Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid Quotes
October 3, 2022
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright so, I don’t have any injuries – not that we’ve had a bunch of them anyway – to give you but the guys are just starting to come in. We didn’t get back here until late like I’m sure you guys did. Listen, I felt the same way as I did last night. I thought all three phases contributed to the win. It was a good game for that and normally if you can get all three going then you’re going to have some success. Like I said yesterday – or last night – it’s a tough state of affairs in the state of Florida right now. People are scrambling, not only for their lives but for just getting their homes, right, so there’s a lot of distractions that were taking place for (Buccaneers Head Coach) Todd (Bowles) and his football team. But I was proud of our guys for going in and taking care of business. I thought that was important and the guys did that. I thought between EB (Eric Bieniemy) and (Steve) Spags (Spagnuolo) and Dave Toub, they had great plans set up and everybody executed to the best of their ability. There’s still plenty that we can learn from this thing but with that, the players have a couple days off because we’re playing Monday night. Then we’ll get back in here and start grinding for the (Las Vegas) Raiders who had a big win also. We’ll have our work cut out as we go forward. Anyways, with that, the time’s yours.
Q: Blake Bell is eligible to come off of injured reserve this week. What are you hoping to see out of him and how close is he to returning to the active roster?
REID: “Yeah, I’ll get with Rick (Burkholder) here later and just see where we’re at with that, Herbie (Teope). Like I said, the guys are just kind of working their way in here right now and then Brett Veach will be involved with that too – just strategically how we do that and what we do there.”
Q: Taking in what last night was with Patrick Mahomes, how rare is it to see some of the things that he’s capable of, specifically the floater to Clyde Edwards-Helaire?
REID: “Yeah you know – I’d tell you this, Pete (Sweeney) – I talked to the guys, like I mentioned last night, just don’t take it for granted. These things are special, some of these things we’re seeing from him, (Patrick Mahomes) so appreciate them but it’s unique so enjoy every one of them, but it’s not something that a lot of people have that advantage of being a part of. With that, I mean that throw was incredible. The throw to (Travis) Kelce is the one that might get looked over a little bit down the middle of the field. I mean that throw and that catch were ridiculous and there were a couple other ones in there that were really good. I mean the one naked play where he kind of hung onto it on third down and threw it up to JuJu (Smith-Schuster), I mean that was another good one. He had a very good game and I know the stats show that and some of the things he’s done historically have made history and (he) will continue to do that. The best thing about him is he’s always trying to get better. That’s what I appreciate the most, Pete. I mean he’s not sitting there patting himself on the back. He keeps moving forward and wanting to get even better.”
Q: You mixed up your running backs in games and week to week in a way I can’t remember you doing since being with the Chiefs. So, what are you using week to week and within games to pick and choose what guy to use in the RB position and in what situations?
REID: “So we’re getting to know number 10 (Isiah Pacheco). I mean he’s growing right before our eyes. We’ve spotted him in periodically just to give him some experience and see how he handled it. But we know Clyde (Edwards-Helaire) is good, 1 (Jerick McKinnon) can play. These guys are – they’re all good, they’re all talented. Greg (Lewis) does a good job of trying to work them in in certain spots. But it’s more of a learning experience with 10 and the more you see, the more you utilize him and Clyde on the first downs and 1 on the third downs. He (Jerick McKinnon) does such a good job there. So that was kind of where we were last night. I think that was pretty obvious.”
Q: What have you learned about Isiah Pacheco since the regular season has started?
REID: “Yeah so in camp we saw, just like you did, we saw (a) hard runner. (He) didn’t necessarily – he was a hard runner – he didn’t necessarily have a feel for the play. He was going to just run. Every week he’s gotten a little bit better at understanding the play and then running hard. Setting (the play) up and then running hard and finishing it. And then learning the pass game and then most of all learning the protections on top of all that. He’s gotten better at all of those things. And I would anticipate every week he’ll do even better. You saw he had a nice blitz pickup during the game and so that’s progress. That’s a good thing.”
Q: There’s been a big spotlight on the NFL’s concussion protocol. In general, how do you feel the protocols have worked? Is it just right or do the protocols need to be adjusted?
