Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
October 28, 2026
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, as far the injuries go, everybody will practice today. Look forward to the challenge of playing the Broncos. They're a heck of a football team. (Broncos Head Coach Sean) Payton's done a nice job with that group, as we know, and they're playing good football right now. We look forward to getting a week of practice under our belt and get ourselves going and ready to play a good football team. With that, time's yours.”
Q: What sort of message do you think the signing of K Justin Tucker to the practice squad sends?
REID: “(K Justin Tucker) He's done his suspension and took care of that business there. But I'll leave it at that for you.”
Q: How much say did the ownership have in signing a player like this?
REID: “Yeah, listen, we try to do our homework the best way we possibly can and talk to a lot of people and make sure things are okay.”
Q: What did you guys see in the workout that led you to believe that K Justin Tucker is back to the level that he was?
REID: “Yeah, so we brought in three fellows to work. And listen, (K Justin Tucker) he did really well. So did a nice job with it.”
Q: What have you said to K Harrison Butker ever since the signing was announced?
REID: “Listen, (K) Harrison (Butker), we love (Harrison). I've told you that before. He's one of my favorite guys. And sometimes things don't go quite the way you want them, and you work on that. So, he understands the business and how it works. And we had a practice squad position open, and so, for security we brought him (Justin Tucker) in and put him in that spot that we had open. Butker gets it. And he knows that's part of this business. He's struggled a little bit, and he gets it. He needs to pick it up here a little bit.”
Q: How do you foresee the competition between those two in terms of making a decision for Sunday in the building?
REID: “Yeah, Butker will get most of the reps this week. And so, he'll take that, and then we'll just see where it goes. It’s fluid.”
Q: Was there a moment that changed your view on needing an insurance policy for K Harrison Butker?
REID: “Well, obviously we didn't do very well this past game. I mean, I'm stating the obvious here. And (K Harrison Butker) he's been up and down a little bit, so this happens. Like anybody else in this business, myself included, you've got to pick it up and do better. He gets that and that's where he sits right now.”
Q: Could you see a scenario of having both active for a game?
REID: “I haven't seen that scenario, no.”
Q: What goes into your decision-making process about whether a player deserves a second chance with you and your team?
REID: “I try to do homework on it. And see exactly what's taken place since but the kid, he served a suspension. It's been time. There's been time involved with it. So that's how I evaluate him.”
Q: Could K Justin Tucker play this week based on what you saw in the workout yesterday?
REID: “Yeah, (K) Harrison (Butker) will probably go this week. So, yeah.”
Q: How do you manage outside distractions and make sure they don’t come into the locker room?
REID: “Yeah, these guys, I've got a good locker room, first of all. They get it. I don't have a lot of secrets with the guys. So, they keep trying to be honest with them and normally that has worked out for a couple of years.”
Q: Did you have a conversation with the leaders of the team or just the team?
REID: “On the kicker coming in? No, I didn't have it with the team.”
Q: When you say homework, what type of homework did you have with K Harrison Butker?
REID: “Yeah, I'm not going to get into all that. But to bring (K Justin Tucker) him in here, I did some homework. Yeah, I'm not going to get into all that. But he's here and he's on the practice squad. Yeah, so we roll with it.”
Q: Is there anything that you feel like is physically wrong with K Harrison Butker or do you think this is more mental and technique-based in his struggles?
REID: “Right now (K Harrison Butker) his technique's off a bit. It's not as consistent as he wants it. So, things happen.”
Q: What do you hope this team takes away from the game in Seattle going forward?
REID: “Sure, a lot of great learning that can take place. I'm not going to get into all that, but when you have a rough outing, there's plenty of things that you can get out of that. We had the guys in yesterday. We were able to go through it with them. We've got a good opponent this coming weekend, so we're excited about that.”
Q: How confident are you right now of the protection up front with QB Patrick Mahomes?
REID: “Yeah, they did a good job with their pressure package, and we've got to do better, protect them. Yeah, that's an area.”
