Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid
October 8, 2022
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright glad you all showed up. As far as injuries go, (Harrison) Butker didn’t practice today. Trey (Smith) was limited. JuJu (Smith-Schuster) his hamstring tightened up, (so) he was limited. And then (Mike) Danna was limited but you know everybody else practiced. (We) look forward to the challenge of playing the Raiders. (We) know they’re a good football team, and our guys had a good week of preparation to get ready for them. So, with that, time’s yours.”
Q: Are you going to rule Harrison Butker out for Monday night?
REID: “I’m going to see here. We’re going to talk through that.”
Q: What do you expect the atmosphere to be like on Monday night at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium?
REID: “Yeah, listen I mean it’s – again you’re playing the Raiders, and this goes a lot further back than you know then myself so I would anticipate (a) live crew in the stands. I think it’ll be a great atmosphere for a football game.”
Q: Do you feel like it was a good week of practice for the team?
REID: “Yeah good week. Yeah.”
Q: Are you concerned at all about JuJu Smith-Schuster’s availability?
REID: “I think he’ll be fine.”
DT CHRIS JONES
Q: How do you feel about how the defense is coming along?
JONES: “We still can be better. We got room for improvement. But that’s what it’s about, it’s a marathon. This league is a marathon – 17 games. We want to continue to get better week in and week out. (There’s) a lot we can learn from, (there’s) a lot we could build on and (if) we continue that, we’ll be wherever we want to be with this defense. But no complacency.”
Q: On the rushing defense.
JONES: “Listen, I told everybody, I’ve been in this system (for) four years (and) what’s changed, Joe Cullen. Joe Cullen – his demeanor, our game plan, the way he brings the best out of us individually and the defensive line group. We harp on that. We take accountability to stop the run. That’s a high priority on our list. It gives us the ability to rush the passer once we stop the run. So, it forces to pass the ball and do what we love to do most and get after the quarterback.”
Q: On example(s) of how Coach Joe Cullen has helped him/the defensive line.
JONES: “Yeah, that’s a competitive group we got in there. We got a lot of guys that (are) coming back, a lot of familiar faces. We got George Karlaftis – a rookie – but everyone else is – we got Carlos Dunlap; his leadership and things he brings to the room. We got Frank Clark. And we got a lot of guys who (are) competing for different things in our room. And Joe Cullen brings the best out of us. He challenges us every day. (He) has this thing that he calls ‘the wagon’. Basically, you got to lead every drill, challenge the group. Khalen Saunders has the wagon right now, and he’s doing an exceptional job. But that’s what it’s all about as a group – being competitive, challenging each other, making sure we get the best out of each other.”
Q: On Raiders week.
JONES: “Yeah, their running back (Josh Jacobs) – a stellar guy. I think he ran for over 110 (yards) last week. (Raiders QB) Derek Carr. You know their record doesn’t reflect how good of a team they are. (Raiders Head Coach) Josh McDaniels is slowly opening the playbook for them. We got to try to stop, to slow down these guys. They made a couple of changes on the offensive line. They have an exceptional group. They have one of the best tight ends in there (Darren Waller). Their offense is very dynamic. (Raiders WR) Hunter Renfrow (is) one of the better slot guys in this league. And when you look at the dynamic of their offense, they’re pretty challenging for a lot of situations. It’s hard to go man-to-man (and) when (Raiders WR) Davante Adams one-on-one. Then you worry about Hunter Renfrow. Then they got a running back who can rush for 100 yards on any given Sunday, so we got to try to draw up a scheme to stop these guys.”