Read what Andy Reid said at Chiefs Training Camp on Wednesday, July 27.
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright as far as injuries go (Rashad) Fenton, Lucas Niang and Prince (Tega Wanogho) all were put on PUP. Clyde (Edwards-Helaire) was put on PUP until he finished his testing, but he practiced today so we just took him off. Frank Clark was ill. (He) came back down to practice; he had a test he had to do came back, knocked that out. Other than that, it was good to get everybody back out there. (It) looks like we’re in good shape. We got a good little foundation going there, and we’ll keep building on that. I like the competition between the offense and defense, offense won a few, defense won a few. But they were competing. Like I said it’s the first day, so we’ll keep rolling. I was happy with the attitude and the work they put in.”
Q: You put Cortez Broughton on the PUP list as well what is his issue?
REID: “I’ll get you that.”
Q: What is Roderick Johnson showing you as he steps in on the line at least for today?
REID: “I thought he was productive in the offseason so coming in we thought he could help out, so we’ll just see how it rolls.”
Q: Is there a guy that’s going to be at left tackle or are you going to keep rotating?
REID: “We’re going to keep rotating, keep rotating them in. Nothing is solidified there.”
Q: You talked about Joe Thuney, are we going to see him at left tackle anytime soon?
REID: “Probably not right now.”
Q: With the work they got together last year what are you hoping to see, or questions you’re hoping to get answered with the offensive line and skill players in camp and in the preseason?
REID: “The offensive line, I like what we got. I thought the guys did a nice job of growing together last year so just keep adding to that. As far as the skill guys go, the more reps they get the better, so we’ll just keep working. It looked like they haven’t fallen off from the OTAs, but things are always faster here and they will be faster in the preseason games and once again the season will be faster. I liked what I saw. We’re going to keep rolling people in both sides of the ball rolling people in, making sure we get the right group to be in position to be our starters.”
Q: Do you try to limit the reps at all for the skill players? How much can you drill the team in shorts without pads?
REID: “We’ll try to keep it fast out here. We get plenty of reps. I think when it’s all said and done between the preseason games and the practicing out here, we’ll have plenty of reps.”
Q: Specifically with Patrick Mahomes and JuJu Smith-Schuster how have you seen that connection grow over the offseason work?
REID: “Yeah, there’s a trust there. This isn’t JuJu’s (Smith-Schuster) first rodeo. We like what we saw before he was banged up a little bit before had to pull in the OTAs but he’s back now, he’s healthy and it was good work today. We’ll just keep building on it, first day.”
Q: What does Orlando (Brown) miss by not being out here?
REID: “Yeah, it’s kind of the new stuff. He knows the old stuff. And then the reps, the speed of the game and that. But listen it’s all part of the business.”
Q: What are your first impressions of Joshua Williams out here?
REID: “I like what I see. I just want to keep building on it, the more at that position the better. So, if we can get quality play out of guys, that’s what you’re looking at. It’s the first day, I want to see more.”
Q: With the young core of defensive players is there anything you anticipate or want to see in this first week that you have told them?
REID: “I told them, don’t count the numbers on the lines. (General Manager) Brett (Veach) has done a nice job of bringing a lot of people in here that are good players so don’t get caught up in that. Just go play and then we’ll make the decision, make it as hard as you can on us. So if you have the opportunity to make a play or make a rep, take advantage of that, and that’s kind of where we’re at today. We’ve got guys, there might be some guys that are working with the twos and threes that end up playing for us and end up making the team.”
Q: Patrick Mahomes had some of the guys down there in Texas during the offseason, what benefits are you seeing out there from that?
REID: “Well it was unique from the fact that we have new guys just to get to know each other spend as much time as you can. I mean they went and rented homes down there and they ate dinner, they ate lunch, they practiced, they did all that. I thought that was important. Now whether you do that next year I can’t tell you that, but for this year, I thought that was important.”
Q: Is it that cooperative energy that makes you like camp? It seems like that helps.
REID: “Yeah, it’s true. And that’s why I do like going away for camp. I think there’s some benefit to that.”
Q: What value does it bring having the fans here at camp?
REID: “It’s unbelievable. I talked to the guys about that I said ‘listen this isn’t going to be like OTAs where you just have the media. This is going to be our fans and they’re crazy, so they love to support you, enjoy that part.’ It’s good for the guys having a little of that, it gets the juices going.”
Q: With the rookies like Trent McDuffie and Joshua Williams, is one of the things you look for their willingness to go out there and compete?
REID: “Yeah, I thought the young secondary players, I thought they did a nice job today. They got in there, they competed. I like that. And then the catches that were made, they were contested, you had bodies close to bodies. And I didn’t see the officials throwing a ton of flags which was good. They are working their fundamentals too out here, so they got the freedom to throw the flag if there’s a problem. Once we got into the team part of it, it was pretty clean play.”
Q: Jody Fortson is a guy that was out last year, seems like he is doing well. What do you think?
REID: “Yeah good to have him back. So, he’s somebody with the quarterback’s trust. He plays hard, aggressive every play. I’m happy for him because he has worked so hard to put himself in the position he put himself in last year; now he’s got another go at it. I thought he was just coming on last year. I expect him to pick it up and go from there.”
Q: You’ve been a coach in the NFL a long time, what keeps you motivated, what kind of challenges are out there for you?
REID: “Yeah listen I enjoy what I am doing. I respect the fact that I’m one out of 32 guys in the whole world that has an opportunity to do this, and I know I’m not getting any younger, so I have less days ahead of me than I have behind me so I’m going to take advantage of every one of those days. With these guys out here, we got good kids out here that are good players and good coaches and all that. The only thing I wish could happen; I wish we didn’t have to do this.”
Q: A big topic right now is the Deshaun Watson situation. Have you heard anything from the league as far as what he might face?
REID: “No, I haven’t heard anything.”