OPENING STATEMENT: “OK, good seeing everybody. Really injuries, Pat (Mahomes), obviously, tweaked his ankle. L’Jarius Sneed hurt his nose. Pat was able to – he came and got x-rays (and got) everything done and then was able to come back in. And then, L’Jarius did the same thing – he was able to make sure the thing was set and in a good position and came back in. All in all, (it was a) heck of a game. We appreciate the fans and they were incredible. I thought both sides of the ball – and special teams – did a nice job tonight. Special teams was against one of the best teams in the league special teams wise. (They have a) Pro Bowl returner (Jaguars WR Jamal Agnew) – that last punt was a beautiful thing. (Harrison) Butker –– kicked the ball well – and he also tackled. That was a big tackle. And then, offensively I thought the whole group played well. It was great to see Chad (Henne) come in in that backup role and I thought everyone stepped their game up and had so much confidence in Chad and he executed it. I thought everybody around him did a nice job too. And then, (Isiah) Pacheco with a 95-yard (game rushing) or whatever he had there, I thought he did a tremendous job running the ball. Jerick (McKinnon), likewise, he did a nice job too. And then, (Travis) Kelce every time I step up here I feel like he breaks another record, so he broke some record (laughter) and then he had 98 yards and two TDs. He did a great job there. Defensively, listen, my hat goes off to the defense. You can’t move forward in the NFL playoffs if your defense doesn’t play well. I thought from the DBs to the defensive line to the linebackers, I thought everybody was flying around making plays. Again, my hat goes off to the guys for that. They’re incredible on third downs or second downs. Just what a great game all around. My hat goes off to Spags (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) and EB (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) and (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Dave) Toub for the jobs that they did, and the coaches. You know, I wanted to mention (Kadarius) Toney in the mix there too. I thought he had some nice plays for being kind of the new kid on the block. He had some nice plays. Our young DBs, again, stepping up. (Jaylen) Watson with the interception. What a great job. The two turnovers were obviously huge for us. Again, great team win. So with that, time’s yours.”
Q: What was the decision like to put Patrick Mahomes back in the game? Was that a difficult decision? Was there a decision at all at that point?
REID: “Well, it was hard getting him out of the game, first of all. He wanted to fight. We got him out, he went to the x-ray (machine), he got it x-rayed, looked at, taped. He came back and he said he felt good enough to be protected where he’s not going to get hurt – that’s obviously the primary thing. And he felt like his mobility was good enough where he could do that. So, we did a few little things with him on the sideline to see where he was at (and) put him in. And it was a short leash on it, so if I felt like he wasn’t able to handle it, he would’ve been out and back in Henne.”
Q: On Patrick’s ankle changing things in the second half:
REID: “I don’t know, it didn’t look like it. But, I thought he did a pretty good job.”
Q: When Mahomes went back in, did it change up anything you wanted to do offensively?
REID: “We basically kept everything the same. We just kept it going with what we were doing before.”
Q: On how it might affect Mahomes next week:
REID: “Yeah, we’ll see. We’ll see. I don’t want to jump to things right now, but let’s just see how it goes here the next couple (of) days. It’s going to be sore I know, but let’s see where he’s at. He’s had this before and he was able to keep pushing though. (It was) actually against Jacksonville whenever – a couple of years ago – same type of deal. So he pushed through that. The main thing is is that he’s safe – or as safe as you can be on a football field. That’s the important thing.”
Q: Did you expect it to be so close?
REID: “Yeah, when you start doing – you guys do this – when you start doing the studies on this game – this round right here – these games are one score games normally. So, it’s a high, high percentage and so you buckle it up for four quarters and you know that it’s going to come to (the end). I will tell you, I thought (Jaguars Head Coach) Doug’s (Pederson) done a phenomenal job. Their team is better than they were when they played us before (in Week 10) and the sky’s the limit for them. They’re young and they believe in what they’re being taught and they play hard. And they’re well coached.”
Q: What stands out most about the drive where the Jaguars cut the lead to three points and then the Chiefs offense comes out to score with a Marquez Valdes-Scantling touchdown?
REID: “I’m having a hard time placing that drive right now. Yeah so, well that was one of Adam’s (Teicher) questions about mobility, he (Patrick Mahomes) did a nice job on that having to move around and make that throw. Yeah, there were so many good plays within the mix there (with) everything that was going on. I’m blending all the plays, but that’s alright.”
Q: When you first put Mahomes back in the game, there was a third-down play where he scrambled a bit. Were the instructions from you for him to not do that? Or have you learned that he’s just going to do what he wants to do?
REID: “Yeah, that kind of told me he was thinking he was ok. I didn’t – no, I didn’t want him to do that, but I didn’t tell him not to. You can’t tell somebody that. If they can’t do that then they got to get out of the game.”
Q: How hard is it for Chad Henne to come in at the two-yard line and drive the team down 98 yards for a touchdown? How vital was that for the team”
REID: “Yeah, phenomenal. The best thing about that, Vahe (Gregorian), was everybody trusted Chad. That’s the best part. That’s the way he handles himself and the confidence the guys have in him. I thought they all stepped up – the O-line did a nice job. First of all, Chad did a nice job of getting the ball out on time. And the O-line did a nice job. The run game – Pacheco had the long run. It was beautiful that they blitzed on it and he kind of got bumped back and kept going like he does and put together a nice run. Nice drive on the whole thing. But, Chad – the guys love Chad and they play for him, so it was a great deal.”
Q: With Mahomes dealing with an injury, how much of a paramount was it for Mahomes to have Travis Kelce to rely on?
REID: “Yeah, everybody contributed. Marquez – we had a few plays for Marquez and they did a good job rolling the coverage that direction. And he didn’t hang his head, he just kept battling and battling and battling and ends up with a big touchdown for us. But you can say that about JuJu (Smith-Schuster). JuJu went through the game, comes up with a huge catch on the sideline there. And Pat had a tremendous amount of trust in him to throw the back shoulder throw.”
Q: Did you get a sense on the sideline that everyone wanted to up their game when Mahomes got injured?
REID: “Yeah, I’d probably tell you yeah. The guys were – they are very protective, particularly the offensive line in general. And so, they were hooting and hollering about that nobody touches the quarterback.”
Q: Can you talk us through that conversation with Mahomes about going back to get x-rays?
REID: “It would be like me trying to ask you not to ask a question (laughter). No listen, he’s a tough kid. And so, he wanted to be in there, he wanted to be competing and that’s a tribute to him and his competitiveness. However, you got to make sure he’s ok – physically ok where he can protect himself. And if he can’t, then he can’t play, you have to go with the next guy. But he’s a tough nut. And he’s very – when I tell you he’s competitive, he’s very competitive.”
Q: Who would have been Henne’s backup if he had gone down?
REID: “Yeah, we’ve got a couple (of) guys there that have played quarterback in college. Number one (Jerick McKinnon) was one of them. It would’ve probably been number one up.”