Chiefs Coordinator Quotes
September 24, 2026
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR STEVE SPAGNUOLO
Q: What do you think went wrong against the Colts?
SPAGNUOLO: “Well, I was telling somebody, we're probably not as good as we were in the first week and hopefully not as bad as we were in the second. Yeah, well, no. No, it was the other way. We didn't reaffirm. No, we didn't do a good job there. Listen, we were happy we won, and I was really, I will say this, I was really proud of the way they responded after the big play. That was huge. I mean, that said a lot about this group, you know, certainly (LB) Nick (Bolton) and (LB) Drue (Tranquill) on the inside. But it was hard not to think about all the other stuff, and the reason that we were in overtime, and we were in that situation because we kind of let the team down in certain areas. But thank God we got away with a win, and we can learn from it, and hopefully it'll ignite us to play a little bit better this week.”
Q: How much did you feel like you missed CB Mansoor Delane in this game?
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, listen, we didn't know right up until the beginning, and then (CB Mansoor Delane) he couldn't go. But I'll tell you what, I will credit (CB) Kristian Fulton for the way he stepped in there in these two games and played. During the week, I can't remember as much about last week, but let's say both of these weeks, Mansoor has gotten a lot of the reps. So, Kristian doesn't get as many, and yet he's stepping in in the game and playing almost all the downs. That's a credit to him, and he made a great play on that interception. We needed that. The opening drive, they come down and scored, so you've got to kind of get things back right, and he did a nice job doing that. So, I would credit Kristian on that. Look, again, there's been moving pieces there in the back end for a while. (DB) Chamarri (Conner), we still don't have. (DB) Jaden's (Hicks) filled in and done a great job, so kudos to those guys that have stepped up.”
Q: If you lose, you've got this great teaching point, but when you come away with a win, is it harder to teach the guys?
SPAGNUOLO: “I don't think it's lost on our guys in the defensive room that we didn't play well. I don't think we're going to get clouded by the fact that we ended up winning. Now, listen, it's hard to win in this league, so I said to them in the locker room, it wasn't pretty as a defense, but enjoy it because they're really hard to come by. I think that when we got together on Tuesday, I think there was a feeling in there that, ‘No, that's not what we're looking for,’ yeah, we won the game, but there was a big ‘but’ there. It was a good win, ‘but,’ for us anyway.”
Q: On the process of having more than 12 guys in the huddle then going out of the game.
SPAGNUOLO: “We did a little bit of that in this past game. That's just a matter of when they hold people and don't have anybody in their huddle, we don't know what they're in. If we're going to match on that particular down, rather than running guys, we just keep them out there until we know. Sometimes they hang in there and come out late. Sometimes they come out a little bit early. Game within the game. Hopefully they don’t, I don't know, they'll come back and set a rule I can't do it anymore. I'm waiting for that.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR ERIC BIENIEMY
OPENING STATEMENT: “Good afternoon. Good seeing everybody. Coming off a tremendous overtime win, I thought our guys battled for 60-plus minutes. It was fun to watch. I thought we took some necessary steps forward, but when it's all said and done, we’ve still got some things that we need to continue to address just to continue helping us to play up to the level that we would love them to play. With that said, I'm all ears.”
Q: WR Rashee Rice has a different role this year. He’s in the box, he's blocking. How does he embrace something different?
BIENIEMY: “(WR) Rashee (Rice) is a football player, so he's done a great job of just embracing whatever role that you want him to assume. We communicate in our own form of way every single day. I mean, it's good, sometimes it's competitive, sometimes it's interactive, sometimes I just want him to go out there and do the right damn thing. But I will say this, he's done a hell of a job. He's doing a great job of blocking; he's doing a great job of working to get open. But the thing that I love more than anything, it's his attitude and his approach. He's consistent, he does a great job of taking notes in the meeting room, in the classroom, and he asks the right questions. So, these guys are doing a heck of a job, and that's a part of all the chemistry that we've been discussing. That goes a very long way because when we're interacting as coaches, but more importantly, when the players are interacting together, that's when this thing starts to click.”
Q: How impressive was TE Travis Kelce’s game? How does it compare to his games three years ago with you?
BIENIEMY: “(TE) Trav (Travis Kelce) has always been Trav to me. Even when I was away, I was watching everything that they were doing. He's always put the consistent behavior on tape. I love his attitude. I love his approach. He's just Trav, and I know he's become this big-time megastar. Well, I think he married up, but he's always remained the same. And he's providing leadership to our guys. He's providing the necessary energy to help them to get through certain times, but it was fun to watch, and it's always good just to see players enjoying themselves but when they have a good, productive day, it's great to see.”
