Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
September 10, 2025
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, as far as injuries go, we got Jalen (Royals) (and) Xavier Worthy. Those two won’t practice today. Both are doing better, they’re (Jalen Royals and Xavier Worthy) working on it and making progress but not ready to go today for sure. Look forward to the challenge of playing the Eagles. Good football team, obviously, and they know us, we know them and it should be a heck of a game. With that, time’s yours.”
Q: Is surgery under consideration for Xavier Worthy?
REID: “No, not right now.”
Q: What about short-term injured reserve for Xavier Worthy?
REID: “He’s (Xavier Worthy) just rehabbing here.”
Q: Is there still some optimism that Jalen Royals might be available this week?
REID: “Yeah, probably not. It’d be a stretch.”
Q: How do you think the receiver group responded to Xavier Worthy’s injury, specifically Tyquan Thornton stepping into a bigger role?
REID: “Listen, I thought all the guys did a good job. They kept us in the game there. I thought they did well catching the ball a few yards after the catch and JuJu (Smith-Schuster) included in that bunch. Hollywood (Brown) had a big day, it was good to get him back in the swing.”
Q: Does Super Bowl LIX hold any strategic benefit at all in terms of what you study?
REID: “I think we know them (Philadelphia Eagles), and they know us. There are going to be wrinkles in there (for) both teams, but (we’re) pretty familiar with each other. They have a lot of guys coming back and we have a lot of guys coming back so you have that part of it.”
Q: What were the things that had to go right for the field goal fire drill at the end of the first half to succeed?
REID: “Normally you say it’s about 20 seconds that you need. At camp, we normally work it right in that area, and we work on it. The thing that gets under looked like I mentioned after the game, was Noah (Gray) exploding back with the football, so that was saving seconds there which were important in that situation and that part won’t be talked about. Obviously, the kick and the hold and the snap and all that, and getting guys off the field and guys on the field. But Noah getting that ball back kind of made the whole thing work. And then (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Dave (Toub) was on top of it on the sideline, and he and (Assistant Special Teams Coach) Porter (Ellett) were working the sideline and getting ready for it.”
Q: On the team being flat to start the game.
REID: “Yeah, there are no excuses for any of us on what took place. We’ve got to do better. Energy is one of the things, for sure.”
Q: Did you feel like you had momentum after executing that field goal at the end of the first half and then lost it due to halftime?
REID: “No, I didn’t think we lost that part of it. It was emotional, that’s an exciting thing to do in this game, to be able to pull one of those off, especially when it’s less than what you think you can get done with or at least in that danger zone there of not getting it off. No, halftime ended. We just need to play better.”
Q: Is it tough to evaluate your running game at this point? Is there something that you saw that you want to expand on for this upcoming week?
REID: “Not right here, no (laughter). We need to do better in that starting off.”
Q: What did you and General Manager Brett Veach like in Tyquan Thornton last year that influenced you to get him here?
REID: “Yeah, so (General Manager) Brett (Veach) liked him (Tyquan Thornton), and then I mentioned before that Bill Belichick called me and talked to me about him, (he) thought that he was a good football player. Brett was bringing him (Tyquan Thornton) in and Bill (Belichick) kind of said, ‘hey, this guy’s really got great potential.’”
Q: What has led to Tyquan Thornton’s chemistry with Patrick Mahomes?
REID: “Well he’s (Tyquan Thornton) fast. He’s a big target, so he runs good routes.”
Q: As you watched tape on the left side of the offensive line, what did you like/not like about what you saw?
REID: “I liked the effort they (Josh Simmons and Kinglsey Suamataia) put in and there were more good plays than there were bad plays. (There’s) some great things to learn from. There were some things that they did, I thought, very well. It was progress, and they’ll keep growing as we go on here.”
Q: On the emotion on the sidelines.
REID: “It’s an emotional game. That’s all part of it. Guys they pull for each other (and) they get after each other, I mean that’s all part of it. When guys do good, they jump around and tell them how good they did. It’s all part of it. Time and a place for everything.”
