Top 10 Quotes From Thursday’s Chiefs Press Conferences

Top 10 Quotes From Thursday’s Chiefs Press Conferences

(TE) Travis Kelce…

On the training camp set up at Arrowhead Stadium 

I think, like I said earlier, the Chiefs have done an unbelievable job as an organization getting us set up here around our facilities where we’re comfortable, we’re familiar with it. Obviously, I love St. Joe. To everybody out there, we’re going to miss you guys this year and hopefully we can get back out next year. But for what we have with the setup here in Kansas City at the two facilities—both the stadium and here at the practice facility—I think it’s a very safe environment and I feel as comfortable as can be going into training camp.”

On using his veteran role to emphasize the importance of accountability when talking with the younger players 

“It’s accountability. The guys coming in this office, they know what this team is capable of. It shows in what we did last year and who all we have coming back, which means we have just about every single leader that we had in this locker room—outside of two that respectively decided to opt out. I think we’re as set and ready leadership-wise as we’ve ever been. The tone has to be set and the accountability has to be set amongst all the guys in the locker room that there’s a virus out here, it’s not something we can play around with, it’s something that we have to take seriously. Guys are going home to their families. We have kids and wives and beautiful families that we have to make sure that we’re all being held accountable for. So, like Coach Reid said, just making sure that you’re doing the right things for the guys around you. But I don’t see much of a problem because a lot of that is already set in the culture that Coach Reid and the leaders on this team have set.”

On his reaction to Patrick Mahomes’ contract extension

“Obviously, I’m a big fan of Pat’s. I think he’s the best player in the National Football League. You can’t tell me there’s a better quarterback than him, that’s for sure. You can turn on whatever film you want, he’s the best player in the National Football League in my mind. He led us to a Super Bowl because he is that. I was very fortunate to have a great quarterback in Alex Smith. I’ve always thought very highly of him and I’m excited to see what he’s got going out in Washington right now. I think moving forward that when Pat got into the huddle it was just a little bit different. It is what it is—I think he brought a different energy, different style to the game that even I was a little more accustomed to, just going out and playing ball in the backyard type football. As he progresses, as he starts to learn more about defenses and gets into the defensive coordinators’ minds, his game is just going to keep going up and up until probably something that we’ve never seen before—if what he’s doing already isn’t something that we’ve never seen before. I think it’s a fun time to be a Kansas City Chief and it’s because 15 is in the building for sure.”

(LB) Anthony Hitchens…

On his COVID-19 concerns

“Yeah, I think just like everybody else I wanted to be safe. I have a 14-month old at home, I have a wife and I just wanted to be safe. I feel like Rick (Burkholder) and his staff did an amazing job on our facility, spacing everybody out, meetings in different spots at different times, our masks, all types of stuff. I just wanted to be safe just like everybody else here, not just me, I just happened to speak my mind at the time. I just wanted to be safe and I think we’re doing what’s best for the Chiefs, for the NFL and for everybody’s families. And no, I never thought about opting out, I just wanted to be safe.”

On team chemistry after doing so many virtual meetings and OTA’s this summer

“It’s a good feeling to see everybody there, everybody smiling. Can’t get too close, we were high fiving the air, dabbing the air and stuff like that, just trying to be responsible on that end, but it’s a good feeling getting everybody back in the same building, you know we’re in the stadium spaced out, just have everybody in one building and going through meetings tonight, we have more meetings and just to get it going, to put our foot in the door, it’s an amazing feeling. It feels like it’s been so long, and I’m just ready to get rolling in the safest way possible.”

On Patrick Mahomes being ranked number four in top 100?

“In my eyes, he’s the best player in the league, but I mean I’m not voting. I know Pat, he’s just going to get better and better. This is motivation for him, which not that he really needs more, but he’s definitely the best player in the league in my eyes, and he’s young and he’s just going to keep growing.”

(OT) Mitchell Schwartz

On new additions to the offensive line

“You don’t necessarily get the feel for things until you’re in pads anyways. I’m pretty sure we have as many padded practices as we normally would. They might not all be the same length as they used to be, whether that’s COVID-19 or the new CBA rules. I think we’re going to have a pretty good amount of practice. Honestly, with the older guys, I think that the longer they’ve played, the easier it is to mesh them together. Obviously, KO [Osemele] has had an awesome career and Remmers has too. Those are guys who understand how to play with people and next to people. That’s something that I’m not too worried about. Rankin played great last year. I was really excited to see him keep progressing. It was a bummer, my injury kind of made him get hurt as well because he had to move to right tackle. I hope to see him healthy. I don’t know what exactly his status is going to be, but I know that he played really well last year. I’m excited to keep seeing that growth. We’ve seen offensive lineman get injured every year. It could be one, it could be five. They’ve always had really good depth here, and that’s what’s allowed us to keep having success.”

On what he imagines the feeling is in the other locker rooms when they have to prepare to play Patrick Mahomes that week

“I’d imagine pretty similar. Talk about another guy who knows what to do on the script and also can just freelance off-script. It’s nice having him on our side, that’s for sure. It’s incredible. Obviously, the contract is more than justified. It’s exciting to know that he’s going to be here for forever. Obviously, the Royals ownership stake just cements himself more into the city. There’s a pretty special connection between him and the city. I think that when I first got here, someone said that the last homegrown Chiefs quarterback to win “X” amount of games or win a playoff game had been over 30 years. Kansas City drafted Pat, he’s the guy, he’s homegrown and he’s the best quarterback in the NFL. Hopefully he’s got 15 or 20 years left. It’s going to be really exciting to see. I’ll be long gone by the time he is in his late 30’s but I’ll be rooting him on.”

(S) TYRANN MATHIEU

On making sure that guys don’t get complacent after winning it all last year

“I think it just starts with guys like Patrick (Mahomes), myself, Frank Clark just setting the tempo. I’m extremely motivated. I feel like there’s so much more that we can really achieve on an individual level, on a team level. I feel like defensively, we still aren’t talked about in the breath that I would like, so I’m extremely motivated to kind of keep my guys chipping away at it. We’re constantly trying to set a standard that everybody’s going to respect, so I’m hoping some of the young guys we added and some of the veterans we’ve added can kind of help bring that swagger to the room.”

On expectations for Juan Thornhill who is your running mate now in his return this year?

I would probably say my hope for Juan is obviously that he takes it easy, and he doesn’t put any extra stress on himself. He plays for a good football team, and I think we have the ability to play late into the season. Him being a young guy, I think the most important thing for him is his health. So, as long as he can kind of keep that in front of him, being anxious to play, I think he will make the right decisions. I feel like Rick and his staff are pretty transparent. They’re probably the best in the business when you’re talking about coming back from injuries and whatnot. So, I know he’ll be ready to roll, but obviously you don’t want him to feel like he has to put too much pressure on himself early on.”