Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
December 15, 2025
OPENING STATEMENT: “After reviewing the tape, I basically feel the same way I did last night. We’ve got to clean up some things really all three phases. There were some good things from our young guys but not enough. We’ll go back to the drawing board here and work on that. For information, Patrick (Mahomes) is going to go back to Dallas for a second opinion with Dr. (Dan) Cooper, and we’ll just see. We’ll give you updates as we go from there. Then as far as the other injuries go, I really don’t have anything to offer you right now. We’ll talk about that later. With that, time’s yours.”
Q: How do you think Patrick Mahomes will attack rehab and that challenge?
REID: “Just what you said, he’ll (Patrick Mahomes) attack it. Just like he does everything else. There’s been some pretty good quarterbacks that have had this same injury, and they’ve done pretty well after they came back. He’ll get after it, and he has good people here to rehab him, and he’ll get in here and be right on top of all that.”
Q: How much can you use these last three games of the season to evaluate young talent on the team?
REID: “Listen, every game you go into can be Yahtzee if you want to win. We’re in America here, that’s what we do. You want to go in to play your best and – if the guys are available, they’re going to play. They know that and they want to do that, so you find out.”
Q: How much have you talked to Patrick Mahomes in the last 18 hours after the injury?
REID: “I’ve had a good visit with him (Patrick Mahomes) a couple of different times. He’s in a good place. He felt like he let people down but then he comes back, and he’s ready for the challenge ahead, which is what’s real right now. He’s just got to get through surgery wherever it might be and then move on from there.”
Q: What are your own thoughts and emotions on Patrick Mahomes injury?
REID: “I know the process of rehab and for sure he’ll get in there and I know he’ll come out on the strong end of this thing. As we go here, we’re finding a lot out about our team. Some of the young guys are having opportunities to play, we’re going to finish this season strong and with effort. Then you get into the offseason, but I’m always optimistic about going forward. (General Manger) Brett Veach does a heck of a job with bringing players in as you can see now by the guys that are in there playing. Then it’s our responsibility to clean things up on the coaching side of it and the players to take responsibility on their end and finish these three games and then whoever is here after to retool it.”
Q: What’s the thought process on potentially not playing younger players in the last three games of the season knowing you won’t be in the playoffs?
REID: “Well, Soren (Petro), most of them are already playing (chuckles). That’s the main thing. I have to see what the injuries are here from this game and then go from there. But most of the young guys are having an opportunity in one phase or another. You only have so many numbers in this thing that you can play with, and the NFL is not quite like college where you have 90 guys that you can just pick and choose from.”
Q: Do you feel like the offense has been out of sync all season?
REID: “When you lose close games, you search for things because you want to fix it. Sometimes it’s a penalty here or sometimes it’s a turnover here. It can be a variety of things. It’s always one little thing that determines close games, normally one or two things, and we’ve had our share of those, and you can’t have those. It could be the wrong play, called the wrong play at the wrong time. We’ve all got a piece of this thing and you have to keep striving to fix it and then do what you have to do in the offseason, but you finish these games here striving to do better and cleaning up some things. I mention one of the positive thing is you get to see a lot of young guys play out of it and see what they’re all about.”
Q: Is Patrick Mahomes getting a second opinion due to the potential of further damage beyond the ACL?
REID: “No, but these guys normally do that on that Sam (McDowell). Those guys get a second opinion (I) probably put it up as much as probably over 90% of the guys do this. That’s just part of it, and that’s what he’s (Patrick Mahomes) doing.”
Q: On the team typically getting better throughout the season and other teams now doing the same.
REID: “You’ve always got to continue to strive to build and add to the roster and then you’ve got to stay ahead of the game as a coach. And that’s every offseason. That’s the challenge. Sometimes when you’re good for the period of time that we’ve been doing well, you’re not picking very high in the draft and you make things work. Nobody is doing it better than (General Manager) Brett (Veach) has of being able to keep everything afloat and then still not spending a ton on – working in the free agency market as much as a lot of people do. He's done an amazing job at juggling all of that.”
Q: Did Patrick Mahomes’ initial diagnosis mention a meniscus or anything or just the ACL?
REID: “It’s just what they (Kansas City Chiefs) put out there. We try not to hide too much from you, right (laughs). It’s not our game. I try to keep it right up front with you, so that’s the information that they had and they put it out for you.”
Q: You haven’t missed the playoffs in a long time, how does that resonate with you?
REID: “Yeah Todd (Leabo) obviously I’m not happy about it. Nor is anybody here. We strive for excellence; we try to do that every year. Things happen though in this league, and it’s a ton of parity and sometimes you end up on the short end of it and you’ve got to go back and look at things and that can be healthy and we’ve got good people to do that with and we’ve got a good nucleus of players. So, we’ve got to go back and look at all of that.”
Q: Are these next three games an audition for Gardner Minshew going into the 2026 season?
REID: “I’ve got a ton of confidence in Gardner (Minshew). I’ve watched him play with these other teams. He’s started in the league. Our guys have confidence in him. And then Chris Oladokun behind him will work up there and Chris has been with us for a while too so I think they’re two guys who our guys trust in there and will play hard for.”
Q: Is Patrick Mahomes going to see Dan Cooper down in Dallas?
REID: “Yes, Dan Cooper.”
Q: How does Patrick Mahomes’ injury change your approach to the offseason?