Q: Does one side of the ball have an advantage in the opening game?
REID: “It seems like it’s normally the defensive side, but as you look at this past weekend with all the teams it looked like it was more of the offensive side throughout the league. Normally it’s the other way around.”
Q: How many adjustments happen when a player like Xavier Worthy goes down with an injury?
REID: “It’s just making sure guys are in the right positions. We’re lucky that we (have) got a pretty smart group that stepped in there. (General Manager) Brett (Veach) has done a good job at bringing guys in that we feel comfortable playing with, most of all that the quarterback feels comfortable with. So, it’s been a plus and then they work all the situations and the substitutions all the time. They do it during training camp. Everybody gets a chance to play during training camp that’s in that first group, per se. I thought they handled that well. We have a lot of different formations we run.”
Q: Were the amount of quick throws against the Chargers in the game plan, or was that just how things played out?
REID: “Some of both, probably. I’ll tell you I thought that we had an opportunity there, at the same time we had a couple of shots in there too. But the way it played out, there were some opportunities there, yeah.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
September 10, 2025
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: On moving on from the last game and getting prepared for the Philadelphia Eagles.
MAHOMES: “Yeah for sure. I mean I think that's with every single game that you play. But this is a really good football team. I mean, there's no way around it. They're good at every aspect on defense and obviously on offense as well. And this will take our best football. And so, you learn from the mistakes that you make. That's a part of playing the game is you learn from your failures. It’s like you learn from the positive things that you do, and you try to come back and play better football this week. And it’s going to take our best football to go out there and get a win.”
Q: Do you feel like Xavier Worthy going down early impacted what you guys wanted to do on offense?
MAHOMES: “I think it's more just getting guys into the right spots. I mean, obviously you try to rep and give guys opportunities at every single receiver position, but there's only limited reps. And so, when you have an injury, you have guys going in different spots that they haven't got those reps in before. But I thought the guys did well as the game went on of adjusting to that, stepping up and making plays, and I thought they did really good in the second half of giving us a chance to go out there and try to get a win.”
Q: How much on your own did you watch the Super Bowl in the weeks afterwards, if at all?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean, I’ll watch every game after, so you have to learn from it. I mean it sucks that you lose the game, but in order to progress and to be better next time, you have to watch and learn from it. And so, I don't know the exact amount of times, but you watch it, and then you watch it in the offseason with the team and with the coaches, and then you watch it obviously this week as well. And so, they had a great game plan. They (Philadelphia Eagles) played hard and did a great job of disrupting my timing, and so I have to learn from that (and) find ways to get the ball out of my hand. And then when the opportunities are there, I think that's something I did miss early in the game, is there was opportunities to make plays, and you got to make those plays because if you don't, they're not going to allow those opportunities again.”
Q: When you’re watching it, is it informational or is it emotional?
MAHOMES: “I think it's just more informational. I mean, the emotion kind of happens for about a week after the game, but I mean, at the end of the day, you're going to have failures in this league. It’s about how you respond from those failures. And that's something that's important to anyone's career. But for me, I got to continue to push to be even better so that I don't make those same mistakes whenever I get the opportunity to again.”
Q: Is one of your biggest takeaways being bolder earlier in games?
MAHOMES: “I think just, you got to pick and choose the right spots. I mean, I think you can't be too much one way or another. And so, finding that right balance of attacking downfield but still keeping the chains moving and not putting the ball in harmful situations is something that's important to every quarterback. And so, I think at the end of last year, at certain points, I wasn't taking those chances that I could have. And so, I try to do better of that going into this season and try to do better at that, this last game. And obviously I'll keep working with that throughout my career, but it'll be important this week as much as any, because they (Philadelphia Eagles) have good players everywhere on that defense. And so, it's about accepting that challenge and going out there and executing at a high level.”
Q: How do you assess that deep ball in the first game?
