Chiefs Coordinator Quotes
September 17, 2026
ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE TOUB
Q: On the penalties against the Denver Broncos.
TOUB: “Yeah, we have some rookies that make mistakes, but it’s still too many penalties. Four penalties in a game, is four too many, really, on the special teams. We’re always striving for none, but they happen. We had some aggressive penalties, I mean I don’t want the guys to not be aggressive, but at the same time you’ve got to be smart and we talked about it all week.”
Q: How did you overall assess what the special teams unit was able to do?
TOUB: “I thought (P) Matt Arazia had a great game. Could have been player of the week, I mean he was that good. He was bombing the ball and helped us a lot of times with field position. (K Harrison) Butker made all his stuff. You know there was a lot of good things. A lot of young players played well, (S Xavier) Nwankpa, two tackles. (TE Jake) Briningstool played good. So, it was refreshing to see a lot of young players, play well.”
Q: When LB Cooper McDonald got hurt, what does that mean for you during the game?
TOUB: “That’s a tough situation, because (LB Cooper McDonald) he was a four-phase starter for us. So, you’re scrambling a little bit but guys stepped up. Guys stepped up. (DE) R Mason (Thomas) stepped up, didn’t get any reps during the week, played two-phases for us, took two-phases over for him, for McDonald. And then, (TE Noah) Gray. Noah Gray is another guy that I can always count on, true professional. In all our meetings, he's always prepared, very smart guy, you know. So, that's what happens. You have to, the next guy up that gets no reps usually ends up playing when somebody like that goes down. So, I mean, it's a credit to those guys.”
Q: On how interchangeable are special teams and FB Ben VanSumeren.
TOUB: “The good thing about (FB Ben VanSumeren) him is that he's like a linebacker. He is a linebacker, really. I mean, he has a linebacker history and fullback body. But he's a fast guy. He runs in the 4.4s and he's a big guy. So, he can really help you on special teams. That's why we elevated him last week and that's why he is now on the 53. So, he's going to be a four-phase guy for us going forward. I'm excited about that. (Head Coach) Andy's (Reid) excited about having a full-back again too. So, all those things are helpful for our football team.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR STEVE SPAGNUOLO
Q: How was the start on Monday?
SPAGNUOLO: “We don’t want to jump the gun too quickly but we had some moving pieces there as soon as (CB) Mansoor (Delane) got hurt after the interception, but I thought the coaches and the guys did a really good job. Listen, we talked about it yesterday, we put it in the rear-view mirror, stay humble and hungry because we don’t let one game, good or bad—I mean, I talked to the guys before the game whether you fair poorly in the first game or you do really well, you’re doing one of two things in the second game. You’re either affirming what you saw right there is what we are or some teams are going to say what they did last week was an aberration. So, it’s either affirmation or aberration and we’re trying to affirm what we did last week.”
Q: How do you continue to have success against Colts RB Jonathan Taylor?
SPAGNUOLO: “I don’t know if that gives us any edge going in this game. (Colts RB Jonathan Taylor) He’s really good. One thing we’ve got to do is try to bottle him up. When he gets to the edge—I saw a PFF (Pro Football Focus) sheet the other day on his going from 0-25 miles per hour, whatever it is, he’s really good. If you remember in the game a year ago, it was a short yardage play that he popped, (S) Bryan Cook was able to catch him but he’s tough to catch. So, trying to get him bottled up and not let him hit a seam north and south will be really important.”
Q: What confidence do you have in LB Jack Cochrane with LB Cooper McDonald on Injured Reserve.
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, (LB) Jack’s (Cochrane) has always been a reliable, steady, football player for us. He’s one of those guys in this league, and every team has one or hopes to have one, that plays linebacker and plays all the spots. He’s able to learn all the spots without getting a lot of reps for us. So, he’ll get in there. (LB) Jeff (Bassa) we used a little bit in the game and he’s going to pick up a little bit of that slack for (LB) Cooper (McDonald). I was really sad to see Cooper McDonald get hurt like that. He was the guy that was going to play the SAM linebacker and now we’re going to lose him for a bit but hopefully Jack and Jeff can fill in there.”
Q: On the trajectory of the defense.
