Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
January 17, 2024
OPENING STATEMENT: “As far as injuries go, Cam Jones will not practice today, (Derrick) Nnadi won’t practice today. Everybody else will be out there. Skyy (Moore) will return to practice, (Kadarius) Toney will be out there, and (Justyn) Ross will be out there. (We) Look forward to the challenge of playing the Bills. We obviously know they’re a good football team, very well coached. (Bills Head Coach) Sean (McDermott) does a great job with them and (Interim Offensive Coordinator) Joe Brady has taken over the offensive side, and I believe our game was the first game that he did it and he's continued to do a nice job there with the offense, again. With that, time’s yours.”
Q: How have Drue Tranquill and Charles Omenihu helped your defense this year?
REID: “They both have played well for us and continue to play well for us, but obviously with (Nick) Bolton going down, Drue (Tranquill) stepped in to one of the leadership positions and the transmitter from the front to the back side and did a great job. Then with Charles (Omenihu) mixing him in there with that D-line I think has been a nice addition. Hat goes off to (General Manager) Brett (Veach) for a job that he did brining those guys in here, his insight was spot on.
Q: How has Mike Edwards helped your defense this year?
REID: “He’s a heck of a football player and really that’s what he is. You’re going to look at him and you’re not going to say that he’s the fastest guy, the biggest guy, strongest guy or any of that. He just knows how to play the game, he’s got great instincts, smart, smart kid. Tough.”
Q: Last time you guys played the Bills, Drue Tranquill did not play. How can he help the team now that he is back and can key in on Bills QB Josh Allen?
REID: “The more we have, the better, right? He can help us; I’m not saying that’s what we’re doing with him, but he can help us all the way through all the different looks.”
Q: This will be Patrick Mahomes’ first road playoff game. Does he know that stuff and does it motivate him?
REID: “I haven’t talked to him (Patrick Mahomes) about that, so it might be, might not. I know he’s looking forward to playing, he gets fired up for every game. That’s a great venue up there, you can’t get fired up for that, hard to get fired up, right (laughter)? He’s always ready and excited, but I don’t know if he’s heard all that, I don’t think he listens to much of that.”
Q: Patrick threw well despite the weather conditions last week. What is it about Patrick’s preparation approach in the postseason that helps him play some of his best football?
REID: “I’d tell you all the way around his preparation is phenomenal. His attitude is phenomenal; his compete is phenomenal, so you love all of that and we’re lucky to have him here, for the city and for the organization here. He’s a heck of a football player; he’s such a well-rounded good person. He’s great in the locker room, very hard for a guy like that to have the respect of the team and the organization and be able to kind of fall into both areas and be comfortable with both areas without getting labeled whatever, a ’schmooze’ right (laughter)? He handles both so well, it’s a great characteristic to have for him.”
Q: Patrick is not the fastest, but what makes him such an effective scrambler?
REID: “I’ve been around two guys like that, him and (PFHOF QB) Brett Favre. Neither one timed great on the clock, but people have a hard time getting to them, catching them and all that. I guess he has field speed. I’m not sure there’s such a thing, but he runs well on the field.”
Q: Was Kadarius Toney close to playing last week? What’s your optimism with him playing this week?
REID: “We’ll see, we’ll just see – with (Justyn) Ross (too), I’m just taking it day by day, see what they can do, and we’ll go from there. I’m hoping that they’re feeling better, that’s the main thing.”
Q: Rashee Rice mentioned that he has a better understanding of when to adjust the routes, how much have you seen him grow in that area?
REID: “Every week he’s gotten a little better. He’s got a great relationship with Pat (Mahomes) and they talk through things. MVS (Marquez Valdes-Scantling) has been phenomenal for him just sharing his knowledge and experience. He’s all ears. He wants to be great, and he’s willing to work at it. He’s willing to listen, which a lot of guys turn the veterans off, but he wants to absorb all of that and take it in.”
Q: Do you ever think how uncommon this is for a rookie with your offense and how you teach it?