MAHOMES: “I thought I did a good job for the most part. Obviously, they did good in the first half and missed a couple shots. But once I hit that one to Tyquan (Thornton) down the sideline towards halftime, I thought from then on I did a good job of kind of recognizing when to take shots, when to hit the stuff underneath and just getting the ball out to guys and letting them make plays. And so just trying to do that faster so that we're not in that deficit. It will be important this week, especially with how they play football and how they can run the ball and throw the ball as well on their side of the football. So being better from the beginning and not just kind of as the game goes on.”
Q: How did your offensive line play as you look back at the tape from last week’s game?
MAHOMES: “So they did a good job. You know, it's always tough when you're behind because the defensive line gets the pass rush and do their games and stunts and stuff like that. But I thought throughout the game they did a really good job against a really good defensive line, and that does a lot of good things. And so, they'll continue to get better and better. They're young. They got a lot of experience to kind of gain from that first game. But now they'll have another challenge with a really good defensive line in their face this week.”
Q: The team came out flat, much emotion comes from having successful plays on both sides of the ball?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean, that's part of it, but I think in order to be great, you have to be able to bring that emotion when things aren't going well. I mean, anyone can be hyped whenever a big play happens, that’s part of life in general. But whenever things (are) not going your way, how are you going to respond? And I think that's important for championship teams is being able to bring that energy whenever things aren’t going your way, because it's not always going to be great, it's not always going to be winning by big scores it’s about responding to that moment and what that moment needs.”
Q: What's the attitude of the team like right now with a big game ahead of you?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think (the) guys are ready to go. You know, it's football. It's passionate. We love the game. I’d rather have guys that are passionate about it and want to win than the other way around. And we hold each other accountable. And I think at the end of the day, we know that we love each other. And then when you have that, you can hold each other accountable and then push forward to be even better the next time you step on the football field. And so, there's no ill will anywhere. It's just a bunch of guys that want to win and want to do whatever they can to win. And so, whenever that happens, sometimes passionate moments, outbursts and stuff happen. But at the end of the day, we love each other, and we're going to push each other to be even better.”
Q: Does anything add up to why guys were getting chippy? Do you feel the need to speak to it this week to the guys?
MAHOMES: “No, I think guys understand. I don't know if you can pinpoint one reason or another. At the end of the day, that's in the past now, it's how can you just learn from it and be better the next time. And so, we will have that mindset going into practice this week (and) try to prepare ourselves to play a good football team. And I mean, what better challenge in playing the reigning Super Bowl champions to see where we're at. And so, I think guys will be ready to go. And knowing that we all got to play our best if we want to find a way to win.”
Q: You’ve played a few of these Super Bowl rematches now. How are they different than a regular game?
MAHOMES: “I think you just, we know the opponent, you know, even with the Super Bowl and the Super Bowl before and the games we’ve played in the regular seasons, we know that this is a really good football team, and we know that they have a lot of great football players. And so, when you play the best of the best, you have to take your game to another level. And so, it's not different in the sense of it's a Super Bowl rematch or anything like that, I think it’s different in the sense is you're playing the best of the best. And so how are you going to respond? How are you going to be even better and take your game to another level? And so, I always think it's fun, you know, playing the best and getting to see where you're at.”
Q: Is there a little extra juice in a game like this?
MAHOMES: “I think if you're playing your first game at (GEHA at) Arrowhead (Stadium) against the reigning Super Bowl champions, there’s got to be some extra juice. I mean, it's our first home game, I’m sure there will be a cool flyover, you know, you get everything you need. So, there's no reason you should come out flat this game.”
Q: At the end of the game against the Chargers you were locked in. Where does that mindset come from?
MAHOMES: “I think you just know you have to score whenever you're playing good football teams and you're down, you have to make the play now and you take a little bit more risk. You do a little bit different things that you might not do early in the game. And so, it's about finding that earlier, you know, finding that earlier so that we don't get in that deficit. And so, I just like winning. So, whenever you're not winning it’s like you sometimes focus in even more because you want to try to find a way to do whatever you can to win.”