Q: What do the Broncos look like as they've gone forward in the season? What are you expecting out of them?
REID: “Yeah, so they added (OLB Jonathon) Cooper back into the mix. He looks like he's full go. So, they've got good players, good front, good defense, and play well together, fast. They're talented.”
Q: On the snaps under center vs. Seattle.
REID: “Well, I thought we needed to throw it a little bit, that second half there, as we went, especially when they got a couple scores. The numbers got up a little bit, but it's nothing that I'm against or not against.”
Q: What have you seen from WR Cyrus Allen that gives you confidence his role needs to be expanded, or do you want to see more from him?
REID: “We're growing (WR Cyrus Allen) him as we go, talented. He got a little bit more last week. He'll get a little bit more this coming week.”
Q: What does it take for a wide receiver to come in here and learn fast enough if you were to make an acquisition?
REID: “Yeah, you'd hope they'd be familiar with the offense. If they're not, they've got to be smart and be able to pick it up quickly. I've had players that have done that, done it well. But I would tell you there better be some form of an aptitude there, capacity, because you're jumping in the middle of things.”
Q: What are the challenges when you play a team for the second time, especially after you have a lot of success the first time around?
REID: “Yeah, listen, we turn the tape on and we look at what's real, and you can see how they've improved every week. So, it's your preparation, how you go about it. Your mindset, obviously, is important. When you play a good team in their home, you better be prepared and ready to go.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
October 28, 2026
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: What happened against Seattle that made you think the operation of the offense could be better?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, obviously, there was mistakes made there. I feel like in the first half especially, I didn't play well. My feet weren't in the right spots or they were rushed, and I wasn't giving chances in the pocket to make those plays happen, and that spiraled into the rest of the game. And you can't let a defense like that get that momentum going, and that's stuff I have to be better at, especially with the team that we're running up against this week. Very similar, great defense, great D-line, linebackers and secondary, and so it'll be a great opportunity for us to show up and see how we respond.”
Q: Did you see anything in review that you didn't realize in real time?
MAHOMES: “No, not necessarily. I think stuff I missed early in the game, I felt like affected the entire game, just if it was the first third down to (TE) Travis (Kelce), if I could just hang in the pocket a little bit longer and make that throw, or if it was one of the play actions that we had down the field in that early second quarter, I believe, where I was looking down the field and really wanted to throw it down the field and rushed my feet and it didn't hit Trav on that little underneath check down, which could have been a big play. Stuff like that against a defense like that, if you can't hit those plays, then usually it spirals in the wrong direction.”
Q: Did you see the mistakes the team made to themselves when looking back at the film?
MAHOMES: “When you look back at the (film) yeah, for sure but just the combination of that against that defense, you don't get those opportunities a lot whenever you play a defense of that caliber. And so, when you do get those opportunities, you have to make those plays happen and we didn't do that, it starts with me. And then they’ve got some momentum and started flying around and we weren't able to have success.”
Q: Not to say that you don't have confidence in the other receivers, but what have you missed with (WR) Rashee (Rice) not being involved in his last few games?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, (WR Rashee Rice) he's such a physical receiver. He does a great job within the zone concepts and stuff like that, at getting himself open, as well as being physical versus man. And so having him back out there will be big for us because it'll help take some pressure off the other guys to make plays and let them go out there and be themselves and hopefully, we can have some success.”
Q: How long does it take young receivers to learn an offense and routes?
MAHOMES: “It takes time, but I think they've (WR Jalen Royals and WR Cyrus Allen) done a great job of learning quickly and they got thrown in the fire of playing against two great defenses, the Chargers and then going up against Seattle. And so they've learned, they've gotten better and whenever we've been able to be on the same page and make the right plays, you can see that they have ability after the catch as well and so we'll continue to work them in, even with getting (WR) Rashee (Rice) back, because those guys can help us in the long run.”
Q: On the report that he asked T Josh Simmons to leave an offensive meeting to get treatment.
