Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
November 29, 2023
OPENING STATEMENT: “As far as the injuries go, (Jerick) McKinnon won’t practice today, everybody else will go. Nick Bolton will get some work today, and we’ll just bring him along slowly and see how he does. We look forward to the challenge of playing the Packers, good football team, great environment for a football game. (Packers Head Coach) Matt (LaFleur) does a great job with the responsibility of being a head coach and also working heavily with the offense. (Packers Defensive Coordinator) Joe Barry, their defensive coordinator does a great job there – scheme wise, the personnel they have is very good. (Packers Offensive Coordinator) Adam (Stenavich) works with the offense, likewise he is the offensive coordinator, works with Matt and they’ve put together, obviously over the years, a good offense. They brought their quarterback (Jordan Love) along, done a real nice job with that. He’s playing at a high level. Along with the receivers and rest of the bunch, obviously the offensive line. Defensively, it starts with that defensive front that they have, they’ve got more than the four that start (who) can come in there and play, then their linebackers are getting healthy there, they’re playing well, too. Secondary wise, they’re getting healthy there, too, and I’m sure that the experience that the young guys have will benefit them down the road but also give them quality depth there. Then (their) special teams is also doing well. With that, time’s yours”
Q: What went through your head when (former Packers Head Coach) Mike Holmgren called you to go to Green Bay?
REID: “I mean this is corny, but he (Mike Holmgren) said, ‘I’m going to promise you I’m going to hire you someday.’ He did, he was good on his promise.”
Q: What made you want to move up to the NFL?
REID: “It was a good opportunity. I worked for (former Packers Head Coach) Mike Holmgren for the seven years and had a hard time believing anybody did it better and I still feel that way. He was a great head football coach, great offensive mind, so I was very fortunate to get into that situation. I knew him from BYU where he was coaching the quarterbacks, so that was an easy – professionally it was easy, personally it was tough because of the relationships I had with the Missouri staff.”
Q: You have a reputation of being a player’s coach, is that something you learned in your early coaching days from (former Packers Head Coach) Mike Holmgren?
REID: “I thought he (former Packers Head Coach Mike Holmgren) managed the players well, and he had a good feel for – he was a good people guy – good feel for that. I also had a chance to play for (former BYU Head Coach) LaVell Edwards, and he was a phenomenal guy with the players. That was one of his great strengths, so I had those couple examples there. I mentioned I was lucky to have good high school coaches, junior college, college and all the way up through, I was very fortunate – they’re good people.”
Q: How does it feel to go back to Lambeau Field and what do you remember when you do go back there?
REID: “The only time I go back is when we play there, but listen, it’s a lot like Kansas City that way, they’re passionate about football. It is a neat environment. I mean we look forward to that challenge of going up there and playing. I know our guys do. I had a great time there; we won a World Championship (Super Bowl XXXI), so my experience there was top notch.”
Q: What do you see from (Packers QB) Jordan Love compared to when you faced him in his first NFL start?
REID: “A world of difference. He’s playing really good football right now. You start looking at his numbers, and they’re up there these last few games here. He’s done a nice job.”
Q: What are your thoughts on Wanya Morris in the snaps that he played in?
REID: “He did a nice job. He played well for the couple plays that he was in there, physical. Good to get him a couple reps in there.”
Q: When talking about Rashee Rice, you used the term ‘Patrick Friendly’, can you explain what that term means?
REID: “Getting better at understanding how to play against these crazy zones that these defenses throw at you and getting into space where you’re available. It’s not always a way that’s drawn up on a piece paper, you’ve got to have a feel, and so when I say that, I’m saying he’s got a feel and he’s building in all those different defenses and kind of seeing that and putting that together. There’ll keep being challenges this year, this will be a big challenge for him, this team here but he’s getting better every week at that.”
Q: What does growth look like in a receiver?
REID: “It kind of depends. If you look at (Travis) Kelce, there are certain times where Kelce doesn’t catch a lot of balls. But they’re doing something there that allows somebody else to catch it, so it’s hard to just go off of numbers alone and then there’s a part of the youth part where they might throw something at him and (he messes up), just don’t repeat that, learn from it and then get yourself in a position where you’re available. That part, but you also have the part where if teams are putting a lot of emphasis on him, then somebody else has go to step up.”
Q: Looking back at the Raider’s game, what made your staff the happiest?
