KC Chiefs coordinator and player quotes, Sept. 14

Chiefs Coordinator Quotes

ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR

Q: What has been the point of emphasis since last Thursday’s game?

TOUB: “Getting back on track. I mean that’s what everybody – that was the mantra this week. Make plays when they’re there, get back to practicing with great effort and being exact in what we do, and just be us. That’s really what the message was this week.”

Q: On the Lions fake punt.

TOUB: “I was really disappointed with the fake just because we worked so hard on – we invested a lot of time on it. It wasn’t like we were tricked or anything, but our guys reacted well, we just didn’t make the play. They made a play, we didn’t. It was a gutsy call, a good call. It is what it is, but I wasn’t surprised by anything they did. I thought our punter punted great and (our) kicker kicked great and we covered well.”

Q: Before the Lions fake kick, was there a discussion with Head Coach Andy Reid about leaving the defensive linemen in?

TOUB: “No. No, Andy relies on me to make those calls, he trusts me. I mean I make those calls.”

Q: On Richie James in the return game through week one.

TOUB: “Richie (James) did a good job fielding the football on punt. We didn’t get any opportunities on kick return. I think he’s going to be fine; I like his leadership back there. He did a good job fielding the ball. Obviously, the ball came out after he landed on his head but besides that, we’re only one game in.”

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR STEVE SPAGNUOLO

Opening Statement: “I’ll go back – it’s been a while since we played that game. I’ll just go back real quick (and) tell you what I told the unit when I saw them. I was proud of the way – overall – with the way we performed, but I also said that it’s a bottom-line business and the bottom line was we didn’t win the game. Somewhere in there we needed to find one more stop in the fourth quarter. It could have helped us win the football game. Having said that, that’s put to rest, now we’re on to Jacksonville. Had a pretty good practice yesterday, a good little walkthrough and practice this afternoon. With that I’ll open it up.”

Q: What was the key to the success the defense did have against the Lions?

SPAGNUOLO: “I put that all on – it was a group effort, it was a unit thing I talked about. We knew that we had to click on all cylinders and execution, have some good plays. That was a good football team that we went against, a good offense. Like I say I was proud overall (but) there were still some things we need to clean up. The disappointing things were the missed tackles in the fourth quarter and really one third down redzone play that could have been a four-point play. Might have been the difference in the game, that’s how close it was.”

Q: What do you see from Jaguars Quarterback Trevor Lawrence?

SPAGNUOLO: “He gets better and better. (Jaguars Head Coach) Doug (Pederson) does a great job with him. The thing that always stands out, and this stood out when we played – he’s huge. He’s big, he’s a big strong quarterback that can run. I showed a clip this morning (where) he runs, he didn’t slide, he’s running over people. He’s in the pocket, people get around him, and he’s getting out. He’s just a big strong guy that can throw the football. I just see a really – I thought he was great when he was in college and knew he’d be a good player. He just looks like he gets more and more confident.”

Q: What have you seen from Jaguars Wide Receiver Calvin Ridley especially last week?

SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, really good, obviously, in that game – and it feels like – I know if I’m that quarterback and you have a guy like that and you have a game like you did last week, I got to believe you’re going to keep looking to him. Yet you commit too many people to that one person, and they got a lot – this is a skilled – might be as skilled of an offense as we’re going to play all year. Now I’m sure I’m going to say that five weeks from now about the next team we’re playing. You guys know what I’m saying, they were skilled last year, you add him (Calvin Ridley) to it, they got another running back, number four (Tank Bigsby) from Auburn.”

Q: How much has Trent McDuffie grown?

SPAGNUOLO: “I’m glad you brought him up because I thought he had a really good game. What I thought he did a really good job of – we call it ‘block destruction’ like he was getting off blocks the other night quick and getting himself involved in the run game which a nickel (corner) has got to do because he’s like a linebacker when we put him out there. His coverage skills have been really good, he’ll have a challenge this week with the guys they have in the slot, but he’s excited about that and hopefully we can do some good things. Him, along with LJ (L'Jarius Sneed) whichever corner we put in there, if we can stay healthy – knock on wood – we can continue to do some things that we like to do, and we’ve got guys I think can cover.”