MAHOMES: “Stuff like that doesn't really bother me because I'm so in the moment, in the team and when you're in this building, you don't even really hear stuff like that unless (Vice President of Football Communications) Brad (Gee) tells you that stuff. And so, I think we've had the right conversations now. We're moving in the right direction, and you have to have hard conversations at some point, and I think we've had those. We've had great conversations after and I think we're moving in the right direction, that will be great for the team.”
Q: Can that be a distraction during the week?
MAHOMES: “If you handle it the wrong way, it could be but at the same time, I feel like we've built this culture of coming together as a family and doing whatever we can to make sure that not only the player, but the person is going in the right direction. And so, you can have those hard conversations and then you can have the good conversations that come after that. It's not always great in life in general. You have to be able to have tough conversations so that you can have better conversations going forward. And so, I think that's something that we’ve built here.”
Q: How rare is a situation like that? You had to stand up and tell someone to leave a meeting?
MAHOMES: “I honestly don't know. I think we have open communication here in general and I think that's something that (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid has always preached, is being able to talk. But I think, like you said, you want to keep those conversations in the building and so that's something that we'll be better at going forward.”
Q: What is your relationship like with K Justin Tucker?
MAHOMES: “We haven't had a lot of conversations because (K Justin Tucker) he's obviously on the Ravens and I was on the Chiefs. But it wasn't like we ever had any beef or anything like that. I think at that moment, it was just competitors being competitors and it was a big moment for everybody's career and you're playing the AFC Championship game. And he's been a big-time kicker for a long time and me and (TE Travis) Trav (Kelce) were obviously competing, and we wanted to go out there and win and that stuff happened. But then you move on from that. At the end of the day, we're just playing a game and you want to compete and you want to win but it wasn't like we had some long-standing beef that carried over after the game. We won that game and then I was on to the Super Bowl. So, there's nothing hostile, I guess you would say, moving forward from that.”
Q: What was your reaction to having K Justin Tucker added as a teammate today?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, we have a lot of people that have added in and out. I try not to get too high or too low on anything. But I know (General Manager Brett) Veach and them do a great job of bringing great players in. But for me, it was about the Denver Broncos and moving on and continue to get better. We have a lot of stuff that we have to clean up, and I think that's the biggest thing for us is trying to clean up for this big game that we have.”
Q: How much confidence do you have to get through your progressions behind the protection of the offensive line?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think after watching the film, I should have more confidence because I moved sometimes when I didn't necessarily have to move and kind of moved myself into pressure. And so, I created some of those pressures. And so, for me, I have to have confidence those guys are going to hold up. They're doing a great job and if I can be in the right spot and they know where I'm at, I think that'll help them out a ton as well. And so that'll be something I'll harp on this week is having my feet in the right spot and not getting into old habits and play it more of how I was playing at the beginning of the year and I think that'll help those guys out.”
Q: What do you have to do to get the downfield passing game going?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think if you look at how Seattle played us with the shell, they played us with a shell, but they put guys around the line of scrimmage. And so I think if we can get that run game going a little bit more like we had done in previous weeks, that downfield passing game will open up more and then giving guys chances. Like some of those one-on-one routes, I’ve got to give guys chances. The one to (WR) Xavier (Worthy), if I can throw him on the outside instead of the inside, he might have a chance to make a play happen or get a pass interference or stuff like that. And so that's stuff that I have to continue to be better at, throwing the ball with more air on it so that guys can make plays and I think if we can marry that run and pass game back up again, like we were early in the season, that downfield passing game will come back.”
Q: What do you hope this offense takes away from Seattle and puts towards Denver from lessons learned?
MAHOMES: “I think the biggest thing, hopefully, is that whenever teams are going to try to stop (RB) Kenneth (Walker), we have to be able to counteract that. And I think that's something that'll be big the rest of the season, is obviously Kenneth is a special player, and he makes a lot of big plays happen. And we're not going to stop trying to run the football, but if they're going to put so many resources into stopping him and playing a shell over the top, we have to be able to hit them in that intermediate area and then guys have to be able to run after the catch and break tackles and that'll put defenses in a bind where they have to decide what they want to take away. And so that's how you evolve throughout a season, is you continue to get better and better and learn from some games that aren't pretty and hopefully don't have those scenarios again.”