SPAGNUOLO: “Listen, it was a step in the right direction. I certainly would like to be–I'm glad we're sitting here talking about that and not the other way around because I was concerned about the tackling. I was concerned about the chemistry on the back end with the limited reps together, but it came together pretty good, and part of that is because of the glue guys like (LB) Drue (Tranquill) and (LB) Nick (Bolton) and (CB L’Jarius) LJ (Sneed). They're glue guys and (DT) Chris (Jones) and then we had a little bit of success early and kind of got some confidence. It's really confidence for everybody, not just for (CB) Mansoor Delane when the third play of your career you get an interception, but for everybody else too. We were able to turn the ball over, which we didn't have a lot of those last year, so it was good to see. So hopefully we can stay on that trajectory.’
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR ERIC BIENIEMY
OPENING STATEMENT: “Good afternoon. First and foremost, give a shout out to the Chiefs Kingdom. That energy and excitement that they brought to the stadium, I thought the players did a great job of feeding off of that. It was exciting watching our guys play, but as you know, this is one in the books. We’ve got to keep moving forward now. With that said, I'm all ears.”
Q: Given your running back background, how much do you love the way the game played out?
BIENIEMY: “I thought the backs did a great job of stepping up. There's still a lot of things we need to continue working on. The O-line did a hell of a job of blocking up front. I thought the guys on the perimeter did an even better job of getting blocks down the field. And then the backs did what they were supposed to do and getting paid to run it and make big plays and I thought they did exactly that.”
Q: Did you notice in the second half the Broncos adjusting to seeing the productivity you guys had running the ball?
BIENIEMY: “Oh, yeah, (Broncos Defensive Coordinator) Vance (Joseph) is a hell of a coach. I mean, (Broncos Head) Coach Sean Payton, they're outstanding coaches. They’ve got great people on that staff. Yes, they made some adjustments, as we did, but at the end of the day, our guys did a better job of executing, and that's not me being arrogant about it. We found a way to win. That's the most important thing. We executed. We made plays. There were some times we didn't play our best, but our guys regrouped. They found a way to come back out there and be resilient through it all, and that's all that matters.”
Q: How do you get the wide receivers more involved?
BIENIEMY: “Our guys are working and I'm going to say this, okay. Yes, I want everybody to come out there and be an all-pro every single weekend. When it comes down to it, what's going to be the best way we can put our guys in position to come out and win? Because the only thing that matters is that alphabet. Did you win or did you lose? I can care less about the numbers. Those guys are excited about winning. Those guys are excited about the energy that they felt and just living in that moment. They know that at some point in time, their numbers will show up but that whole stuff, we're not worried about that. We're worried about what's next and what's next is we’ve got to make sure that we have a complete understanding of this defensive scheme that we're about to face and by the way, this damn defensive coordinator (Lou Anarumo) is a pretty good one.”
Q: Just how proud are you of the offensive effort and how much do you want to take a little bit of credit for getting that attitude in with those guys?
BIENIEMY: “I'll say this. I'm not going to take credit for it. That credit goes to (Wide Receivers) Coach Chad O'Shea. Coach Chad O'Shea gets after it now. I've known Chad for a number of years. We worked together in Minnesota and he's done a great job of implementing that attitude and that temperament and it goes with who we are. We want it to be a part of our identity because if we are going to run it, everything's got to take place on the perimeter and it’s not necessarily what your O-line is doing because those guys get paid to block. That's what they do but when those guys are participating out on the perimeter, that's when the big plays happen and the number of those runs that (RB Kenneth Walker) K-9 made was based on basically not just what took place up front, but what those guys were doing on the perimeter. That's the important thing and we want to continue progressing, moving forward but, like I said, you all know (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid. We're not going to forget about the damn pass game. We've got a Hall of Fame quarterback sitting behind the center.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
September 17, 2026
DT CHRIS JONES
Q: How proud were you of the young defensive line after watching the game on film?
JONES: “I'm super proud of them, that they were able to come out and have a good start to the first game of the season, their first NFL game, it's probably a lot of weight on their shoulders, succeeding. So, I know how it is winning your first game with a lot of expectations, and I think they did very well for the first game. Room for improvement, but I liked it. I like what they put on film, still areas to grow.”
Q: What are you seeing in DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah and how he's perhaps coming into himself now?
JONES: “Same thing I've seen in (DE) Felix (Anudike-Uzomah) for the last three years, just now he's healthy and being able to have him on the field, being able to utilize him interior, exterior, I think it helps our front line tremendously. Being able for him to play D-End and being able to rush interior when we ask him to and he can play some outside linebacker, too. So, to be able to utilize him all over the field, I think it's good for our defense and gives us an advantage.”
Q: What were your thoughts about the Colts and their offense?