Q: As the season goes on, how will you balance RB Kenneth Walker and RB Emmett Johnson’s workload?
BIENIEMY: “It's always a balance and the thing is, we just want to continue to make sure we're bringing our players along the right way. (RB) Emmett (Johnson) has done an outstanding job when given that opportunity to go out there and provide (RB) Kenneth (Walker) the rest. (Running Backs Coach) DeMarco's (Murray) doing a great job with him. I think Emmett’s role will continue to grow as the season progresses. The thing that you don't want to do, regardless of when you're raising some of these young players, you don't want to put them in a situation where it could be detrimental to them. You want them feeling free and confident. But also, too, yes, they've got to go out there and learn the lessons of understanding what it takes to win in this league. But I think more than anything, we just want to continue bringing them along the correct way and I think that growth process is heading in the right direction. So, we'll make sure that we're utilizing the time, as far as what Kenneth is playing and what Emmett is playing as we continue to progress throughout the season.”
Q: How is it preparing for Miami given that they are playing so many rookies, how is it unique in a sense?
BIENIEMY: “It doesn't change the process at all. Their (Dolphins Head Coach Jeff Hafley) Head Coach was a tremendous defensive coordinator for the Green Bay Packers, who we played three times last year (as Chicago Bears Running Backs Coach). He did an outstanding job with that defense. I think the scheme that he does is very unique. He does a great job putting those guys in position to go out there and execute and play. And they're young, and they're taking their lumps right now, but when it's all said and done, it's not about what they're doing or what they're not accomplishing. It's about what we do. Hats off to them. I know one thing. This is their home opener. This is the NFL. They're going to come out there and give us everything that they have. Our concern is not to be concerned about what is taking place with Miami. Our job is to make sure that we go out there and play against the NFL team that we're expecting to see on Sunday, and that's a hard-playing team that's going to give us everything that they have.”
Chiefs Assistant Coach Quotes
September 24, 2026
OFFENSIVE LINE COACH ANDY HECK
Q: Is the first time you saw T Kahlil Benson in rookie minicamp, what were you first thoughts seeing him?
HECK: “Yeah. It was rookie minicamp, and we had a really good group of guys come in for that camp and it's happening fast for coaches because we haven't had a chance to grade all these guys, and our scouts do a great job of getting these guys in here. And so right off, I could see (T Kahlil Benson) he's a big, strong man. We had a couple of other guys that were big, strong, very capable guys, and I was like, ‘Wow, we've got a really good group here. I hope we can get them enough reps that we can get a feel for who these guys are.’ And I would say what jumped out at me about Kahlil was I was able to plug him in left, right, guard, multiple positions, and he seemed to handle it pretty well in addition to being big and strong and athletic.”
Q: What's been most impressive about T Kahlil Benson’s ascent here the last few months?
HECK: “Well, what jumps out for me and I think for (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid in giving us confidence that, hey, let's get this guy in here, is (T Kahlil Benson) he loves football. He's a competitor, and so it jumps out that he may not be perfect. We've all got stuff to work on. He's got his things to work on. But, man, he's competing, and he's fighting his tail off. And so, you love to see that at any position, but especially in your offensive line.”
Q: What impact did you have on the “Heisman” play? How did the play come to you?
HECK: “Well, yeah, I would first say (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid is the one who uncovered that thing some years ago, and we had a great time watching the old grainy footage of this play being run. We've run it before, and so it's always kind of been in our hip pocket, ‘Hey, do we want to dust this thing off?’ And so that would have been my only involvement in that. I mean, it's Coach Reid's play invented by I think it was the University of Pennsylvania that we took the concept from, and I was just like, ‘Hey, what about Heisman? What do you think about that,’ see if it fits and see if our guys can walk through it and embrace it. Sometimes these plays take a little extra time. You're like, oh, we'll work on it. It's not quite ready because there's a lot going on with that play.”
Q: What do you see from OL Joshua Ezeudu?
HECK: “Yeah, so I was familiar with (OL) Joshua (Ezeudu). He was a teammate of one of my sons, Charlie, at North Carolina, and so got a chance to grade him as he was coming out for the draft. And then when (General Manager) Brett (Veach) came to me and said, hey, we're thinking about Ezeudu, I was like, ‘Great, I love how he competes. He's very versatile, guard, tackle. I think he'll fit in our room nicely,’ and we've already had him in some role play for us. So, he's doing a nice job.”
