ASSISTANT HEAD COACH/SPECIAL TEAMS COORDINATOR DAVE TOUB
Q: Will you get any reps over at the stadium before the game?
TOUB: “Yes, we’re going to go up there today. We’ll practice here, and then we’ll take the kickers up and get a feel for what the field feels like and the wind and stuff like that. I mean, for right now for today. Today is like nothing compared to what we’re going to get. We’re going to go outside today. It’s going to be 30 (degrees) or something but eight is different.”
Q: Besides the cold, how much can you really predict the other weather elements that will affect the game like wind and snow?
TOUB: “You can’t really – you can guess and think about if you’re going to get left to right or in the endzone. You think about different scenarios, that’s what I was talking about. Then you have different gameplans and different things you want to do and then punt return and kickoff, so it’s kind of an exciting game for the special teams too at the same time.”
Q: What did you need to see on the field to know that you were going to run the fake punt?
TOUB: “We come into every game with two or three fakes in every game and the situation – we weren’t getting things going on offense, fourth and five mid-field and then the play before, (Assistant Special Teams) Coach (Andy) Hill said, ‘Hey we’re getting the look that we want,’ you know my assistant Coach Hill. I said okay, and then it came up again and in that type of game we were aggressive. I said we were going to be aggressive in that game and we did it. We called it, and they executed it well. (La’Mical) Perine did a good job, got the first down, kept the drive going. We didn’t get a touchdown, but we got a field goal out of it so it was worthwhile.”
Q: With the cold weather, do you think there will be more fumbles on the returns?
TOUB: “I hope that’s not the case. There’s more (of a) chance of getting the ball in your hands, and we call it ‘return season’ and I say it’s on now. This is full blown return season and cover season.”
DEFENSIVE COORDINATOR STEVE SPAGNUOLO
Q: Is there an advantage to playing a team for the second time in playoffs? Do you feel like it helps the team that lost?
SPAGNUOLO: “There may be some truth to that because we all say in this league it’s hard to beat a team twice, right? I think it helps the players in that they know the person that they line up directly against, but to both sides, there’s no advantage there either way. I’m sure they’ll change some things. We’ll have a couple of new wrinkles. It’ll be a whole different game, and it’ll be in a different country (laughter). It’ll be a different game.”
Q: What was it like when Chris Jones got his sack and his teammates were all celebrating with him?
SPAGNUOLO: “Listen, I was happy for him (Chris Jones), we all were. We all would be right, I mean it was something to shoot for, he was out there – you know it’s a little easier to try to get somebody a 15-yard pass completion than it is to say you’re going to get a sack. That’s not easy and there’s nobody on the other side of the field that wants to ‘allow’ you a sack. He earned it, and I was happy to see he got it.”
Q: Do the weather conditions factor into the game?
SPAGNUOLO: “They may or may not. I said to the guys, look a lot will be said about this, could be an advantage. You have to create your own advantage in my opinion and the way create them is in preparation and then doing things in the game to create an advantage. I don’t think just the fact that it might be cold – we’re not going to rely on that I’ll put it that way.”
Q: Since this franchise has had a lot of success in recent years, do you feel like the fans here expect more out of the team than other places?
SPAGNUOLO: “You know more about that outside perception; I mean we always think about that in terms of first of all let’s get in, that’s the number one goal and then all it is now - and the first thing I put up in the meeting was just a ‘W’. I didn’t put up, ‘We need this many sacks,’ or ‘stop this many rush’ – none of that matters. All that matters is that W. I’m sure the offense is doing the same thing and (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Coach (Dave) Toub with the special teams. Our focus is on that one game, and you hope, step by step by step, we can accomplish some of the things we did before.”
OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR MATT NAGY
Q: Patrick Mahomes has talked about how confident he is in the defense. How does that confidence change the philosophy of the offense?