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR MATT NAGY

Q: Are there specific improvements you’re looking for from the receiving group?

NAGY: “Yeah, I think for us the biggest thing is we know in that game what went on and the ones that jump out obviously you can look at the drops. We as a coaching staff always start by looking at us, looking at the players and then trying to figure out what’s the solution. When you get into a game like that whether it’s throws, passes, you know catching, runs, whatever it is you got to be real when you go through that. The best part about the group of guys we have in that receiver room is that they all know how much we trust them, and that’s one game and they know they can be better but at the same point in time they know we believe in them. I know the drops was a big deal for all of us, but we got to be able to – whatever that is, whatever that means this week in practice, the days after the game mentally, physically do everything we can to be better. Also not let it be something that you think about all the time, and I think that’s (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid’s greatest strength and I think that’s a lot of the players strength is that we move on, and we show belief and trust in each other and then we understand that when we get back out there, we all need to be better, everybody.”

Q: You guys kept seven receivers, is it harder to get that many guys in sync?

NAGY: “No it’s not harder. It does give you depth, but at the same point in time, it probably goes back to when we’re in practice. If you’re in 11 personnel, you have three wide receivers that are out on that play in practice, that’s three. That means you have four guys that aren’t in on that play and getting the timing. That’s very common, it’s the guys that aren’t out there at that time for that rep that got to be mentally locked in and then also be able to steal reps as well off to the side with the quarterback and stay locked in that way, too. It’s just a combination of all of that, (it) by no means makes it harder, it just allows those guys to kind of figure what position they’re at and what they do well. Then how do we fit them in with what we think we do well conceptually.” 

Q: On how to get more production out of the run game.

NAGY: "You know, I think for us specifically a lot of things – it’s crazy to say with Patrick (Mahomes) – but this offense being able to run the football and have Patrick and the rest of the guys on this offense, it certainly helps. You know, Patrick used his legs when he needed, too, to help in the run game with some scrambles on first and second and not just third down but also first and second. We know, our offensive linemen know that every week they want to be able to protect, and they want to be able to create holes for the running backs to find those holes and you know you’d love to average four and a half yards per carry, which is great because it makes second and third down a lot easier. Again, that’s a focus for us, we want to keep being great at it. The way to do that is to have solid execution all in practice and then take it to the game, on game day.”

Q: What are the key points or the mentality when it comes to the short yardage plays?

NAGY: "So a few things with that, I will say is it’s pretty – and it’s usually tough to get one yard in those got-to-have-it situations. That said, whether it’s a run or a pass, it’s about the execution, it’s about doing whatever you need to do to get that one yard. You watch games across the league, it is not easy so we just need to do whatever we can to make sure whether it’s a run or a pass whatever, that we are finding a way to move the sticks on third and one, however that is, we need to do it and we understand that last week wasn’t good enough and we need to get better there.”

Chiefs Player Quotes

September 14, 2023

WR SKYY MOORE

Q: Are there specific things as a wide receiver room you guys are looking to improve on?

MOORE: “Just every aspect. We understand that wasn’t our best performance, and it needs to get better.”

Q: How does getting through the ups and downs you did last year help you this season?

MOORE: “Just knowing this is life. Life will hit you, there’s going to be upsets, there’s going to be downs in life, so you can’t stop, you’ve got to keep going.”

Q: When you have a game that you’re not as happy with, how does Patrick Mahomes help keep the confidence up?

MOORE: “(Patrick) Pat (Mahomes) is great with stuff like that just always making sure you’re in a great head space. You see it all the time, you see if someone drops the ball in a game, he’s coming right back at you trying to get you to forget about it. I feel like the whole locker room has been doing good just flipping to the next page.”

Q: How do you evaluate the defense of Jacksonville?

MOORE: “They’ve got a good defense. They’ve got a lot of long athletic corners, and their secondary is pretty solid. I feel like it will be a good match up, and we can go out there and give a better effort than last week for sure.”