REID: “Probably what I said after the game, just the fact that we were able to come back. We were down by 14 and the guys, they didn’t flinch, they actually picked it up and coaches likewise. That’s a tough thing to do in the league, especially after the week before that: Thanksgiving and all those things. It can be used as excuses, but they didn’t do that, they picked everything up and said, ‘We have to play better.’ And I hear things on the sideline, so I get a feel, most people don’t hear. The guys, the leaders were really encouraging guys, and I thought all that was positive.”
Q: Are there characteristics that you see in Rashee Rice that you saw in former Eagles wide receivers Jeremy Maclin and DeSean Jackson?
REID: “Yeah, all three are a little different (former Eagles WR) DeSean (Jackson) is fast, he’s normally the fastest guy on the field. (Former Eagles/Chiefs WR) Jeremy (Maclin) is very fast, but he’s also big and strong. Rashee (Rice) has good speed and even stronger than what Jeremy was. They’re all different, all three are different. They’re smart, and they have that feel for the game. That would be the things that are common.”
Q: The Raiders started off hot. How did this change your gameplan?
REID: “That wasn’t a very good opening script right there (laughter). They did a good job on us with that, and you can move things around – what they were showing us is similar to what would work on the script, we just had to go back and retool a couple things there.”
Q: What route was Justin Watson supposed to run on the play where he got knocked down?
REID: “He got drilled – knocked down and then bounced up, I mean he was supposed to continue going but he got knocked down, jumped up and there was a hole there that was moving, and he stayed there and was able to catch it. That was a heck of a hit, not a lot of guys bounce up from that the way he bounced up. That was something.”
Q: So, he was supposed to keep going to the back of the endzone?
REID: “Yeah, right in the back.”
Q: You are in a stretch of games where your opponent will have more rest than you. How big of an advantage is rest?
REID: “(Vice President of Player Services and Assessment Dr. Shaun Tyrance) Dr. T harps on the guys about sleep patterns and all this stuff. We just talked about it yesterday. He presented to the guys yesterday about sleep patterns. He’s always keeping that information available for the guys in case those kinds of things happen. When you’ve been a good football team, you’re going to have those kinds of schedules. Like this game here is a Sunday night game, so by the time you get back that week is a little bit shorter than what it possibly would have been. It starts in training camp, preparing yourself, make sure you take care of your body, make sure you get your sleep, all of those things. Then it should workout okay for you.”
Q: What are your thoughts on PFHOF and former Chiefs Head Coach Hank Stram?
REID: “I was a big (PFHOF Head Coach) Hank Stram fan because of (former Chiefs RB) Mike Garrett, a guy that grew up in that same area I grew up in – I followed his career at USC and then when he became a Chief, I became a Chiefs fan. I watched Hank Stram, he was someone I was familiar with, and I had a lot of respect for him. Even to be listed with his name there is crazy. Then when I coached at Missouri, I would come up here and visit with (former NFL OL) Howard Mudd. He was the O-line coach here at the time, so I was familiar with the organization. It’s always been a class organization, so I guess all of that together.”
Q: Did you think of PFHOF and former Chiefs Head Coach Hank Stram as an innovator?
REID: “(He had a) Great personality, he obviously worked close with (PFHOF QB) Len Dawson and they were good.”
Q: The run defense has not been as good as the pass defense, is that a little bit a result of trying to take the pass away as it’s become an emphasis in the NFL?
REID: “(Defensive Coordinator Steve) Spags, they spent a lot of time with that. (Defensive Line Coach) Joe Cullen, Spags, all the coaches they spent a lot of time with that, (Linebackers Coach) Brendan (Daly) to make sure that it’s sound. We’re doing better than we had (been) there, so we made some improvement. But you better be able to handle the pass in this league, too, and our guys are doing great at that.”
Q: Is it a conscious decision that it’s okay to give up a little bit on the ground to protect more against the pass?
REID: “No because you’re striving to do better. So when I stand up and say, ‘We can get better in a lot of spots.’ Yeah, we can get better there, so don’t just rest on that, keep pushing yourself. One of the tricks of being an NFL player is we’re going to exploit what you’re great at, and we’re going to help teach you the things you’re not quite great at to get better. So now you have a complete game. That’s in general what you’re asking the question on, we’re working on that to get better at that.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
November 29, 2023
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: Do the accolades like AFC Offensive Player of the Week mean a lot to you?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, they still mean a ton. Obviously, it’s an award for playing great football, which is hard to do in this league, so I think it still means a ton. It speaks to the team mostly, most of the times you win the game and guys around you make plays to get those awards. It was a good week for us offensively, and we’ll try to keep it rolling.”
Q: What did you see on the touchdown where Justin Watson got knocked down then got right back up to catch the pass?