Q: How do you feel like your guy’s temperament is going into this game?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think guys are definitely locked in. I mean, I thought they were locked in last week. So, I mean, we have we have a lot of leaders on this team, guys that don't like losing. And it's about finding a way now of bringing that energy, bringing that right mindset so that we can play our best football. And I thought we did good things in the second half on the offensive side of the ball this last week. But how can we be even better to start the game and carry that throughout the entire game?”
Q: How was getting reps with Hollywood Brown in game one?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think you saw in the game that Hollywood (Brown) just kind of got more and more comfortable as the game went on, and we asked him to do a lot of things. He kind of had to run his routes (and) Xavier's (Worthy) routes and kind of all the in between. And so, I thought he did a good job of recognizing what he needed to do, recognizing coverages and making plays happen. And so, he'll be big these next couple of weeks as we try to get Xavier back and get Rashee (Rice) back and everything like that. But it's something I think he's ready for.”
Q: Did you train your physicality and aggressiveness for this season? Did you know you have to be more aggressive because teams know how you operate near the sideline?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I always brace for impact. I mean, I think you have to protect yourself, but I think in this last game, I think we just needed the yards. We needed ways to score the football, especially at that time of the game. That's why I think people highlighted the one I got hit on the side. I really wasn't running out of bounds really the whole second half. And so, it's a long season. So, I try to get back to running out of bounds as much as possible. But that's stuff that I usually do in the playoffs. I'm just gonna try to manage that throughout the season so I can be there for the playoffs.”
LB NICK BOLTON
Q: How do you prepare for the un-scouted looks of any NFL team?
BOLTON: “Yeah, especially in the first couple of weeks of the season man, like, everybody has their own, new identity. (They) spent the whole offseason kind of changing stuff, scouting, (and) doing those things. So, I think one of the biggest things (for) us going forward is second-half adjustments. It’s going to be big for us. First half, they might change up completely what they did, based off a year prior. And just making adjustments and making a whole unit, like, be on time and on target. I think that’s going to be big for us these next couple weeks.”
Q: How hard is it to have positive emotion when your team’s not having success?
BOLTON: “Yeah, I think for us it’s even bigger than just that part. So, when your teammates make a good play, I was celebrating with them. I think there was a couple of plays, we like, (had) negative plays on defense and I didn’t think our energy and our excitement was where it needed to be. So, I think it’s more of that type of stuff more so than the other thing, kind of just us kind of having fun with our teammates, celebrating, and doing things that we’ve always done. And (Head Coach Andy) Reid’s big on showing your personalities and letting them show. It’s kind of just that message. We make good plays, make splash plays, make the crowd (excited and) make adjustments, like, everybody gets involved. Love on your teammates, man, (and there’s) eleven guys celebrating for you.”
Q: Is it challenging for you to get excited for a regular season knowing how many big playoff games you’ve played in?
BOLTON: “Honestly, I don’t think it should be much of a challenge for anybody in this profession. We’ve got an opportunity of a lifetime to play a kids’ game (and) making good money for it and (you have) got your family and fans in the stands. So honestly, (it’s) just another opportunity to go out there and showcase what you’re made of, what your team’s made of, what’s your identity, and what you’ve been spending the last five, six months (on) that I’m talking about. So, I just think energy just was flat a little bit, and I just want the coaches (and) captains as well just kind of making sure that we change that this week.”
WR HOLLYWOOD BROWN
Q: When you see Patrick Mahomes make a big play, what does that do for you?
BROWN: “I mean, for us, we see it every day in practice. We always know what type of quarterback we (have) got. We always know the play is never over. He (Patrick Mahomes) brings that fire and we just try to go out there and make plays for him (and) play hard.”
Q: Are you focusing more on how the Eagles played you in Super Bowl LIX or how they played in Week 1?
BROWN: “Oh, a little bit of both. I mean, you (have) got a game plan. You don’t know. When you get out there you could be preparing for something and get out there (and) it’ll be totally different. But, just game plan, take it as this week and go from there.”
Q: You’re tied for the league lead in receptions after your performance against the Chargers last week. What does that do for your confidence?