Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy
August 17, 2022
OPENING STATEMENT: “Good afternoon, hope all is well with everybody. Obviously one of our last padded days of practice. I thought our guys have been doing a great job of working their tails off. The fun part about this entire camp, it’s been fun watching us grow together. That’s the challenge that’s been a heck of a start, so now we just need to continue building on it. With that said, I’m all ears.”
Q: On Isiah Pacheco.
BIENIEMY: “He’s a very confident young man. Now you’re talking about a kid that plays hard. (Isiah) Pacheco plays hard. The thing I need Pacheco to do, and first of all, he’s doing a great job, he has tremendous work ethics. As a young back, this is probably one of the toughest things that they need to learn, is allowing the game to come to him, learning how to be a patient runner, ok? Understand exactly what’s going on up front so now he can have a better feel on how to spread his shoulders up, press it and then read it out from there. But as far as work ethics, (he) works hard. As far as a tough runner who will try and find four and a half yards? Checks that box. And then on top of that he does a great job in the pass game where he’s catching it and he’s still learning to perfect his craft in pass pro. And it (isn’t) so much with his attitude and blocking it’s just making sure he knows exactly who to pick up and that takes a little while for a young guy.”
Q: How capable is Justin Watson in the wide receiver role?
BIENIEMY: “Well I’ll say this about Mr. (Justin) Watson… a consistent player. And the thing about it, everyday he goes out there he’s working to improve upon something and everyday he’s found a way to make a play, so (I’m) very pleased and satisfied with what we’ve seen so far, but he knows that he needs to continue working and continue improving on the little things.”
Q: Have you seen Head Coach Andy Reid change in some ways over the years?
BIENIEMY: (laughter) “I laugh because, and I say this humbly and respectfully… no. He’s still the same person that I have always known. He’s very consistent with how he treats people. I joked about it on, I forget the name of the show that we did, that’s a shame. I talked about how he likes to eat and all that. One thing, as a staff we aren’t going to waste no groceries. (Head) Coach (Andy Reid) still has a great sense of humor but on top of that, he’s very detailed, he’s very organized and he has a plan, and so has he changed? No, the only thing he’s done, he’s aged and gotten better.”
Q: Does getting better mean he’s evolved in some ways too?
BIENIEMY: “Yes, I mean just take a look at the offense and what he did in Philly in comparison to what we’ve done since we’ve been here collectively as a group since the 2013 season. So, one thing I know about Coach, and he’s said this, I’ll never forget this in 1999, ‘You either evolve or you die out like a dinosaur’ (laughter) so you have to remain flexible in what you do in this profession because we all have to grow and we just can’t get stuck on ideas thinking that’s the best idea. We’ve got to always work to improve.”
Chiefs Players Quotes
August 17, 2022
K HARRISON BUTKER
Q: On things he’s been working on during the offseason and in camp.
BUTKER: “There’s some technique changes I made really early on after the season that I think has contributed to more power. I feel like I’m a more efficient kicker. I’ve always swung really hard, but the ball hasn’t necessarily gone as far as I feel it should for a guy who’s 6’4” (and) I think (is) relatively explosive. I think (for) kickoffs my leg power shows, but on field goals, I’ve just changed some technique stuff. So, I’m even more efficient. I think the ball is going as far as it ever has now for field goals.”
Q: Do you feel like you’ve increased your range with field goals?
BUTKER: “Oh yeah, definitely. I feel like I’m hitting 63 yards into the wind. When wind’s at my back, we’ve gone to 70, 72. In that Chicago game we made 68 and 74 was a little short. But, I feel like I’ve got a lot of distance now and that will hopefully come up this season.”
Q: Can you walk us through those slight alterations in your technique? And what made you feel like it was necessary in this stage of your career?