MAHOMES: “(Head) Coach (Andy) Reid said it right, he was supposed to go across the endzone and then Travis (Kelce) was supposed to be behind him. I went back to find him in that spot and obviously didn’t see him and saw Travis, so my next read is to the running back for the check down. As I was scanning back to the left, I saw him getting back up and I was like, ‘If you get back up you’re going to be wide open for a touchdown.’ It speaks to him though, getting hit like that and being able to bounce back up and get the touchdown, you just have to keep fighting to the end.”
Q: Head Coach Andy Reid talked about Rashee Rice becoming ‘Patrick friendly.’ What does that mean for a receiver?
MAHOMES: “How you work, I think that’s the biggest thing. If guys continue to work and continue to practice, and I get a feel for how they run routes and a feel for how they’re seeing stuff on the football field, it just makes my job easier. Guys have done that throughout my career and he (Rashee Rice) has done a great job of that in year one, which doesn’t happen a lot of times with receivers. The goal for him now is to keep working, keep getting better, don’t be satisfied with where he’s at and hopefully get him more bigger games as his career goes on.”
Q: How is Rashee Rice doing adjusting to zone coverage, is he getting better at that?
MAHOMES: “He is, he’s getting a lot better. He doesn’t make the same mistakes. I think that’s the biggest thing. There are little things here and where we might not be on the same page, but once we talk about it on the sideline, he doesn’t make that mistake again. That’s why you see he’s getting better and better throughout the season. It’s one thing to be able to beat man coverage when you come into the NFL because that’s played everywhere but the zones are so much more complex than college. Sometimes they have to recognize it on the fly, so it’s just about getting better and better throughout the season.”
Q: What does it say about Head Coach Andy Reid to have become the winningest coach in franchise history?
MAHOMES: “I think the biggest thing for me when you talk about (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid is that he knows how to win with a lot of different players. That speaks to the person he is. You always have to build a different culture; you always have to adapt your team to the players you have on your team and he’s done a great job of that not only here but in Philly (as Eagles Head Coach) and when he was an assistant coach all around the league and in college. It speaks to the person he is because he can relate to everybody, and he can go out and get the best out of every single person.”
Q: Head Coach Andy Reid has been able to succeed with two different teams, is that the point you’re making?
MAHOMES: “Yeah exactly. In the NFL you’re getting people from every culture and every environment. I think he does a great job of being able to be that father like figure or uncle or whatever you want to call it. He can get the best out of you no matter if you grew up with a lot of money or you grew up with no money, no matter where you grew up he knows how to relate to you and get the best out of you.”
Q: Early in your career you talked about wanting to pass on every run/pass option. How far do you feel like you’ve come in being able to decide when to go with the run and when to throw it?
MAHOMES: “Every game there’s one or two you wish you had thrown or wish you would have handed off it seems like, but I’ve gotten a lot better at it. Teams have really tried to focus on not giving away those throws but I think you see that’s why (Isiah Pacheco) Pop can really run the football and get those extra yards is because instead of him breaking one tackle and the guy being right there the guy has to hesitate his feet and that’s why he can break that tackle and keep getting those extra two or three yards so he does a great job of that. I know with our offensive line and our running backs that we can get those yards, so even sometimes when I might need to throw it, I hand it off and let Pop run because I wouldn’t be the one tackling him.”
Q: When does it start clicking that the playoffs are getting close and it’s time to get going that way?
MAHOMES: “For me, it’s all the time. Offseason, in season, whatever it is, I’m always knowing that you take the day – you want to maximize the day and get better and better. At the end of the day, you’re working for that ultimate goal, which is to win the Super Bowl. You take it week in and week out but your mentality should be that I’m going to do this today to be better for the next day and for the next day until the Super Bowl comes. We have a great game this week, a great challenge and a great environment against a great football team. For us, how can we get better today, so we play that football game and we can find a way to win it that will be towards our ultimate goal which is the Super Bowl.”
Q: What is it like playing at Lambeau Field?
MAHOMES: “I’ve never gotten to play an actual game there – I actually never got to play a game there in general because the games I’ve been they have been the fourth preseason games, so I wasn’t playing in the games. I’m extremely excited for it. I’ve watched it my whole entire life, and I know it’s going to be a hostile environment; the fans are going to be loud, it's going to be a lot like GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium is to other teams like you’re saying. I’m excited, if you love football, you love Lambeau Field. I’m excited to get the opportunity to play there.”
Q: On the tight over the shoulder throw he made to Travis Kelce in the second quarter against the Raiders.
