Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
October 21, 2026
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, sad news, the passing of (DE) Allen Bailey. Our hearts go out to his family, prayers are with them and way too young, obviously. One of my favorite players, great kid and just sorry to see that that happen to him. On the other side of that, the guys—(OL) Jaylon Moore has a concussion, so he's in the protocol. Then (WR) Rashee (Rice) is with the hamstring. So, we'll just see how those guys do. (WR) Rashee's (Rice) getting better as we go by the day, so that helps. Look forward to the challenge of playing the Seahawks, and we know they've got a good team, obviously, they're World Champs. And we know the environment of the 12th man and that whole deal. So, it's a great atmosphere for football, great venue all the way around and two good teams playing each other. So, we look forward to the challenge of getting ready for them this week, and with that, time's yours.”
Q: On OL Joshua Ezeudu.
REID: “First of all, (OL Joshua Ezeudu) he's played before, and when we brought him in, we knew that and we knew he was a good player. So now, potentially, there's an opportunity to be in there and play and I thought he did a nice job when he was in there this past weekend. So yeah, I think everybody around him has got confidence in him, too.”
Q: Of all the ways QB Patrick Mahomes cultivates his relationships with receivers, what stands out to you the most about how he does that?
REID: “Yeah, well, (QB Patrick Mahomes) he works with them and so when we're out of team periods, he'll get the guys over on the side and work with them and he develops a confidence in these guys and that showed on Sunday.”
Q: QB Patrick Mahomes has alluded to having specific conversations with receivers in the past. Is that part of it?
REID: “(QB Patrick Mahomes) He keeps it wide open, and he makes sure there's communication there. Absolutely, he's great with that. He's great with a lot of things. but he's a really good communicator that way.”
Q: On the “next man up” mentality of the team.
REID: “Yeah, my hat goes off to (General Manager) Brett (Veach) for the people that he brings in here. And then the coaches for teaching them, and then these kids for being willing to listen and get better at their jobs. So, when they do have an opportunity, they can step in, and you're not taking a big step backwards. But it starts with Brett and the people he brings in here and his crew. They do a phenomenal job of it.”
Q: Is training camp important when getting reps for everyone?
REID: “Yeah, training camp, offseason program, both those things end up being important. Getting a feel, especially in the pass game part of it, with the timing. That also would be part of Vahe’s (Gregorian) answer there. Just get to know the guys, know what they're doing and you have to do that. You have a split second, a small window to shoot these guys.”
Q: What have you seen from Seattle’s defense this season? What challenges do they present?
REID: “Yeah, they're the best in the business right now. (Seahawks Head Coach) Mike (Macdonald) does a nice job with the defense, and they have a good scheme, and then they fly around. They believe in it and fly around. And there's not a lot of hiccups on the back end. You'll see some teams, and you have something go on, and all of a sudden, somebody's popping free. You don't see that with these guys.”
Q: That defense is known for changing the action after the snap. How do you counteract that, both you and QB Patrick Mahomes, when it's hard to tell pre-snap what they're doing?
REID: “Yeah, you have to see it on your drop and that's all part of it. They do a good job of disguising and holding it, holding their looks. That's being comfortable with the scheme. They also have a good front. I mean, I could add to it, that front, it kind of starts up there. And they're going to give you an honest look every snap.”
Q: Why was DE Allen Bailey one of your favorite players?
REID: “Just a good guy. I’d drive in every morning, Coal Mine Road there, and I'll see an opossum, and (DE Allen Bailey) he was a big hunter. And I’d say, ‘Saw an opossum out there.’ He goes, ‘Don't eat those possums. They eat garbage. You’ve got to get the ones that eat the chestnuts,’ (laughter). So, he was that kind of guy. He was an outdoorsman, and then he was dirty tough. Talk about giving an honest down, he gave you an honest down every snap.”
Q: How tragic is it to see DE Allen Bailey pass away?
REID: “Yeah, it's terrible. It's terrible especially with all the good he does. And he's got a family and that whole thing. That's a sad deal. I know his father passed away young too and it's life, but it makes you sick when it happens to somebody that young.”
Q: On the Seahawks and their play in close games this season.
REID: “Yeah, they're a good football team. The margin in this league right now between win or lose is so small. And so, that's where they're at, and, yeah, that's probably part of it, too. Everybody's going to give you their best shot, and that's part of it. It's hard to win in this league. So, every win you get, you cherish. I've mentioned that after wins. You cherish every one of them, but they're not going to lose a whole lot of games. They're a pretty good football team.”
Q: On K Harrison Butker.
REID: “I've got confidence that (K Harrison Butker) he'll work through that. He'll get through it. He's still doing some pretty good things. He's got good strong legs. He'll work it out.”
Q: Why has WR Xavier Worthy broken through the last two games?
REID: “Yeah, it's not as much breaking through. It's your number when it's dialed up now. Do they roll the coverage to that side and we go somewhere else? (WR Xavier Worthy) He gets a ton of respect because of his speed, obviously, and ability. This week it was big. He was in a great position. He had some great coverages for the route that was called but those things happened, and we try to spread things around. That's one thing with (QB Patrick) Pat (Mahomes). He's going to move the ball around and force a lot of things in there.”