BUTKER: “So, some of the top guys – let’s just say Justin Tucker. If you watch some of his film, his ball rotation, you see the laces are pretty much in the middle the entire time. If you watch me or some other, maybe, inefficient kickers, if you’re looking at the ball rotation, the laces are way left (or) way right, the ball’s not going completely end-over-end. So, as I put the same amount of energy into a kick and the ball’s going end-over-end versus the same amount of energy into another kick where I maybe have my toe forward, it’s not a completely flush kick. I want my foot to be perpendicular with the ball. If it’s not perpendicular with the ball, the ball’s not going to be going end-over-end. And so, it’s just not going to go as far, right? So that’s what I mean as far as being efficient. One way you achieve that is having your foot perpendicular to the ball and then after contact, is your foot following the ball? And I think I have an issue of my foot makes contact with the ball and then very early on, my foot’s going off left. So, I’m losing all this energy where as now, I feel like my foot is following the ball for a lot longer, I’m getting (a) nice rotation, I’m getting more energy behind the kick.”
Q: On Justin Reid campaigning to be his backup. And how efficient was Reid when you watched him this past weekend?
BUTKER: “It’s crazy because he’s actually not very efficient (laughter), but the ball goes so far (laughter). You know what I’m saying? It was probably Phase Two (and) he got a kick in the indoor, he told me, ‘I love the specialists. I kicked a lot with Ka’imi (Fairbairn) with the Texans.’ And I think I had seen some videos of him kicking, but in the indoor, he was just bombing balls with a ton of height, so I knew he had a big leg. I just thought he just wanted to kick some footballs and he just naturally has the technique, come to find out he played travel soccer all throughout high school, so he got that rhythm and technique from a young age. But he’s got a big leg and I think it’s just fine tuning it. If I was him, I would take advantage of Tommy (Townsend) and me and learn as much as he can from us because he made an extra point when the pressure was on in (the) preseason. I’m all for it. I’m all for evolving the game of kicking and pushing the limits, so to have more people that are enthusiastic about being kickers, I’m all for it.”
CB L’JARIUS SNEED
Q: What do you see in the rookie cornerbacks?
SNEED: “I see they’re holding man. They want to be successful. I call Trent (McDuffie) like the lil’ Steph (Stephen) Curry, he’s a little swift little guy. He does it all from the inside, from the outside. I see all of them got potential.”
Q: How much would you say you have grown from your rookie year?
SNEED: “I’ve grown a lot. I could tell, it’s my year three, I feel like an old guy. These young guys coming in, I feel like I’m the veteran of the crew (cornerbacks), but I feel like I’ve learned a lot from the time being, from now. From the inside, I’ve learned a lot from the outside with my technique.”
Q: Is nickel a role you embrace?
SNEED: “Whatever I can do for the team, I am a team guy. Whatever I can do for the team to help the team.”
Q: What have you learned from Joshua Williams and what has he taken from you?
SNEED: “I try to steal some things from him as in using his hands. He’s very good with his hands, he’s very patient at the line. I learn from him as a rookie. I’m still learning myself.”
CB JOSHUA WILLIAMS
Q: Are you ready for this camp to be over?
WILLIAMS: “(Laughs) Nah, I wouldn’t say that I am ready for it to be over. It’s been a lot of good experiences. But you know, at a certain point we want to move on to the season and start playing some games!”
Q: How does it feel for you to get that first game under your belt? Do you feel like you got out some of those jitters?
WILLIAMS: “Absolutely, absolutely. Finally getting that under my belt and some of that real game-time experience. That was the main thing. Just making sure that I can learn from it, take something from it and just apply it to next game.”
Q: What do you want to apply to this next game?
WILLIAMS: “Same things. Anything that I could have ‘bettered’ or improved upon. That’s what I want to continue to do. Each one of these preseason games and into the regular season. So, sticking with my man, (and) knowing my assignments. Just the simple things. Nothing too crazy.”
Q: What did that first game teach you?
WILLIAMS: “The first thing that would probably stand out, just coming from college to the NFL, (is) the pace. Just the little intricacies of the game, you know. Kinda the breaks between, knowing the pace of the offense and kind of what they are looking to attack and when they are trying to