Chiefs Quotes from Wednesday

Chiefs Quotes from Wednesday

Read quotes from head coach Andy Reid, Willie Gay, Justin Watson and Tershawn Wharton on Wednesday at Chiefs Training Camp.

OPENING STATEMENT: “So really Skyy (Moore) was the only one that was a question mark for today, but he practiced so we had everybody out there that we expected to be out there. Again, good work. We had to go inside, (we) had a little weather today with the lightening. But I thought the guys handled it well. It was a redzone day today and we got a lot of work done there. A lot of good competition between ones against ones, twos versus twos and threes versus threes. It was great competition all the way around. With that, the time is yours.”

Q: How much does that alter your plans when you’re indoors like that?

REID: “We didn’t really have to change much. It’s a little bit more compact so the individual stuff, trying to get all of that done is a little different. We’ve got it down to where we can still get some good work in.”

Q: The fish is in the boat now; you’ve got Orlando Brown here at camp. How’s he looked over the last couple of days?

REID: “That’s a big fish. He looks good. I know he’s been working hard down in Miami, and I mentioned that earlier. So, kind of keeping tabs on that as he’s going. It looks like he’s in good shape. We’re ramping him up, so we’re trying to be smart with that the best that we can and get him the work that he needs. But he’s handled it very well. Good to have him back.”

Q: What do you want to see most when you do the one on ones between linebackers and safeties, and running backs and tight ends blocking and doing some of the releases out of the backfield?

REID: “The blocking part is one on one blocking. We give them some parameters that they’ve got to work within to get it done but it’s great for the rushers, the defense, and it’s great for the backs and tight ends to work their angles as they work into that block. And then their fundamentals, it’s productive. Then we jump in and we do one on one pass from there and again, give them parameters to work in. On a clock so we’re not just going to hang onto the ball all day until they get open. They’ve got to do it within a time. Again, that’s good for both sides. Defense working angles on that and offense trying to set things up according to the route that’s called.”

Q: Are you expecting Carlos Dunlap out at practice tomorrow?

REID: “I’ll talk to him first. We’ll get a plan together for him to get started here.”

Q: Do you feel like his plan will be similar to what you’ve been doing with Orlando (Brown)?

REID: “So I’ll tell you, he actually works out at the same place that Orlando (Brown) does so I know he’s in pretty good shape. He is a little bit older, so I always keep that in the back of my mind. Just like I do with (Travis) Kelce and some of the older guys, we don’t have a whole lot of them right now. The older ones, I always keep that in mind and make sure that I am very aware of the reps that go on.”

Q: How has the process been figuring out what you have in these young corners?

REID: “Spags (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) he knows the position like the back of his hand. He’s coached that, and then (Defensive Backs Coach) David (Dave Merritt) has been doing it a long time and then (Safeties Coach) Donald (D’Alesio) is worked into that, he played safety, so he works in there a bit. David is working with those corners and spent a lot of time with them as Spags is. You can see he’s got talent there; the kids are willing to work, and I think doing a nice job competing.”

Q: On Isiah Pacheco.

REID: “Yeah he’s got a little juice, he’s got good speed, toughness, all of that. Look forward to getting him into a game and see how he does there. He’s working hard on picking everything up and doing a nice job there.”

Q: The defense made a lot of moves to get younger. What do you see there?

REID: “The draft picks that (General Manager) Brett Veach brought in here I think are doing a nice job. Some of the free agent kids are showing up too. We’ve just got to keep going; it’s early yet. But I love the way they’re working. They powered through these last three days with the heat and the length of the practices increasing every day. So, I’ve appreciated that work ethic they have brought here and bought into what we’re doing so that’s important.”

Q: Growing up a Dodger fan what are your thoughts with Vin Scully’s passing?

REID: “Yeah Vin Scully, great guy, fellow redhead. You hate seeing that but what a great career he had. I mean you watch his career kind of ramp down to he was doing like three innings as old as he was there. And still that voice, you know it was, that’s part of the childhood right there. I grew up right below the stadium and Vin Scully was there from the get-go.”

Q: (Assistant Head Coach/Special teams Coordinator) Coach Dave Toub told us Justin Watson has looked good on special teams. What have you seen from him on offense?

REID: “He’s done a nice job, big target, big kid, tall, fast, smart, Penn grad, right, so he’s got capacity there. He’s taking everything in and working hard. Again, it’s just working in the offense. More and more and more the reps he gets are so important. He’s working in with the ones. The quarterback, he trusts him which is a plus. But it’s just a matter of more, let’s keep going back-to-back these practices. That really goes for all the guys. The up and downs aren’t so good, got to keep building on them. He’s been working really hard at that, and he’s done a nice job at that so far.”

Q: What are you seeing form Josh Gordon with more competition at that position?

REID: “Josh has got a great attitude and he’s working hard. Yeah, there’s competition, I mean they are all competing. One day he’s working with the one’s, the next day with the twos, threes. Trying to get him as many reps a week (and) can still look at the other guys too. It’s a little bit of a juggling act but he’s doing a nice job. Working very hard.”