Q: With RB Kenneth Walker going back to Seattle, how does he feel? How do you manage that?
REID: “Yeah, listen, I think (RB Kenneth Walker) he knows. He's wired right to do it. One thing when you're on a team, everybody knows your strengths and weaknesses and your quirks and everything else. So, I'm sure the boys there will try to get after him a little bit, but he's a pretty level-headed guy and the way he plays, you're getting a good rep when he gets the ball in his hands. He's kind of got one speed. He's coming at you. It really doesn't matter, I don't think, who he's playing, where he's playing, all that.”
Q: When it relates to some of the short yardage situations, is there a possibility or consideration to working QB Justin Fields into some of those spots?
REID: “I mean, that would be—draw a couple things up for me. Yeah, that's a thought (laughter).”
Q: Would it be a consideration to use him in maybe some slight sneak situations?
REID: “What do you want me to say? Yeah, we've got about four of them in this week, Seattle (laughter).”
Chiefs Player Quotes
October 21, 2026
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: What are the challenges that it takes to try to have some success against a defense like Seattle?
MAHOMES: “It's about staying consistent. They're good at every single level of the defense, defensive line, linebackers, secondary, everybody, and they have a great scheme. And so, they're going to make you earn it every single drive. And it's not always going to be pretty, but you have to be consistent and not push it too far but push it enough to make plays happen. Going up against (Seahawks Head) Coach (Mike) Macdonald whenever he was in with the Ravens, I learned that, and so this will be a great challenge for us. We have to go out there and match their energy and match their passion and execute at a high level.”
Q: What's the challenge of Seattle seeming to disguise a lot of things defensively?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean, whenever you're able to fly around to the football and to be that sound, that's where you get the special defenses, and that's what they do. And so, whenever you can do that, you can disguise really well. They do a great job of that, trying to make everything look similar. If they do something one week, they want to have something off of it the next week, so you can't get a real good feel for what they're doing. And so that's on me and the coaches and everybody to kind of recognize that, get it to the best place for that play. If it's a check down or if it's the shot, you’ve got to know when to make that play happen. And that'll be stuff that we'll work through throughout the game.”
Q: How does RB Kenneth Walker seem to feel about going back to Seattle?
MAHOMES: “I mean, I haven't yet, but I know it's going to be a special moment for him. You get to go back to the place where you kind of built your career, where you win a Super Bowl. I know how special that is being here. And those fans are kind of the people that were around him for all of that. And so those are still a lot of the guys that were his teammates that he kind of grew up with as well in the NFL. And so, it'll be a special moment for him. But just like anything, it's at the end of the day, you’ve got to win a football game, and he knows that we have his back. We're going to go out there and try to do whatever we can to win the game.”
Q: On if there is any insights RB Kenneth Walker can provide about Seattle’s defense.
MAHOMES: “Yeah, they switch stuff a lot. Maybe it's little things here and there. I think more, (RB Kenneth Walker) he's just getting to know some of the people and maybe stuff like that. But at the end of the day, they have a lot of great players. I mean, there's no way around it. That's the reason that they are the Super Bowl champs and they have the defense that they have. And so, you learn stuff like that from him, but other than that, you just go out there and play your game and try to execute at a high level.”
Q: Do you feel like due to injuries on the team that there's still a lot of ceiling left for you guys offensively?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think we can still be way better. I mean, I've talked through it kind of in the last few weeks, is that we can be more consistent. We can be more consistent throughout the entire game. We can execute at a higher level in the red zone and in short yardage, but there's a lot of good there, too. So, it's just about building on that good. As these guys get more and more reps, these young guys at receiver, O-line, wherever that is, they'll continue to get better and better. But I think you can see that at practice, these guys are getting more and more comfortable, more and more confident in themselves. And they're going to go out there and make an imprint on the offense in their own way.”
Q: Was there a different feeling in the huddle, different vibe with many of the young players making their first play? Do you handle it differently with those guys in there?
MAHOMES: “No, not really. I mean, just (because) I've built up that confidence through training camp and stuff like that. I think when you're running the offense, sometimes you can't necessarily worry about who's at what spot. You just run the offense and throw the ball to the right spot, and the guy's going to be there to make the play, and you have confidence in the guy. And so that's stuff that I've just kind of built throughout my entire career and having different guys in and out the lineup. But it does give you more confidence when guys make plays like they did this last week. And so, I'm excited for those guys to kind of build upon that this week.”
Q: How much when you're cultivating relationships with your receivers, is you letting them know what you want and you try to understand what they want and like?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, that's huge. And even in the game, you go back and watch the film in the game, and you see stuff in the game, you kind of talk to it with those guys as well. And so that the next time we have a better opportunity to have success in some of the plays that we didn't. And so, I'm always like that with all the receivers, all the tight ends, everybody, running backs, like, ‘I want to hear y'all's thoughts. I want y'all to talk and talk about what y'all are seeing on the football field. Because if I can see what y'all are seeing, then I know where to put the ball at the right time.’ And so, I think those conversations are huge on the entire offense to kind of show us getting to the level that we want to get to because we're all on the same page.”