DEFENSIVE LINE COACH JOE CULLEN
OPENING STATEMENT: “We're excited. A great opportunity, going on the road for the first time down to Miami and (Dolphins Head) Coach (Jeff) Hafley's building that program and they’ve got some really skilled athletes on offense. (Dolphins RB De’Von Achane) D.A., number 28 is as good a back as there is. He’s had 5.7 (yards) to carry last year. We played (Dolphins QB) Malik Willis when he was at Tennessee in the game here. So great athletes and we'll have our hands full, but we're excited and looking forward to the challenge with that will open it up.”
Q: What do you see from your young guys?
CULLEN: “Well, they're all contributing in different ways, but they're all working hard. And you look at (DL) Peter (Woods), he's been able to give us some really good snaps inside, not only at the three technique, but at the nose. One thing we're going to keep working with him is consistency. But when he does it right, I mean, he's powerful, he's explosive, and he's had some really good plays on tape, and he plays hard. And then with (DE) R Mason (Thomas), he has a burst off the edge. He's done well in both games. He was about a step away from a sack the other day, had the quarterback hit. And then in the the first game, you had a really good rush (Broncos QB Bo) Nix there so. We're excited about where they're going and just got to keep getting better every day.”
Q: What have you learned about your run defense up front in these first two games?
CULLEN: “Well, I tell you, we're stout, we're physical and we grind, and that's the thing that's been really good. The first run of the Denver game, (DT) Chris (Jones) knocked the guard back about three yards and (DE) Felix (Anudike-Uzomah) came down the line of scrimmage, no gain. And one squirted out in that game. Then last week, it's as good a back as there is. I wish we had a couple back, that one right before the half. But we really had to nail it down, all 11 it takes to stop the run. But the guys keep grinding and they're getting better with the technique.”
Q: What made the Colts offensive line tough in terms of pass rush?
CULLEN: “Well, they're a physical offensive line. They've always had a good offensive line. And one of the things we stressed is we got to get them in those down and distances like we had a 3rd-and-16. (DE) George (Karlaftis) made a great play on the screen. So, they were in the screen. We had a 3rd-and-11, and George jumped the gun, went offside. So now you're down to 3rd-and-6 and the ball gets out a little quicker. But they've always had a decent offensive line. And I think we saved the best rush for the last one when George put him on his back but they're a good offensive line.”
Q: What have you felt that you guys have done well on 3rd-and-long plays?
CULLEN: “Well, we've had some consistent pressure, and it's not always going to be a sack, but we've put pressure on the quarterback in a lot of different ways. But the coverage in the back end and the rush go hand in hand. Those are the things that when they're tied in together, you’ve got to get home at the quarterback's patting that ball for over three seconds. You’ve got to get home. Ball gets out quick. You may have to change your rush and get your hand up to knock a slant down. The slant's getting out in 2.2 seconds. When you make the quarterback clutch it, you got to get home, and when he doesn’t, and he's getting it out quick, we got to get our hands up and helping the slant game.”
WIDE RECEIVERS COACH CHAD O’SHEA
Q: At the NFL level, how do you get guys to buy in and really embrace your run blocking?
O’SHEA: “It's something that's very important to us, as we say, competing in the run game. That's what we say. We say in all areas, we need to do what's best for the team, and what a great area to do that in the run game. I think it kind of shows the unselfishness that we have in our room right now, guys that are willing to do everything that they can to help the team win. I take a lot of pride in it, and I know our group does. It's something that's stressed daily, will continue to be stressed, but I hope that those guys really understand how important it is, and I think that they do.”
Q: Did you see any commonalties on the drops on Sunday night?
O’SHEA: “I think that during the course of the game, there's things, it could be dropped passes, it could be other things, it could be maybe better detail with assignments or better angles in the run game, but as far as the fundamentals of catching the football, it's something we work on daily. We'll continue to work on it. I don't overcoach it when a drop happens. We try to move on as quickly as we can and not allow that negative play to affect the next play. So, I think that we'll continue to work on our fundamentals, but it's something that I'm not going to overdo with the guys, because then I think it becomes a negative. We're going to try to move on as quickly as we can and move on to the next play.”
Q: What have you seen since WR Jalen Royals scored his touchdown?