REID: “Somebody hit me with that earlier in the season, just on (Former Chiefs WR) Deshaun Jackson and (Former Chiefs WR) Jeremy (Maclin) and the guys that have been rookies that have been productive. I’ve had a lot of rookies and if you can narrow down – (Former Eagles WR) Reggie Brown – if you can narrow it down to four guys, that’s a pretty tough thing to do I’d say.”
Q: Did you see Patrick have spatial awareness on film from college or did you have to work with him?
REID: “I’ll tell you, he’s got good feel, so he throws a fairly easy ball to catch, which means that he has awareness of depth for sure. Everything is not a fast ball; he’s got a feel for that, I’ll tell you. Great touch on things.”
Q: How have you seen Bills QB Josh Allen develop as you’ve faced him many times the past seasons?
REID: “Great competitor real good football player, again, has a knack for making plays when they need plays – not that he doesn’t the other times – when they need one, he’s willing to step up there. I think he’s a good kid and handles things the right way from what I’ve been told.”
Q: How hard is it to know when he is fake sliding and you can take a shot at him?
REID: “The quarterbacks have that down pretty good, all of them. You just have to be smart on the defensive side, you just have to be smart with it.”
Q: How difficult is it to prepare for a team that you’ve played so much?
REID: “We have. We’ve played them quite a few times. They’re well coached, good football team, so like you play in the AFC West, you kind of get to know guys. They just haven’t had the change up there, so it’s been the same thing with the little different wrinkles but the same people. They’ve had consistency with it, which means you’ve got to play good football on our side and they’ve got to do the same. You have to be disciplined with what you do. The guys have had reps at it.”
Q: Do you go back in the archives and see what may work or has worked and vice versa?
REID: “We look at everything, that’s what you do. They’re doing the same thing.”
Q: Regarding the redzone issues, are there simple fixes from last game or is it a broader issue?
REID: “There are some things we can do that we can give them that are better. It’s both, it’s probably more complicated than just the one thing, we all have a little piece of that. The thing is, you obviously want to score touchdowns and love (Harrison) Butker and he’s doing a phenomenal job, but as you go here, you want to make sure you get in the endzone (and) score touchdowns.
Q: What do you look for in the Assistant to the Head Coach position?
REID: “You’re doing a lot of the busy work as an administrative assistant. On the other side of it, you really get to see almost everything the head coach sees, and not that you’re making the decisions, but you at least have your eyes open to that. If you go right into being a position coach, you normally don’t always see all the behind the scenes, so it’s a good way to start.”
Q: Do you remember anything working with Sean McDermott?
REID: “Smart, tough, and works hard.”
Chiefs Player Quotes
January 17, 2024
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: On playing his first road playoff game. Does that motivate you?
MAHOMES: “It kind of just is what it is. Obviously, I’ve been lucky enough to play a lot of games at home at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. Everything’s just kind of fell that way, but now we get the great opportunity to go on the road and play in a hostile environment – one that I haven’t been able to play with fans in the stands. Even though I know it’s going to be hostile and there are going to be people talking trash and everything like that, I’m excited for it because it’s one of the best environments in football and you want to do that when you grow up watching these games is play in the best environments and see what it’s like.”
Q: Can you put your finger on something specific for why you’ve been so efficient on the road?
MAHOMES: “I think it’s just (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid. He preaches communication, and you have to have nonverbal communication whenever you’re playing on the road and we try to do a good job of that - of just being able to be on the same page, being able to execute at a high level and then not letting anything be too positive or too negative, just kind of staying even keeled and going about your business the right way. I think that’s important on the road because it seems like one bad play is even magnified more and a big play is magnified more, so just staying with the process is something that Coach Reid preaches and we do a great job of it.”