Q: Do you recall specifically what TE Travis Kelce said and why that made such an impression on you?
MAHOMES: “No, I think it was just at practice. I think it started in training camp that first year when I was starting is like after every series, it felt like (TE Travis Kelce) he’d come up and ask me what I was seeing and ask me why I wanted to throw it here and stuff like that. And I think just through those conversations, I started understanding what he was seeing. We were talking through it on the sideline, and he wouldn't even necessarily have those conversations about what he was seeing. I'm like, alright, well, he did this because that and that kind of built up. And then now he's able to do a lot of freelancing in the offense because we're all on the same page kind of probably like 95 percent of the time.”
Q: What do you remember about DE Allen Bailey?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I was just talking about it with some of the QBs. And I tell this story kind of like every year with QBs is like, that (DE Allen Bailey) he was the first person I saw when I stepped into the locker room. I think it was after like one of the drafts, like they were in OTAs and I step in the locker room and see Allen Bailey and I'm like, this isn't the Big 12 anymore (laughter). Like it was surreal to see him and so I tell that story every single year. So, obviously it's terrible to hear the news that we heard. I mean, a great teammate. I think you see him and he's one of those glue guys on the team. Like he makes plays, not necessarily the superstar, but the guy that kind of makes everything go. And it was terrible to hear that news. I think a little later last night and we're praying for him and for his family. And know that all his teammates, we've talked and we know that we're going to do whatever we can to support those guys.”
Q: What did you think of WR Cyrus Allen being able to catch a couple of contested catches and have him try to get it done?
MAHOMES: “I thought (WR Cyrus Allen) he did a great job of making contested catches. Obviously, the one-on-one man coverage on third down, didn't get the first down, but got himself open and almost got it. And then the one down the middle was a big time catch in between a lot of traffic. So that's stuff we saw from him in training camp. I think now that he's getting more and more comfortable within the offense, we'll continue to give him more and more of a role within the offense. But he's got a lot of talent and he plays fast and he plays hard. Now it's about just continuing to give him confidence to go out there and make plays happen. And so, I'm sure that we'll continue to get him more and more involved as the year goes on.”
Q: Obviously you've had a lot of big postseason wins, but was there one or two that maybe stood out more to you?
MAHOMES: “I don't know just because of when it happened. I think I didn't even really play that good of a game but the Chargers game that we won and then the Dolphins winning at the same time. I remember being on the field and it wasn't even about us and me winning the game and everything like that. But hearing the fans and how excited they were getting and you knew just subconsciously that the Patriots had lost and we were going to get that home field in the playoffs. I think that's probably the one that sticks out to me more than anything. So that would probably be the one.”
Q: Can you talk about going into Seattle and the uniqueness of that environment, especially on a Sunday night?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think I've only played there once. And in the regular season, it was Sunday night. So, I remember it being very loud, them having a lot of passion. I feel like I might have been a little too amped up kind of early in the game. I think that's something you learn from as you go throughout your career is like, you’ve got to be able to manage that. Be able to manage your emotions, manage the kind of emotions of the entire stadium and just go out there and execute, especially early in football games, in an environment like this. So, it'll be a great challenge for us. Like we said, we have a lot of young guys, so it'll be great for them to get this experience. But we'll go out there and try to execute, especially early in the game, and then kind of let the game come to us.”
WR XAVIER WORTHY
Q: Could you describe the ways that QB Patrick Mahomes works with you guys to try to create the chemistry?
WORTHY: “Yeah, (QB Patrick) Pat's (Mahomes) really good about, like, kind of letting you know where he wants you on the route, whether that's spacing, whether that's yardage and how he's going to throw it. So, I mean, if it's something that we need to work on, too, we kind of go off to the side and run that route individually. So, he's really good about that.”
Q: It seems like QB Patrick Mahomes wants to hear what you want too?
WORTHY: “Yeah, most definitely. I mean, it's both sides, it kind of correlates together, like what you're comfortable with and what he's comfortable with and just making it work.”
Q: What's the next part of your game that you want to be able to display?
WORTHY: “Yeah, just building and continuing to be that reliable target for (QB Patrick) Pat (Mahomes) and making his job easier. I feel like if I go out there and do that, everything's going to come.”
LB DRUE TRANQUILL
Q: How difficult was your fumble recovery?
TRANQUILL: “Yeah, I mean, it's a tough situation. You're going fast towards the sideline. The ball's going, and so I was in that moment, I had to make a decision whether I wanted to try to bat it back in or kind of go for it. I felt like I had the space and was able to kind of get it before I touched out of bounds.”
Q: Do you guys work on drills for situations like that?
TRANQUILL: “Ironically, (Linebackers) Coach (Brendan) Daly and (Linebackers/Outside Linebackers) Coach (Matt) House put us through drills exactly like that where we're coming off a blocker or making a tackle, and then the ball's heading towards the sideline, and it's either a bat in or a recover, and so we have literally done that drill exactly.”
Q: How do you evaluate Seattle’s entire team?