Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid
September 5, 2022
OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright I don’t have any injuries to update you on. Blake Bell will go to (injured reserved), we’ll put him down. Haven’t made any decisions on how we replace that going forward but we’ll have that all taken care of this week. At least by the end of it (the week). Other than that, it was good to get the guys back in today. They had three days off, were able to relax and get themselves ready for the grind here. So, we start with Arizona coming up here and we got a chance to work on some things today. They’re off tomorrow and then they’ll be back in for the rest of the week starting on Wednesday. With that, time’s yours.”
Q: You had a couple players, specifically JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling dealing with some injuries last month. How do you anticipate their availability for this week? Do you anticipate them being a full-go at practice?
REID: “Yeah, I do. They’ll be ready to roll going forward here. Everybody went today. Today was a good fast-paced tempo practice.”
Q: You have four running backs on your roster right now, how do you see that work being split up during the regular season?
REID: “You know we’ll just see how it goes for who’s up and who’s down. Some of it depends on special teams and the play there. You know if they’re all up, they’ll have an opportunity to touch the football. If they’re not then whoever is up, there’ll definitely be three of them up, and they’ll touch the football.”
Q: What kind of growth have you seen from Shane Buechele over the last year and where is he on his developmental timeline?
REID: “Sure, he did a nice job in the preseason. He’s working hard at his skill. It takes a little bit of time to get everything down but he’s willing to work at it, so that’s kind of where it stands. He did well enough to make our football team here.”
Q: On what makes Week 1 so unique for your teams?
REID: “Listen, I think everybody can’t wait to see what you are. That’s kind of the way it goes every year. What you’re capable of and you know we’re lucky that we have a good opponent to do that against in Arizona. So, you get an idea of where you’re at when everything is flying fast.”
Q: On having a lot of new faces in the secondary. How do you feel about your secondary going into Arizona?
REID: “Yeah, Jesse (Newell) I like them. I like the speed they play with. I think Juan (Thornhill) has done a good job of kind of helping everybody out back there and managing that from a player’s standpoint back there. But it looks like we’ve got good speed and range and those type of things. There’re going to be some hiccups here and there when you have young guys. That’s what happens, but I think in the long haul we’ll be okay with the guys we got there.”
Q: What is some advice you have for high school coaches who might be just starting out or are young?
REID: “Yeah, Harold (Kuntz), I love high school football because that’s maybe the purest form of that and the little shooters that play. That’s about as pure of form as you’re going to get. And it’s neat to see people enjoying the game. With coaches, I always tell (them), ‘try to stay as organized as you can and as patient as you can.’ Because at that level, a lot of guys are just learning how to play. There’s going to be some hiccups. You don’t want to turn anyone away from the game. You want them to enjoy the game. You might not have the most skills as some other teams, but you can make it a great event for the player and a great experience for them. There’s so much you can learn. You know that, Harold. There’s so much you can learn about life just playing the game and it toughens you up a little bit for things ahead.”
Q: On valuing the two tight end sets. Is there a guy identified yet that can fill Blake Bell’s role? Or are you comfortable splitting time between Jody Fortson and Noah Gray?
REID: “Yeah, so both those two are capable of it. We’ll mix and match people in. Noah (Gray) probably did more of it than what Jody (Fortson) did in that particular spot. But, they’re all going to play. Those are good players. And so, there are some things we can do with them – mixing personnels.”
Q: Given how much was added to the defensive line position during the offseason, what are you expecting to see from that group against Arizona when you know you’re facing a mobile quarterback?
REID: “Yeah, sure. Well, you have to say discipline, obviously. Speed becomes important. He (Kyler Murray) – you’re talking about the quarterback – he’s got speed, so there’s a runner. So keeping them contained I think is important. As you work through it, that discipline becomes a big factor. But you always want the aggressiveness, you want speed, you want that transition between the run and the pass to be aggressive and fundamentally sound.”