Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
September 28, 2022
OPENING STATEMENT: “Okay, as far as the injuries go, Michael Danna won’t – he will not practice today with a calf. Mecole Hardman has a heel contusion that he’s been battling through. We’re going to sit him down today then I think he’s going to be okay but we’re just going to rest that thing today. Ronald Jones is sick so we’re going to send him home (and) get him out of here. Other than that, Harrison Butker, we’ll go ahead and do a little bit today and we’ll just play it by ear with that as we go. And everybody else is practicing. Listen, we look forward to the challenge of playing the (Tampa Bay Buccaneers) Bucs, we know that they’re a heck of a football team. So, we’re not sure where we’re going to play, but wherever we need to go, we’ll go. We’ll get ourselves ready for that and when the league announces it, we’ll go ahead and move forward in that direction. Right now, we know nothing. It could be in Tampa – it could be there. My heart goes out to the people of Tampa. I haven’t quite followed (or) know how much it’s hit or going to hit, but from what I’ve heard, it sounds like it’s going to be quite a deal. Our hearts and prayers go out to the people there. Anyways, with that the time’s yours.”
Q: With contingency plans in place for the Tampa scenario. When do you anticipate you’ll know?
REID: “I think in the next couple days we’ll probably have a pretty good idea. We don’t know. I know they’re talking, so I think within the next couple of days we’ll have a pretty definite (answer) on that.”
Q: Have you got any information from the league on what Chris Jones said to Indianapolis Colts QB Matt Ryan?
REID: “No, I have not.”
Q: Are you disappointed?
REID: “Listen, I’m – without being rude, I mean that’s a good question – but I’m past it. I’m going forward here. Chris (Jones) and I have talked so I’m not going to get into that part, but he’s pretty honest with me on things. So, we’ve got to move forward. The league’s got to do what they do and if they want to tell me, they’ll tell me.”
Q: If Harrison Butker can’t play Sunday night against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, what gives you confidence Matthew Wright will maybe do a better job than Matt Ammendola?
REID: “Yeah, listen, I don’t know other than his workout out here, I haven’t been in a game with him, but he had a good workout yesterday and you hope that transfers. He does have some experience, so (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Dave (Toub) took a look at that too.”
Q: Clyde Edwards-Helaire had seven carries, no yards. I know that’s not what you wanted and that’s not what he wanted. Is it something to improve there?
REID: “Yeah, like I said, I can call those at the right time, (in) the right situation, and then again, we all have a piece of it – (we can) block it better, we can run better. We’re all taking responsibility for that, so we’ve got to do better. That’s the bottom line. You’re saying – you’re asking the question, we’ve all got to do better, and we’ve got to identify the issue and work with it and get it fixed, which we’ve done.”
Q: Orlando Brown was on the injury report last week, how much was that knee hindering him?
REID: “I think it was bugging him a little bit last week but like I said, we can all do better. He’s a pretty single-minded guy, he’s pretty focused individual when it comes to this, so he’ll keep up his work level that he does and work hard at working to get better, like we’re all doing.”
Q: Your offensive line as a whole, injuries aside, how have they performed this year compared to last year?
REID: “Well they know each other, and they have better communication up there. I thought Indianapolis had a good scheme there and we’ve got to take care of business – I’m part of that. So, we’ve got to take care of business and do our job.”
Q: When you look at Buccaneers QB Tom Brady, do you see much difference in him than the many times that you’ve faced him before?
REID: “He looks pretty good to me. He still can sling it, (he’s) very accurate. I always look at things outside the hashes, the numbers, as you work yourself outside, (he’s) still very accurate with that. Still has enough arm down the field, so he’s a good football player.”
Q: Has the defense exceeded your expectations?
REID: “Listen, we have room to improve, I’m going to start it with that – a lot of room to improve and the guys know that. But I like the effort, I like what they’re doing with the scheme – the communication part, I like that. We’ve had some offenses that’ll throw some stuff at you now. But we’ve got to continue to work to get better, but I like where we’re at right now and I was hoping that we’d be in this position and that’s where we are. But we’ve got to keep building. I don’t want to give you the impression that we’re where we need to be. We need to keep building it.”
Q: What about specifically the pass rush part?
REID: “I like what I’ve seen so far. (ESPN staff writer) Adam (Teicher) – you’re asking me these ‘kiss of death’ questions (laughter). Up to this point, I like what I’ve seen. We’ve got a great challenge coming up here and we will every week and that’s just how this league is. So, you can’t sit on anything, and you can’t not stop working to improve on anything and that’s important.”