MAHOMES: “I honestly think I pulled the string a little too much. I think if I had thrown it the way I wanted to it would not have been that close to his helmet. I would have thrown it over his shoulder a little bit more, led him – great tight end, Travis (Kelce) did the late hands and that made it look even better for me. He did the late hands, caught it, and got up field, got those yards anyways. When I threw it, I thought I hit the dude in the helmet for sure, I thought I had pulled it back just a little bit too much. Sometimes you have to give your great players a chance to make great plays, and that’s what he (Travis Kelce) did.”
Q: So that throw was a lot about having confidence in Travis Kelce to go get it?
MAHOMES: “100%. (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid challenged me over the bye and through these next weeks (to) just, ‘Trust in your guys to go there and make plays.’ I’ve tried to do that these last few weeks and they’ve paid off because they’ve been making some plays for me.”
Q: Have you noticed any slowing down or change in Travis Kelce’s game?
MAHOMES: “Not necessarily. I think if anything the amount of coverage he is getting had maybe put his number down just a little bit. I think as you start to see some other guys make some things happen, he’s going to go back to where he’s been at. I mean you see him at practice, you see him in some of the plays he makes during the game. You don’t think there would be any chance of retirement any time soon and he hasn’t said anything to me about it. I think I’d be the first one to know if that’s in his mind.”
Q: Do you follow where you are in the playoff race?
MAHOMES: “I know if we win all our games the rest of the year we’ll be playing at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. It’s an advantage playing at Arrowhead, so we’re going to try to do whatever we can to win those football games, but we have a lot of great challenges ahead.”
Q: Head Coach Andy Reid mentioned about having less rest than other teams on your schedule and you had someone come in and talk about sleep. Is that a new push the last couple years and how does having kids at home affect that?
MAHOMES: “First (Patrick’s wife) Brittany (Mahomes) crushes the sleep, the kids have been sleeping for like 12 hours since they were three months old. I’ve been lucky because I know other parents who haven’t been so fortunate, so that doesn’t bother me at all. It’s cool to hear (Vice President of Player Services and Assessment Dr. Shaun Tyrance) Dr. T talk about the sleep and how much benefit you can get from sleep. I’ve been big on sleep for a while. I’m one of those night owls. I like to stay up late, so I’ve tried to force myself to go to sleep and I track it with the WHOOP (sleep tracker watch) and everything like that, you can see the recovery scores. Rest is rest, we’re playing football. Let’s just go out there and play football and see what happens.”
Q: Did you watch Packers-Lions on Thanksgiving and what are your impressions of the Packers?
MAHOMES: “I got to catch from the end of the second quarter through the end of the second half with our practice schedule. They’ve been playing great football all year; I’ve watched a lot of their games just because we’ve played some similar opponents, obviously. (Packers QB) Jordan (Love) has gotten better and better every single game. He’s always had the talent, but when you get more and more reps – I mean he didn’t play for three years basically – so he’s gotten more and more reps, you can see how much more comfortable he’s getting. They have play makers everywhere, and their defense can play. They’ve got a lot of guys that can play football. It will be a great challenge for us, and they’re a hot football team that just beat another great football team so they have confidence coming in. We’ve got to match that confidence and try to find a way to win a football game.”
DT CHRIS JONES
Q: Are you looking forward to Lambeau Field?
JONES: “Absolutely. Such a historic field, for all the Super Bowls, the Lombardi, just the history of the field is amazing. I’m always looking forward to playing in such an environment. Similar to KC’s (GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium) right.”
Q: On Packers QB Jordan Love.
JONES: “He’s been progressing ever since they gave him the opportunity to get the starting job. He learned a lot under (Jets QB) Aaron Rodgers and kind of has some of his mechanics. Their team is on a roll, I think a three or four game wining streak. (Packers Head Coach) Matt LaFleur is a heck of a coach and that offense is rolling.”
Q: Does it mean anything to you to see Head Coach Andy Reid become the winningest coach in franchise history?
JONES: “It’s always remarkable to be able to play under (Head Coach) Andy Reid. Just his journey, what he’s been able to do at multiple organizations. I think the only coaches to be the winningest coach at two organizations just tells you his commitment to this game of football and how he’s such a pioneer in this league.”
Q: Is there anything you can point to in last game that allowed the defense to turn it around after the Raiders first three drives?
JONES: “I think the defense just kind of homed in most importantly. We played fundamental football. I think early on we got out of our gaps playing not like we’ve usually been playing over the course of this year. We were able to make a few adjustments, play fundamentally sound and wrap them up when we had the opportunity.”