REID: “Yeah, Aaron (Ladd), I’m not claiming to be a doctor at all. I know the league and the doctors have spent so much time on this trying to figure it out and make it right. And so, I think it’s an ongoing deal. We keep learning and learning. And that’s the most important thing, that we don’t just put walls up and say, ‘This is the way it’s going to be.’ But that they’re willing to work with it and they’re doing that. We’re finding things out as we go and likewise the players are. It’s open communications. I’m not sure it’s always – I don’t know this for a fact – but I’m not sure it’s always been that way. But it’s open communication amongst the parties there so if we keep that up, we’ll kind of figure this thing out as we go.”
Q: With the way L’Jarius Sneed has played and being the prominent nickel cornerback. What has given you the confidence in giving him the ability to blitz?
REID: “Well he’s a good cover guy. He’s always right there and tight on it. We give him – he’s got a big responsibility. That’s not an easy position to play where you’ve got all these options that you’ve got to work out with the other safeties and with the linebackers so that’s not always just man to man coverage and he handles all of that very well. At the same time, he goes out and he’s equally as good out at the corner spot so that’s also a plus and he does it every day. I mean he goes out and he works at this thing every day. He’s also tough. You’ve got to have a little bit of linebacker in you, a little bit of safety (and) a little bit of corner when you get into that nickel spot. And he’s got that, and he has the feel for space, and he also can cover his man.”
Q: On Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s comment about when you challenge the guys up front, you’re challenging everyone. What did you see during the week as far as challenging the offensive line that you were going to get the performance last night that you did?
REID: “Yeah look, I don’t think it’s a secret, but we didn’t do as well as we wanted to there against the (Indianapolis) Colts. It wasn’t the way that I wanted it, I didn’t handle it with the play calling the way I wanted it done. And EB (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) went through and talked about it and everybody needed to raise their game – the both of us and the rest of the guys. And so, the challenge is out there for all of us to step up, but it always starts up front (with the offensive line). It always starts with the big guys. And so, inevitably they want – they don’t say much – but they want that responsibility. And look, we needed to pick our game up. And so, they did a nice job last night. (There’s) plenty of room for improvement, (but) last night they did a nice job. They came out with a purpose and (a) certain intensity level and their assignments were pretty sound there.”
Q: On his State Farm commercial with Patrick Mahomes. What led you to do that?
REID: “Well listen, Pat asked if I would do it with him and I told him I’m not very good at that stuff as you guys know doing these things (laughs). Listen, it was a fun thing. It was good to see how people treat Pat. It was interesting for me to see how that production goes. He does a lot of these things and it kind of gave me the inside scoop on it – literally – to be able to see what he has to go through to put all these together. It’s quite interesting. Great people involved there. They obviously reached out and talked to me about it and knowing that I wasn’t real comfortable doing those kinds of things, but they made it as comfortable as possible.”
Q: Does having Patrick Mahomes with his ability to buy time and make plays off script, can you kind of hold stuff back? Does it allow you to maybe have a play that you can wait until Week 5, Week 7, Week 8 to use?
REID: “Yeah, I probably would say that, Soren (Petro). Although, we did use a couple of them yesterday. The couple that (Marquez Valdes-)Scantling caught were somewhat that – one of them for sure was. It was a pump pass and so we faked a screen and come out; he did a nice job with that too. So, we’re still able to use some things. The guys like that stuff. We just sit here as coaches and you kind of weigh out which ones. You want them to be successful at the same time. You can’t – I guess a team like Tampa Bay – you can’t waste a first or second down. Not against that crew, they’re too good on third downs. So, you got to make sure that they fit into the program. But, going back to your original question, yes. You weigh that out when he’s moving around doing the things he does and the production he gets.”
Q: Is there a level of excitement that this year’s defense is going to be one of your better defenses since arriving in Kansas City?
REID: “Yeah so, I think we need to keep growing there. I think the thing that makes me most excited is the influx of young guys that we’ve got and those guys having an opportunity to grow and get better. And so, you can see down – listen, if you guys keep working and do it day in and day out, you work then you have a chance to be something special. But if you’re – you have to stay in that frame of mind. If you start getting caught up in all the outside noise, then you’re going to plateau and you can’t do that. You can’t do that in this league or you get skunked. So, we just got to keep growing and (the) young guys (have to) keep getting better.”