O’SHEA: “Or one haircut, right? So, I mean, (WR Jalen Royals) he goes and gets his hair cut, and he comes back, he gets his first touchdown. He comes with great energy. He's always been a lot of fun to be around. He's a tremendous person, Jalen is, that works extremely hard. He puts the team first in everything we do. We've asked him to be in some different roles for the team that he's embraced, but how fun was it to see him catch his first touchdown pass, get a great looking haircut, and come really with a lot of energy. It's been a lot of fun to be around, and I know it's really energized our guys. It's contagious. I really believe that, and (WR) Rashee (Rice) and the guys have really had fun with him in the room as far as, hey, you get your first touchdown, you get a haircut, and now you've got some energy and juice about yourself. So, I think it's been great.”
Q: How easy is it to get buy-in for run blocking when RB Kenneth Walker and RB Emmett Johnson are the running backs and generate explosive runs?
O’SHEA: “Yeah, I'll tell you what it reminds me a lot. When I was here the first time in 2003-05, we had (WR) Dante Hall, and I was coaching with the special teams. And it's contagious when guys understand that they have guys that are as explosive and talented with the football in their hands as we have, that we had with Dante Hall years back. The blocking, it becomes even—there's more of an incentive because they know how important that is. And it's interesting because we say, stay alive down field. You might be on the back side of a run, but you're at the front side of a run real quickly. And what I mean by that is these guys have done a great job of cutting the football back and getting to level three. So, we've really put an emphasis of level three blocking and how important that is. We're so fortunate to have the runners that we do and to have the other players at the skill position with (TE) Travis (Kelce) doing such a great job with run after catch and our other players. It really brings a lot of energy to the guys that are blocking and brings more incentive for them.”
RUNNING BACKS COACH DEMARCO MURRAY
Q: What have you seen and maybe what else is there for RB Kenneth Walker?
MURRAY: Yeah, I like the start that (RB Kenneth Walker) he's started with the first two games as far as running the ball, catching the ball out of the backfield. I think he's prepared the right way, obviously through spring, through training camp, and obviously you see it throughout the course of the early season. But he comes to work every single day with the right mindset, and we're lucky to have him. I'm lucky to have him in our room. But, again, just a great leader for us, vocal when he needs to be. But, again, he leads by example, which I love. And, again, he's done a great job for us.”
Q: What's the conversation when it comes to just managing RB Kenneth Walker’s load of carries?
MURRAY: “I know (RB Kenneth Walker) he probably wants to be in every play but just making sure you manage that load but then at the same time knowing that (RB) Emmett's (Johnson) there and he can come in as well. Yeah, I think that all comes back to his work ethic. He's prepared himself for this, since spring and since camp. And (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid puts a great camp together and the long drive drills have been legendary around here. But, again, Kenneth has done a great job at getting himself in shape and, again, knowing that, hey, obviously we need you in the first quarter, first half and whatnot, but we're going to need you in the third and fourth as well. So, we pride ourselves on obviously finishing strong just as much as we start the game. So, again, he's put himself in a great position with his work ethic to carry the load. And, again, he's a running back, so he likes the ball a lot and I like giving it to him.”
Q: Did you sense an eagerness from RB Kenneth Walker pretty early on to play all three downs?
MURRAY: “Yeah, I mean, just the kind of player that (RB Kenneth Walker) he is, the kind of person that he is. Again, he's a team-first guy. He's a guy that, again, just like (RB) Emmett (Johnson), just like the rest of the guys, they want to be out there and contribute as much as they can for the team. He knew coming into this year that, hey, he knew what he wanted to do as far as, he wanted to become a better blocker. Obviously, he had great hands and really great route-running ability. And just a couple things we needed to clean up. And I think he's really looked himself in the mirror, and he's tried to challenge himself in all aspects of his game. I think you see the young guys kind of following him and things of that nature. But he has a lot of goals in hand that he doesn't want to be off the field. He wants to contribute as much as he can. So, he'll continue to do those things.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
September 24, 2026
DT CHRIS JONES
Q: How do you feel like the team has responded in the room this week?
JONES: “I think the most important thing that matters is the wins and losses. We were able to pull through it, but we were also able to learn a lot about this team – the resiliency of the team and the core strength of the team but there are still areas of improvement.”
Q: What do you enjoy about watching DL Peter Woods on tape?
JONES: “Just the progression from week one and week two, and continue to see those young guys excel. I think that's the biggest thing, continue to progress throughout the year. We keep on that trajectory of going upwards.”
Q: What are your thoughts about Dolphins RB De’Von Achane and how Miami is going to try to attack you guys?