Q: You’ve revamped your offensive line since you last played the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in the Super Bowl. How do you feel like this offensive line will stack up against their defensive front this time around?
REID: “Yeah, so they’ve got a real good defensive front. Almost the same guys that they’ve had before, and they’ve got some good additions in there. So, it’s a great challenge (and) I’m expecting my guys to rise up to the challenge.
Q: You mentioned Mecole Hardman and the heel. Can you evaluate what you’ve seen from him so far through three games?
REID: “Yeah, I think the heel was affecting him a little bit this past week. Up to that point, I thought he was playing fast and running the stuff that he was supposed to run.”
Q: On the last play of their final offensive drive. On communication during the final drive.
REID: “Yeah, we could’ve done a better job on that. You hate for it to come down to that but that’s where we were, and we can do a better job there.”
Q: Did you think about taking a deep shot?
REID: “Well listen, the clock was in their favor (laughs), and we were trying to turn it over to our favor so if we could’ve gotten the touchdown, we would’ve liked to have done that. But that son of a gun was moving – at least you want to give yourself a chance, right? In that situation – kicking the football, at least give yourself a chance. So, you get yourself there then you can make the decisions from there, but we were fighting to get ourselves into that position at all.”
Q: On Marquez Valdes-Scantling and his production.
REID: “He’s actually done a nice job. He had a good game this past game, I thought. I liked what I saw, and I liked his attitude and energy towards the game down the stretch. He’s a real smart kid. I like the way he approached the game and then the leadership he showed down the stretch. And I thought he had some nice grabs.”
Q: On Travis Kelce posting online after the Indianapolis Colts game apologizing for his performance. How much do you sense the urgency and the frustration from these guys?
REID: “Listen, this is a proud bunch. Nobody likes getting their tail kicked, right? So, you’ve got to get in and go. That’s what happens, you lose a game in this thing (the NFL) and it’s tough. It’s a tough deal, you better feel it – particularly from your leaders – and we all should feel that, even you guys (laughs).”
Q: Are you seeing and hearing the right things that you would like to hear from these guys following a game like that?
REID: “We’re taking accountability and inevitably, I’ve got to make sure the team’s right, that’s my responsibility. So, it starts right here, and we’ve all got to do a better job, but it starts here.”
Chiefs Players Quotes
September 28, 2022
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q: Does it bother you to not know where you’ll be playing due to the potential of moving the game because of Hurricane Ian? Do you let any of that affect you?
MAHOMES: “I don’t think you can. For us it’s an away game regardless, so you’re going to be going somewhere to play, so you’ve just got to focus on the game plan and try to prepare yourself that way. And I mean obviously I want to send thoughts and prayers to everybody in the Florida area, and hopefully they got out of there and if not that they’re buttoned down and safe.”
Q: How much does your mindset change that you could be potentially playing in the dome in Minneapolis?
MAHOMES: “It doesn’t for me. You have to go out there and execute the game plan. I mean obviously weather would be one thing that you could kind of think about and stuff like that, but I mean it looks like if we are in Tampa, it’s going to be sunny anyways, so I mean it’d just be just us going out there and playing the game regardless of if we’re indoors or out.”
Q: What have you seen this year from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers defense?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, they’re one of, if not the best, defense in football. They have a great coach, defensive coach with (Head) Coach (Todd) Bowles, who’s done it for a long time and been really good everywhere he’s been. And they have great players in every phase: linebackers, d-line, secondary and they’ve played together for a while so they’re going to kind of confuse you, give you different looks and they’re going to fly around and make plays. So, it’s about us executing, getting the ball out of my hand and making these other guys make plays.”
Q: What’s been your focus since the loss to the Indianapolis Colts?
MAHOMES: “Just trying to learn from the (game) tape. See where I can be better at, where I can work the pocket better, where I can get the ball out of my hands, let guys make plays. Obviously, I held onto it a little bit too long that game. Their defensive line was able to get to me with me holding the football so just trying to get better at getting the ball out of my hands and finding the open guy.”
Q: On coming together as an offensive unit.
