Orlando Brown, Karlaftis Talk at Camp

Read what Orlando Brown Jr, George Karlaftis and Tommy Townsend said on Tuesday at Chiefs Training Camp.

DE GEORGE KARLAFTIS

Q: How has training camp been so far based on what you expected?

KARLAFTIS: “It was a hot one today. It’s been really good you know? Getting a lot better each and every day, that’s all I could ask for.”

Q: On relationship with Frank Clark…

KARLAFTIS: “Yeah well, it’s not just Frank (Clark) really. It’s the whole group. They’re trying to take me under their wing. From Frank and Chris (Jones) to Mike (Danna) and Turk (Tershawn Wharton) everybody in the group’s just coming together as one. Obviously, Frank helps me out after every practice and Chris helps me out in their own way and everyone really helps me out in their own way cause we’re trying to have the strongest group possible so we’re trying to bring everyone along.”

Q: On the first few days in pads.

KARLAFTIS: “Absolutely, first day of pads you get all that excitement, you’re amped up, you’re playing real football and all that stuff, but then you also get really fatigued because you’re really not used to it. Now you’re used to it and you’re going and know we’re playing football now.”

Q: How did you get so good at bull rushing?

KARLAFTIS: “I wouldn’t describe it as bull rushing. For me, I’m a power rusher. You see guys around the league, you see the speed guys like a Von Miller, you see the power guys. But if you really look at the game and study the game, you see that over half the guys that sack come from power. So just from that alone, you hear Von Miller talk (he) has 100-something sacks, over 60 of them or 70 of them were from power. So why wouldn’t you just hone in on that? So that’s all that I’ve been working on. My coach my freshman year, Kevin Wolthausen at Purdue, he told me, ‘Speed to power.’ So, I worked that every single day. That was the only move he taught me when I enrolled in spring ball, so I worked that almost every single day. And I base my whole game off of that.”

T ORLANDO BROWN

Q: How did you feel physically out there today?

BROWN: “Yeah, I felt good. I felt good. I was excited to get out there and get some live reps, man. Obviously, I’ve been doing a ton of stuff, training on my own and things like that but it felt good to get out there with the guys.”

Q: What made this the right time to report to camp?

BROWN: “I’ve missed a lot of ball up until this point. Obviously, I missed the locker room, I missed the coaches and everyone here in the building. I know how important this five-day stretch is to (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid and everyone here in KC. It just didn’t feel right sitting at home and missing out on this. This is something that I want to be a part of. I was brought here to win Super Bowls and this week is very important to our progression.”

Q: What was it like missing out on all the OTA’s and minicamps back in the spring?

BROWN: “It’s always hard. Like I said, I pride myself on being a leader and I pride myself on being someone that wants to be here for his teammates. Showing up every day and bringing the most positive energy that I can bring to the locker room and on the field. It was difficult to be away from it for so long, but the understanding was that I had to do what I had to do.”

Q: What were your emotions as you approached the deadline, and you find out that you’re not going to sign a deal?

BROWN: “I don’t want to get too detailed on that but very emotional. I’ve spoken to pretty much a lot of people here in the front office and (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid and everyone understands. I love ball, I love blocking for Pat Mahomes, I love putting the Chiefs logo on my helmet and I really enjoy being here. I know that time will tell, and things will get taken care of with time.”

P TOMMY TOWNSEND

Q: On mental preparation.

TOWNSEND: “Yeah definitely, that’s something I’m always aiming and working towards. I’m really ramping up I guess you could call (it) my mental practice and working on the mental side right now. (I’m) getting ready for the preseason and I’m excited to get into preseason and knock the cobwebs off and get back into games.”

Q: Talking about the mental side, what about the physical side? Did you work on anything specific physically this offseason?

TOWNSEND: “Yeah definitely. There’s something I’m working on right now, too, just something with my leg swing. Just working on pulling it straight through. Yeah, just helping my leg get to the ball a little bit quicker. As you know Kansas City, it’s not easy with the wind, it’s one of the windiest places in the NFL so you’ve got to have a very short period of time between when you’re releasing the ball and contact. So right now, I’m just working on bringing my leg a little bit quicker through and hitting the ball just to try to eliminate that wind as much as possible”

Q: On the new faces and chemistry with special teams.

TOWNSEND: “Yeah, I feel like there’s always a learning curve when you’ve got new guys coming in, but we’ve got a lot of talent and I’m really excited to watch these new guys work. I was super excited to get Chris Lammons. James (Winchester) and Chris have been great staples on special teams, but we’ve got a lot of new guys’ talent that I’m really excited to see and a lot of dogs on special teams so, yeah, I can’t wait to get into preseason and watch these guys work.”