Q: You probably grew up in an era where former QBs Tom Brady and Peyton Manning were the big quarterback battle. Do you have any sense that you and Bills QB Josh Allen are now that big QB battle?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean we’ve played in a lot of big games. I think the great thing about the NFL now is there’s a lot of quarterbacks that are really good and not to say they weren’t back in the day, but it seems like every year a lot of these guys are in the playoffs playing in these big games on Sunday Night, Monday Night, whatever that is. So, I’m excited for the challenge. I grew up watching those game and remember how many memories I have from that. Hopefully we can play in these great games as well and give memories to the kids that come up behind us.”
Q: You’re statistically an underdog on Sunday. What do you think about going in as an underdog?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean, I go into every game with the same mindset and that’s to go out there and win. We understand that it’s going to be a great challenge. We understand that it’s going to be a hostile environment, and we’re playing a great football team that’s won I think seven games in a row I think -whatever it is. We know it’s going to be a great challenge for us, but our mindset is that we’re going to prepare ourselves throughout this week to go out there and win a football game and that never changes.”
Q: You’ve been leaning on Isiah Pacheco and giving him a lot of touches. How important is he to the offense right now?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, he’s a great football player. I think leaning into him, leaning into our offensive line and what they do best is extremely important to our team. And then how the defense is playing, giving them a rest and letting us kind of control that ball. I mean, it’s just stuff you have to do in order to win football games in this league. It’s not always going to be high flying, but we’re going to do whatever we can to win the football game at the end of the day. And if that’s running the ball, throwing the ball, whatever that is.”
Q: It seems like you and Bills QB Josh Allen have a good relationship off the field. How does that play into this week?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, no, I think everybody – you have friends, but whenever you, almost like when you compete against your friends you almost want to win even more because of it. (Bills QB) Josh (Allen) is a great dude. I respect the way he plays football and just the guy that he is, but it’s like when two guys that are ultracompetitive that are friends off the field go up against each other, we obviously both want to win because we know we see each other in the offseason, and you want to have a little bit of those bragging rights.”
Q: On the narrative of being the villain and the possibility to end the Bills’ season.
MAHOMES: “The Bills are a great challenge. I think everybody understands that. They’ve gotten my number a lot of times. We’ve been lucky enough to get them in the playoffs, but they beat us earlier this year, so we understand that we’re going to have to play our best football to win the game, especially at their place. But it’s not about ending someone’s season for us, it’s about just advancing. Trying to find a way to survive and advance and get to the next round. Whatever that takes this weekend, we’re going to try to do and try to go out there and win a football game.”
Q: What was going on in the red zone against Miami?
MAHOMES: “I think it’s just execution. I always say it, but in the red zone everything gets so much more detailed and you have to execute at a higher level. Obviously, we were close, but we didn’t get in there. So, when we’re playing a game like this, we’ve got to find a way to turn those field goals into touchdowns in order to win. But at the same time, you have to rely on your defense to get stops – which they’ve been doing – and know that flow of the game. So that’s something that we obviously have emphasized these last few weeks, but I’m glad with how we’re moving the football but let’s find a way to punch them into the endzone at the end of drives.”
Q: It looks like that communication within the offense and getting the calls in has been cleaned up. Can you talk about that?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think it’s just – I think that coaches took it as a challenge. I think that players took it as a challenge to make sure we’re getting into and out of the huddle the right way, getting aligned the right way so we can go out there and be ourselves and play fast. I think that just goes with everybody. I mean everybody kind of came together. We talked about it, got all of us on the same page and these last few weeks, we’ve done a great job of getting in and out of the huddle and getting the play directed in the right way.”
Q: After the cold last week is there any weather that would intimidate this team?
MAHOMES: “I mean cold is cold, I don’t know. I haven’t played in Buffalo in January, but I know it’s a great environment. It’s not -30 (degrees) this week at least. I’m sure it will be -3 or -4, and it’s going to be windy and cold and we know it’s a great challenge. I don’t know if it beats the cold we played in this last week.”
Q: In the playoffs you tend to run more often. What goes into that?