MAHOMES: “Yeah, you’ve got to continue to get better. You look back at the tape (and) it seemed like there was just one person on every play that wasn’t in the perfect spot and in this league, everybody has to be on the same page. I have to make the right reads whenever it’s my job to make the read, the offensive line has to block, as a unit the receivers have to run routes off of each other. I think if you can get that all together that’s when you can have those big games like we did that first week and obviously when you don’t, you have weeks like we did this last week.”
Q: On the final play of the Indianapolis Colts game when trying to get into field goal range. It looked like a couple of your receivers felt like something went wrong. Did something go wrong?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean obviously it didn’t get executed right because there was an interception but it’s tough windows. You’ve got to make a throw there. I try to find the best look guy and try to get him the ball so he can get down and get a time out and get a chance for a field goal and they did a good job of tipping the pass and they got up there and made an interception, so obviously it didn’t happen the way we wanted it to, but we tried to give ourselves a chance to get that field goal.”
Q: On the fake field goal. Any talk about ‘if you get a shot, take it?’
MAHOMES: “Not in that first instance. Obviously, we were in range for a Hail Mary if it was an incompletion, so we were trying to get as many yards as we can and get down. And we had timeouts to get a chance for a field goal because I mean we’re going to trust whoever’s there at the kicking position. So, if he would’ve gotten a chance to kick it, we were going to give him a chance to kick it. For us we have to just continue to go out there and execute and try not to put ourselves in that position where it’s such a do or die kind of scenario.”
Q: On facing Buccaneers QB Tom Brady.
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I mean it’s special to see the things that he’s done in this league. The way he was able to change the position, the longevity of great success – I mean that’s the crazy part – you look at his career and there’s never really been a down year. He’s always been great and had a great season and found ways to get even better. He’s done stuff off the field that hasn’t impacted him on the field but still made his legacy even greater so it’s always a great opportunity for me and our team to go up against a great quarterback and really ese where our team is at.”
Q: Is this week’s game potential revenge for losing to Brady in the golf match ‘The Match’?
MAHOMES: “(Laugher) Yeah, yeah, he got me in the golf, man. But it’ll be a big game for us. We’ve had a lot of games and he’s won kind of the bigger ones, so it’ll be a big game for me to kind of go up there and try to find a way to just win as a team.”
Q: You’re a long way from 45 years old. At 27 years old can you imagine playing at 45 years old?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I want to play as long as I can play, and I can still have a chance to help the team get better. Obviously, it’s hard to play until you’re 45 years old, and I don’t want to be out there just hanging on. You see what Tom is – he’s still playing at a very high level. I think that’s why it’s hard for him to kind of give it up – when you’re playing at a high level you don’t want to leave it. For me, I’m going to try to keep my body in the best shape possible and as long as they’ll let me play and I can play at a high level, I’ll be out there.”
Q: On trusting the offensive line.
MAHOMES: “Yeah man, I trust those five guys that we have out there. I feel like we have one of the best offensive lines in the league. We’ll go in there with that mindset.”
Q: Head Coach Andy Reid told us that Mecole Hardman has been bothered by a heel injury. What are you missing without a healthy Mecole Hardman over the past three weeks?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think, I mean obviously the speed. I mean we have guys with speed, but Mecole has a different type of speed than most guys out there. And then someone that’s been in the offense for a couple years so those little nuances that these other guys are learning, he’s kind of learned from watching and getting those reps. But at the same time, you’ve got to just kind of get those other guys up to speed as quickly as possible and hopefully Mecole’s heel gets better quickly and we’re able to utilize the special skillset that he has.”
Q: You guys are usually at your best when you’re having fun. When you look at where guys are at right now, how much time do you think it’ll take to get to that point?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think we have everything we need right now. It’s just about going out there and executing it. You see it throughout practices, and you see it in games at certain points, but I think it’s just me continuing to build trust with those guys. Continue to have confidence to step up and make that throw. Those guys are getting open and they’re making plays whenever their numbers are getting called. So, I have to continue to just get better and better each and every week.”
Q: Over the past few days have you and Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy talked about what happened before halftime? Have you guys needed to discuss it?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, we talk everyday anyways. So that’s something we don’t even really worry about. We just continue on and move forward. I have a lot of trust in Coach Bieniemy, he’s done a lot of great things for this organization and for this team, and he’ll continue to push us forward to be even better.”
Q: On Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s comments about trying to gain Patrick’s trust in the pass game. How much of a threat could Edwards-Helaire be once that gets going?
