lot. We’re able to see coverages, more (and) so far ahead because we’re on the same page as him. And I think that’s just more so being around with Trav (Travis Kelce) too. When you see a guy like Trav, he’s still doing it at a high level. (With) How old he is, it’s cool to see that now all the young guys kind of rally around that, and kind of rally around Pat (Patrick Mahomes) and you just see like: ‘Cool, they’re taking it to the next level’ and it just brings everybody else to the next level. Those guys (Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce) set the bar really really high here and I think that’s awesome. I always say when you have guys like the veteran players (that are) working hard every day, showing up every day, putting in the work and putting in the effort, it just makes the younger guys kind of just follow and that becomes the expectation here so every day you got to show up and work every day, so, on the field and off the field you can see that (Patrick Mahomes’ level increase) a lot. They are definitely taking it to the next level.”
DB JADEN HICKS
Q: What would you tell fans to look for in this upcoming game?
HICKS: “Definitely effort, I think that is one thing that we always preach on, something that we live on. So, definitely effort, and you know, just being in the right spots, we (have) got to do our job, and just align right and play our gameplan.”
Q: Do you see a step up this time in the coaches’ approach to this game?
HICKS: “Most definitely. With the running game, we know we’re going to shut that down. I feel like this week definitely. With Seattle, you know that wasn’t a pretty good performance on the defensive end, so we’re going to definitely fix that.”
Q: Do you enjoy moving from role to role every play?