ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Kansas City Chiefs Dave Toub, Mike Danna, and Tommy Townsend fielded media questions during a training camp presser Friday.
Chiefs Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub
Q: Are there any guys you’re particularly eager to get a look at on special teams in the first preseason game?
TOUB: “Besides them all, yeah. This is so good that we have preseason games now. Last year, it was horrible for us on special teams because we couldn’t evaluate. We had to release guys last year that we never really knew if they could play or not. It’s unfortunate. So, this year with the preseason games, that’s the only time that we really get to evaluate guys on teams. We don’t do anything live out here in practice, so we find out if guys can cover, if they can block, they can tackle out here during preseason games.”
Q: What have you seen from Jody Fortson?
TOUB: “Jody has really stepped up. He put on like 20 pounds of muscle and you can see it in his play. He’s playing a lot bigger, he’s playing with a lot more confidence, and the same thing is going on special teams. He’s holding up guys stronger. He doesn’t look like a wide receiver anymore, he looks like a tight end. So, he’s really stepped it up and he’s definitely one of the guys that I’m looking forward to seeing.”
Q: What about Devon Key?
TOUB: “Devon Key is another one. Obviously, being a young guy, it’s going to be important he goes in there and makes plays on special teams because he’s really not in a battle for maybe a one or two spot, but maybe a third spot, and it’s going to come down to special teams and what he can do there. He’s definitely that guy.”
Q: Will you start with Mecole Hardman and Byron Pringle as your returners?
TOUB: “Yeah, we’re going to start off with the way we ended last year. I think both of those guys have improved because we had OTAs, we didn’t have that last year, and now we’re having camp and they’ve really developed on some of their weaknesses. They’re getting better seeing the ball and catching it coming forward, and I think both of them are going to take a good step forward.”
Q: Who are your top gunner options right now?
TOUB: “Right now it’s Marcus Kemp and Pringle. I’m trying to work BoPete Keyes into the mix. If he can step it up as a corner on defense as well as being a good gunner for us, he has a really good shot at being a player for us. So, it’s going to come down to the preseason games.”
DE MIKE DANNA
Q: How much more comfortable are you this year compared to last year?
DANNA: “This year going into it so much more comfortable. Going into year two is just a whole confidence boosting, you’re understanding the playbook, understanding the organization, the people around it and you get more comfortable with it and when you get more comfortable, you get to open up more. You get to mingling a little bit more with people around.”
Q: Did you work on anything in the postseason?
DANNA: “Absolutely. My fundamentals were key, working a lot on speed off the edge, a lot of power off the edge. Mostly fundamentals and technique. I try to perfect that and work on that every single day and apply it out here now.”
Q: What did you take out of last year’s tape and say this is what I did well and what I can work on?
DANNA: “Last year’s tape, you take it with a grain of salt. There’s always room for improvement and that’s what I looked at it as. I tried to find any type of improvement I could make and what I could apply for this year. I looked at that and applied it into my workouts and offseason routine and I feel great out here. I’m excited for year two.”
Q: How did you improve upon your fundamentals this offseason?
DANNA: “Really just working with my D-Line coaches back in Michigan. A lot of those guys got me right. So, hats off to them, they put their time into me, and it’s showing out here. Just working on the fundamentals and perfecting it. Like I said, there’s always room for improvement, so I never try to act like I perfected it until it’s correct and you have to practice the perfect way to perform that certain way.”
P TOMMY TOWNSEND
Q: How did you process and move past the Super Bowl?
TOWNSEND: “Obviously, that’s not the way you want to end the season, end your rookie campaign, or even have a game like that, but you’ve just got to learn from it, move on. I mean, I’m the biggest critic of myself. There’s no one I can think of that’s going to say anything to me that’s going to make me feel worse about how I play. Like I said, I’m young, and I’m learning. Obviously, that’s not an excuse, but I’m taking that. I can harp on it. I can’t dwell on it. All I can do is get better. Conor McGregor actually put out a quote a couple of years ago and it was kind of about losing in defeat. He said, ‘It’s not the losses that ruin careers, it’s the wins and getting complacent.’ It’s when you lose, you’ve got to look back and learn from it and move on.”
Q: Did you do anything different this offseason now knowing what it takes to get through an entire season?
TOWNSEND: “The training was about the same. I had a pretty intense year of training, leading up going to the draft and all of that stuff, and I really liked the way my body felt going into the season last year. So I tried to replicate it, and I did about the same workouts, same training routine, but a lot more mental preparation and film study. Like I said, just learning from what I did wrong and trying to fix it and get better.”
Q: How much more comfortable do you think you’ll feel going into this season after having a full offseason?
TOWNSEND: “Yeah, I already feel 10 times more comfortable now than I did going into the season last year. Last year, we were just straight into training camp like as you know, and me, James [Winchester] and Harrison [Butker] got work in during last offseason, and we did the same here, but we also had OTA’s and minicamp to really tune up with the team before going into camp. So, it was super beneficial, and I think me, James and Harrison have great chemistry and we’re just going to keep getting better.”
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