Q: Is there optimism that Rashad Fenton will be back before the season starts?

REID: “He’s another one who’s working hard. We’ll just see how this thing goes. I can’t give you an exact date, but he is progressing and he’s been working extremely hard.”

Chiefs Players Quotes

August 3, 2022

LB WILLIE GAY

Q: You seem pretty energetic at practice, has that always been your personality or is that heading into year three excitement?

GAY: “Yeah, that but I’ve been like that since I’ve started playing football. Once again, they call me the ‘juice man’ for a reason. That’s what I try to do every day is bring the energy, bring the juice and there’s nothing that I do because people look at me it’s just, I have fun doing it and just being out there so it’s just part of who I am.”

Q: On his leadership role this season.

GAY: “Oh yeah, I definitely feel like my role has increased. Like you say, those who got big parts of this defense, of this team, so now I feel like me and Nick Bolt (Bolton), we have bigger roles to fill and to lead this defense, to lead this team on the defensive side and just do what we need to do to make sure we’re in position to lead.”

Q: You talk about your confidence going up this year, the guy next to you Nick Bolton it seems like his confidence is up there as well what have you seen from him?

GAY: “Oh, he runs the show, man. Since he got here last year and my second year, we both were learning. He just took off ever since and hasn’t looked back and so we both (are) just trying to take things to the next level.”

WR JUSTIN WATSON

Q: What made Kansas City the place for you?

WATSON: “Yeah, it was a challenging decision. As you said, there’s always been history of great receivers here and as a free agent in my position, you want to go somewhere where there’s a history of receivers but there’s also a spot for you on the team. It was really our GM (Brett) Veach. (He) spoke to my agent and just gave him a lot of confidence that if (I came) here (you’ll get) a chance. And that’s all I wanted, just to have a chance here. I’m grateful that the coaching staff has given me that here so far.”

Q: On Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub’s remarks about his contributions on special teams thus far and if special teams was a deciding factor on coming to Kansas City.

WATSON: “Oh, absolutely. You never want to play Kansas City when you’re playing special teams. This is always a premiere unit. To play for (Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator) Coach (Dave) Toub and (the Chiefs place) such an emphasis. The assistant head coach is our special teams coordinator. You can feel that it’s important, it doesn’t even need to be said. You can just tell by how much we put into it and the effort we put into it. I love that. It’s always been something that’s been important to me. You can feel it with a lot of the other guys. It’s cool after practice, we already see a lot of guys working with each other, competing knowing that those last couple of spots on the roster are going to come down to special teams.”

Q: What was the rapport building like down in Texas with Patrick Mahomes during your first meeting?

WATSON: “Pat’s been awesome to me. I signed as a Future’s contract and (for him) to reach out to me and invite me in the offseason before we ever met to come down there and work meant a big deal. It definitely just showed me he wanted to get to know who I was and wanted to see what I had to do. Those first couple of weeks were fun when we were just going through meetings virtually and we were hanging out, working out. He has a great setup down there in Texas. We went back after OTAs and hopefully that can be a thing going forward.”

Q: What was your biggest takeaway from Buccaneers QB Tom Brady to transitioning to (Patrick) Mahomes?

WATSON: “I learned a lot of lessons from Tom (Brady). But, every single rep mattered so much. It didn’t matter if we were working on the field in the offseason or if it was training camp or in the game, that same focus and attention to detail carried over to every single one. So, working with Pat, you see so many of the same characteristics. It’s no surprise that two great quarterbacks are so similar in many ways. His competitiveness and mentality (are great). And it’s cool seeing Pat continue to grow, continue to make new throws, hearing him talk through the offense. He’s a great leader. I’m really thankful to be playing with a quarterback like Pat.”

DT TERSHAWN WHARTON

Q: How are you being utilized with the new Defensive Line Coach Joe Cullen?

WHARTON: “I think Coach (Joe) Cullen wants me to use my speed, letting me get up field. (We’re) watching Chris (Jones) a lot so he wants us to go. (It’s) kind of making me play faster than more of a read and react.”

Q: On preparation heading into his third season.

WHARTON: “Definitely. You know as far as being a pass rusher, I worked a lot on getting my hands faster, boxing and things of that nature just to get them up. Talking to Chris and Frank (Clark), they were telling me something they do in the offseason and that was one thing that Chris told me he did and Chris (has) good hands, so I just did that and stuck to it.”

Q: How impressed have you been with the offensive line?

WHARTON: “I think they, those inside guys, (Joe) Thuney, Trey (Smith) and Creed (Humphrey), those guys give you good looks. Some top guys in the league and they’re going to go all out every day. They’re not coming in just to get through practice, they come in to work. As far as my rookie year, there’s definitely a leap but the guys who were in my rookie year still give us good work, (Nick) Allegretti, all those guys still come in and work.”

Q: What do you like about Trey Smith’s game as you go against him in one on ones and throughout camp?

WHARTON: “Trey, there’s just been something since his rookie year. In the locker room we’re talking like, ‘Oh yeah, you got me today but tomorrow we’re coming back at it.’ It’s just a friendly competition but we know we’re going to get each other better every day.”