Q: Last Friday night, you saw your Gladiator logo on with Adidas uniforms. What is your feeling about seeing your logo on these high school teams?
MAHOMES: “It's probably my most favorite thing that Adidas does, is that they help me bring out high school football, which was so huge for me growing up. Playing football under the lights and going to the football games and then getting to the football field (and getting that jersey the first time on varsity and having that and how cool I thought that was. Giving back and being able to help them get some cool jerseys and be able to go out there and represent the community that they grew up in. I think that's something that's huge for me and obviously getting Kansas City, I think it's Liberty North, the Eagles, that they have that logo on their jerseys. I think it's really cool because they get to represent their community and I can help represent that with Kansas City and how much they've given to me.”
Q: When you developed the deal, was that something that you envisioned going forward?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, it started off as I wanted to give jerseys to Whitehouse (High School). Like I said, I had so much pride in my first high school varsity jersey and so I started off wanting to give jerseys to Whitehouse and then they were like, let's make this bigger, let's give back to all the communities that helped you and then that’s even gotten bigger to where we're getting a lot more Adidas schools that are around the country. It was something that started off as just an idea to help out my high school growing up and it’s blossomed into this awesome thing where I see people on Instagram tagging me in these photos and stuff like that and so it's really cool and hopefully I can get out to some more of these games, so I can see them wearing them in person.”
LB NICK BOLTON
Q: When did you feel like the game was kind of getting away from you guys?
BOLTON: “Honestly, we couldn't get a stop in that four-minute situation with eight minutes to go. Obviously, we'd love to get a stop right there, get the ball back to our offense. Honestly, I felt like we were in the game, had a chance to win it. Had a couple times we could have got the ball back to the offense, close to midfield, (QB) Patrick (Mahomes) just needed one play, get a touchdown, and we're right back into things. So that was our mindset throughout the whole game, just going to get it done.”
Q: From the last game against Denver, where do you feel like they are now?
BOLTON: “Yeah, obviously I think that they're rolling. They found some things that worked for them. I think (Broncos QB) Bo Nix has done a good job of using his feet, getting the ball to his ball catchers, trusting his O-line, sticking with the run game. I think one of the things that after our game was, they didn’t stick with the run. They've been doing that a little bit better the last couple of games. And (RB Jonah Coleman) twenty came in and gave them a little juice in the back end. Then (Broncos RB RJ) Harvey's been doing his thing and (Broncos RB) J.K. Dobbins as well. So, all 11 are going to be needed when he starts to run early. And then force Bo Nix in some difficult situations if we can.”
Q: What's the key for trying to control a guy like Broncos QB Bo Nix who has that mobility in terms of keeping him in the pocket?
BOLTON: “Yeah, it's a little bit of everything, man. Mixing up disguises, confusing them a little bit, rush working with the coverage, and then kind of mix up a couple of different looks. I think we did that early. The first game of the year, we did that very well. I would try to replicate that this week.”
CB MANSOOR DELANE
Q: What is facing a receiver like Jaxon Smith-Njigba do for you just knowing there's a lot of elite receivers that are coming on the schedule?
DELANE: “Really just prepares me, I think there's great receivers on every team, you’ve just got to bring it and you’ve got to prepare and they're going to win some, you're going to win some. So just really having that short term mentality, whether it's good or bad, and just having an expert mentality.”
Q: When you lose a rep, what does that do for your confidence just moving forward?
DELANE: “Really nothing, I feel like anything to me is just like shows me I can improve somewhere. So, like I said, I lose, not that I get excited about it, but I know that I have room for growth. So, I think that's good.”
Q: You lined up against quite a few different guys in that game. Were you excited about the times you were lined up with Jaxon Smith-Njigba?