MAHOMES: “I think it’s just trying to compete, trying to win the game. Some of those moments where you might slide you go for it because you know it’s win or go home at the end of the day. I know you see (Bills QB) Josh (Allen) doing that same stuff as well when it gets to the playoffs. Sometimes you’ve got to risk it in order to try to win the game for your teammates. You’ve got to know when that right time is to slide and when that right time is to try to go get those extra yards. That’s something I’ve worked on my entire career.”
Q: Is there a particular playoff run play of yours that stands out?
MAHOMES: “Definitely the Titans one, that’s one of my favorite plays of all time. It went from a really good play to almost a terrible play because I almost fumbled and then back to a great play again. I was very tired, so I couldn’t even celebrate. That was definitely my favorite one. That one, or the Super Bowl obviously, the big run in the Super Bowl to get us in field goal range. Those two were probably my favorite two runs in the playoffs.”
Q: When you play a team twice in a year do you feel like the team that won or lost the first match up has an advantage?
MAHOMES: “I haven’t. We’ve played each other twice (this season) but it feels like we’ve played each other 100 times over the last like five years. It’s a little bit of doing the same stuff, doing different stuff you want to do what you’re best at, but you want to trick the defense a little bit. Same for them, both sides. At the end of the day, you change it up a little bit, go out there and try to do your best stuff. They know you, you know them, see who wins that day.”
Q: What happened to the helmet that broke? Did you keep it?
MAHOMES: “They’re testing it right now, but I’m adamant on getting the helmet after. It’s definitely something that’s cool, (that) I’ll be able to keep for a long time. Like they said it did its job. I was perfectly fine after it. Obviously, they don’t want it to crack, but it did absorb the hit. Definitely something that I’ll keep, and I’ll try to get this helmet to fit a little bit better. We’re finding a place to store the extra helmet for the next game.”
Q: Can you talk about the development and growth of Rashee Rice?
MAHOMES: “I think he just has a better understanding of the entire offense. He still is going to continue to get better and better and learn more and more. He’s willing to learn, he’s always behind those veteran guys, asking questions and getting in the extra work. He’s a great football player and he has all the physical ability and I think he has the mental attitude to go out there and get better and better every single week. Obviously we need him to be great right now but I think he’ll continue to get even better after the season and into the rest of his career because that’s the type of attitude that he has.”
DT CHRIS JONES
Q: You’ve played the Bills so many times in the last few years, does it start to feel like a divisional matchup?
JONES: “There’s no secrets, I don’t think so. We’re familiar with the Bills and how dynamic their quarterback (Bills QB Josh Allen) is, such a competitor and the team. They’ve built a playoff team over the last few years. They’re playing exceptional from since we played them last year. Their game has improved throughout the rest of the season and into the playoffs. I think they are hitting their peaks and making strides with their team with where they’re at right now. Tough team.”
Q: What’s the biggest challenge of playing Bills QB Josh Allen?
JONES: “I mean he’s a warrior. You look at the plays he made last time we played them; he was going out of bounds and ended up throwing a 40-yarder running out of bounds off his back leg. He’s tough to bring down, a couple of times we had him wrapped up, and he still got rid of the ball. His competitiveness within his game, he can make any throw. He has a big arm. He also has talent around him, (Bills WR) Stefon Diggs, (Bills WR) Gabe Davis, (Bills RB James) Cook, who has become a vital part of their offense later on here. I think they have been playing really well together.”
Q: What has Charles Omenihu done to help improve your defensive line?
JONES: “I think he’s (Charles Omenihu) brought a lot of versatility to this defensive line. Being able to rush the passer, we can bring him inside, outside. He can play the three-tech. He can play the defensive end if we need him. He can also play rover. I think he brings another level of versatility to this D-line.”
Q: Did you learn anything in the last game about how to deal better with the cold?
JONES: “I think it’s more of a mental thing. You have to be mentally tough; we understand it’s going to be cold. We can’t fight the cold; we’re fighting individuals. I heard Buffalo will be 20 degrees, so I’m excited about that. It’ll be a little warmer than it was here in KC. Looking forward to it. It’s another opportunity to play.”