MAHOMES: “Yeah, I think you’ve seen it at the beginning of this year, he’s made a lot of plays in the pass game, and he has in his career so far. I think if we continue to evolve, you’ll see him get more and more reps, and he’ll go out there and make more and more plays.”
RB CLYDE EDWARDS-HELAIRE
Q: How would you assess the last three weeks? And then last week in Indianapolis in particular?
EDWARDS-HELAIRE: “Honestly, I would say preparation and everything was – I would say – pretty much close to the same. It was just one of those games. It’s football and every day and every game can always be yours. It’s just one of those things that I felt like from the offensive standpoint that we kind of just shot ourselves in the foot, from the film that we watched and doing the analysis on ourselves. That’s kind of what – as an offensive group – that’s how we came out feeling.”
Q: On Patrick Mahomes’ comments about how the offense is continuing to gel. How are you guys as an offense continuing to gel and play as one?
EDWARDS-HELAIRE: “Yeah, you hear it the whole season, ‘It’s a long season.’ It’s Week 3 and we’ll be looking back at this depending on how the season goes like, ‘Man, it seems like it was forever and a year ago (we were) just having this conversation.’ But it’s just one of those things that we will still go back and look at this film and see some of the things that we messed up on and still watch film and plays and formations of defenses from this game that will help us in the future. So, it’s just one of those things (where) you see where you were and where you can be and how good that we feel like we are and how good can we be as far as the future.”
Q: Head Coach Andy Reid said you guys are a very accountable group. It seemed like you guys took to social media really quickly to claim responsibility and say you’d do better. Is that an advantage for the team to be so aware?
EDWARDS-HELAIRE: “Yeah, I would say it is. You know being aware on the team but not only socially aware of the things that’s going on around you. It wasn’t happy-go-lucky time for us on the way back. That’s how it felt on the bus and obviously it wasn’t going to feel good landing in KC knowing just how much we mean to not only the city but everybody around us. So just trying to take full advantage of the opportunities and for us we feel like we only get a guaranteed 17 opportunities to kind of make everybody happy and keep that rolling. So being able to do that plus some is always the advantage and the thing that we feel like we need to take advantage of.”
Q: How much do you relish the opportunities in the pass game? How would you evaluate yourself so far?
EDWARDS-HELAIRE: “It was something that multiple times I’ve always been asked in this situation as far as getting catches and being able to catch the ball, but I pretty much said, ‘As soon as Coach Reid gives me the opportunity, go run this route bro, that’s what I’m going to do’ – go run a route and catch the ball. So just having the opportunities and taking full advantage of those opportunities, not only to show that I can do it, but to gain trust from not only Coach Reid but also 15 (Patrick Mahomes) and everybody else on the offense.”
S JUAN THORNHILL
Q: What makes a defensive back a good pass rusher? Are there things about that job that may be foreign to a defensive back?
THORNHILL: “Some guys don’t pressure a lot – (from) the defensive back room – but we also work on that as well. We have drills out there that we work on, dip-and-lean and maybe bull rushing sometimes, because if you were to bull rush an offensive lineman, they wouldn’t be expecting that. So, we definitely practice that, for sure.”
Q: L’Jarius Sneed has done it a couple of times, and he’s good at it. Is there something you think makes him a good pass rusher?
THORNHILL: “The guy’s explosive. If you see him, he’s getting to the quarterback so fast, (even) before the quarterback can get his feet there, he’s there. The guy – he’s fast, he knows how to dip-and-lean, good bend, and that’s why he’s getting to the quarterback so fast.”
Q: With losing veteran leader Tyrann Mathieu in the offseason, people looked to put the defense on you, Justin Reid and Chris Jones. How happy have you been with the progress of the way the defense has been playing coming out of the gate?
THORNHILL: “I love it. Justin (Reid) has been doing a heck of a job. I feel like at first, we were going to have some hiccups along the road, but he’s been doing a great job with learning the playbook, he’s communicating well, playing very physical and I love it. It’s a lot of fun.”
Q: One of your personal goals was to have an All-Pro season. Where are you at in achieving that goal?
THORNHILL: “See, I’m pretty happy with how I played. The last play of the game against Indy, I wouldn’t take that back for anything. I played what the coaches wanted me to play. I played pretty physical, and it was just a big tight end that made a great play, and the quarterback made a great throw. But I’m definitely proud of how I’m playing, but I’m always looking for a way to increase my play and play a lot better.”