Jan 03, 2025

Chiefs Quotes: 12-2-24

Posted Jan 03, 2025 12:10 AM

Chiefs Coordinator Quotes

January 2, 2025

DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR STEVE SPAGNUOLO

OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, I’m just fired up to play another game. We’ve had a little bit of time off here. It feels like forever that we’ve been here, right? Those extra days in there help, but with that I’ll just kind of open it up and let you guys (the media) fire away.”

Q: On the impact that the defense has on the offense.

SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, it’s a team thing, right? You win the turnover ratio, you have a pretty good chance – I mean, your percentages go way up of winning the game. You know, that and fourth-down stops (and) big special teams plays, right? Those kind – those seem to tip the game in your favor so the more of those (that) we can get, the better.”

Q: What’s the process of keeping the guys who won’t play on Sunday sharp for the playoffs?

SPAGNUOLO: “The first PowerPoint that I put up on Tuesday was, ‘Do Not Lose Your Edge.’ We’ve went two-and-a-half months of offseason work. We went, whatever it’s been, five-and-a-half months since July of all this work to get to this point. Why would we backoff, why would we lose our edge? I’m talking about it in preparation and how the guys practice, what they might do with their bodies physically, rest, all those things. That was an emphasis at the beginning. We’ve also challenged our guys – look, depending on where this all goes and we have this Week 18 to figure out who the playoff team – there’s a chance we play this team (Denver Broncos) again, so if I’m sitting there listening to all the information about Denver’s offense, I want to accumulate that for – you know, to be ready for this – not only this game but in the chance that we end up playing them again.”

Q: What’s the line when you’re trying to give the Broncos your best but you’re also resting your starters?

SPAGNUOLO: “That’s the head coach’s – you have to go back to (Head Coach) Andy (Reid), I mean, he makes that decision. Listen, we’re in our meetings with everybody getting ready to play against Denver’s offense – all hands-on deck. Getting – Chris (Jones) may be a little bit different because of the injury he’s dealing with and all those guys, to a man, are working that way in the meetings that we’ve had, in these walkthroughs and now getting ready to have another practice. That’s not going to change and it’s a really good point – we’re going to get their best. It’s not – they’re not experimenting with getting ready for the future or anything. They’re getting ready for a playoff run, so whoever we put out there has to play their best.”

OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR MATT NAGY

Q: What’s the process of trying to keep the guys who aren’t playing sharp over this long break?

NAGY: “They know that it’s their job, number one. Number two, they have to stay prepared whichever way it goes, and they do a good job with that, it’s important. I mean, this entire time as they go through this process, they know that, too if they’re not playing, it’s their role too to become another coach and be there. Then also, you have to be ready, too. You never know how things go in the game and if you’re up and you’re suited and ready to – that’s why I think like sometimes as you go through this process, the mental challenge and the hurdles of preparing all week, you can’t let that slip. You’ve got to prepare and keep it the same and I think that’s very important for these guys.”

Q: On Xavier Worthy hitting his stride and Hollywood Brown returning.

NAGY: “I love it. Again, you’ve heard me relate it to Rashee (Rice) but that’s real. Xavier’s (Worthy) done a great job of staying patient the entire season, he’s been great with the players – it’s been a fun process for him. Now, as we continue to kind of go into these moments and these games things he’s going to realize that when we get to the playoffs it steps up even more and things get even faster. It’s been really fun to see this offense start to come together and getting Hollywood (Brown) back too certainly helps out.”

Q: What has led to you guys being able to take care of the ball offensively, especially recently?