NAGY: “I think the biggest thing when he (Patrick Mahomes) says that, or when we talk about complimentary football where we are at – the goal is to still score and be as aggressive as we possibly can. You also want to make sure that however you’re being played on defense or wherever you’re at on offense you want to understand that our defense right now is at an elite level. Not giving them short fields with turnovers is one – that’s stating the obvious, but I think that’s what he’s getting at. A bad turnover is not going to help our really good defense, punting the ball is field position. If something is not there, we don’t force it and throw an interception, we don’t force a play call whatever that is. We’re smart, we play the field position and understand that our defense has done a great job all year long and is time tested – it’s not something that is a three-game stretch.”
Q: Going into the playoffs and the cold weather do you try to lean more on the run game?
NAGY: “Everyone says that, but in the end, you have to be able to throw to win. Running the ball is very important, we’ve improved there. I think when you look at all of the teams who have made it, whether they’re ahead and stay ahead or behind and they have to throw – you do need to be able to throw the football. Being able to be balanced, run the football, which we’ve been better at which is great – it takes pressure off the quarterback, it take pressure off the O-line because you’re not asking them to drop back throwing all the time. With that though, you’ve got to have effective runs, it can’t be two yards, one yard, three yards, you’d like to get some explosive – that’s what I think we’ve been getting lately.”
Q: Are the Dolphins much different than when you played them in Germany earlier this season?
NAGY: “Maybe people wise a little bit with the injuries, but schematically a lot of the same stuff. (Dolphins Defensive Coordinator) Vic (Fangio) does a really good job of breaking down your tendencies of what you do well. He’s been doing it for a long long time. So not much, there’s always going to be some unscouted stuff that you have but for the most part he is a successful defensive coordinator because he stays true to what he believes.”
Q: With what you saw from Mecole Hardman this week do you see him as a guy who could have a bigger role in the playoffs?
NAGY: “Possibly a little bit. I think last week was good for him to be able to get in there and play a lot, he played a lot of snaps, made some plays. He’s got veteran experience; he’s played in these types of games. He always brings that speed element and I love his attitude; he’s been really good since he’s been here. When you get through that little stretch that we hit in particular offensively and you see guys that are really grinding and staying positive and sticking together, he’s one of those guys that makes it fun in the end.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
January 10, 2024
S JUSTIN REID
Q: Can you describe the atmosphere of the playoffs?
REID: “It’s just faster. I mean all the chips are on the table, there’s no holding back, there’s no worrying about next week if you don’t take care of this week. The speed of the game is faster, the physicality is turned up a notch, the atmosphere, the stakes are magnified, big plays are magnified. Just that confidence, relying on your teammate is at a premium. Go out and play team defense, team offense, team ball in general to go out and win a football game.”
Q: Is communication more important against a team like the Dolphins who do a lot of motions?
REID: “Absolutely. Communication, nonverbal communication, our fans at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, we’re going to be counting on you to help us out a bit, be loud the whole time and hopefully make it difficult for them to communicate amongst themselves. All of that will come into play.”
Q: Do you get a sense that the team is leaning on the defense more than in past years?
REID: “The beautiful thing about defense is, it doesn’t matter what the score of the game is, it doesn't matter if you’re up, you’re down, the mission is always the same; go out and stop them. Don’t let them get first downs, don’t let them drive the ball, get a turnover whenever you can. We don’t have to worry about four-minute offense, worry about the clock or whatever, the mission is always the same and that’s to get the ball back to the offense as many times as possible. I think we have a very special group; I’ve said that since training camp and I’m happy that the rest of the world has gotten to see that too, but it’s not about what we’ve done already, it's about what we’re going to do. So we’re going to prepare for it.”
Q: Back in training camp what made you think this defense could be as good as it has been?
REID: “The chemistry, the cohesiveness, the selflessness of the team. Nobody cares about who gets the credit, nobody cares about if plays are made for them or not. It’s about playing winning defense, it’s about creating the opening for the next guy to get the sack, getting on your man long enough that the next guy can make the play. It doesn't matter where the credit goes, we just care about the result. We have enough guys on the defense – shoot we’ve got 20 guys on the roster on the defensive side of the ball that all have that same mentality. When you’re able to play like that and you have a leader like (Defensive Coordinator Steve) Spags that’s able to dial up pressures from all over the place to really confuse offense, good things happen.”