OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, as far as the injuries go, Joe Thuney reinjured that ankle. We’ll just have to see where it goes from here though – MRI it and do all that. Skyy Moore got a laceration on his hand – right on the inside of his hand. We’ll have to take care of that too. We’ll just see how he does here in the next couple of days. As far as the game goes, I thought it was a good game. It was up and down a bit. There were some lulls offensively. I thought the defense did a nice job throughout. Special teams for the most part, with the exception of the field goal that got blocked there – it got tipped. Things were working pretty good there, too, on special teams. As far as individual things, the offense ended up giving up the 14, really the 14 points with the turnovers as far as the fumble punt return, then the pick, but they came back and made some decent plays there to score. It seemed like we were moving up and down the field, and then something would happen there for a bit. But, (we) ended up four-for-five in the redzone. Defensively, (L’Jarius) Sneed’s play was a big play for us. I think he was completely exhausted after that, but he did a nice job there. I thought our defensive line was relentless. They got themselves around (Broncos QB) Russell (Wilson). Russell’s still a good football player. And I know things haven’t gone quite the way he wanted them to, but he (can) still play and they’re working through all that. I thought Pat (Mahomes) – he ended up 28-for-41, still over 100.0 passer rating and 322 yards. There were some plays that he definitely would like to have back, but that’s how picky we are. Right? You start nitpicking these things – as he does, but that’s what great players do. (Jerick) McKinnon, again, continues to play well. I just thought overall, I like the team win. We have stuff that we need to work on. I’m not oblivious to when you bring in a new coach, the energy of the team that you’re going to play against (is different). There’s quite a record there – 15-10 – with coaches in that position, so it’s a tribute to them and doing what their doing. They played hard and aggressive football. I love their Interim Head Coach (Jerry Rosburg) – he does a great job. He’s been a great coach in this league for a long time. I have a ton of respect for him. So anyways, with that time’s yours.”
Q: Where do you draw the line with Patrick Mahomes in him trying to make a play and preserving field goal position?
REID: “Yeah so, he’s going to try those things. That’s going to happen sometimes. You don’t want to take that away, you just – he knows better than anybody that it’s got to be a better decision than that one. But, there’s certain things you don’t take away from quarterbacks that you go with. You keep working to get better is what you try to do so things like that don’t happen.”
Q: It looked like Mahomes’ mechanics were off in the second half. Did you think he was having any trouble with his knee after he limped off the field?
REID: “No, I thought initially he might, but it didn’t seem to bother him I don’t think. He seems to be good now.”
Q: On a day like today, the numbers were pretty skewed to the pass game. How come you guys didn’t run more?
REID: “Yeah so, they actually were playing a run defense, so it gave us an opportunity to throw the ball a little bit and that’s how we were moving up and down the field as quickly as we were.”
Q: Did you notice anything with Mahomes early in the third quarter?
REID: “No, I didn’t think it was the leg. No, I didn’t. It was just a matter of getting back into rhythm and that he got into rhythm and took off and did great.”
Q: After being a part of so many postseason runs, how important do you think finding that rhythm before playoffs is? How important is it to be in your best rhythm now?
REID: “Well, you’d like to be in rhythm. I’m not overly concerned about it. I think we’ll – when that time comes, we got to do it. We’ll be there ready to go. So, I think you have to respect what the guys are doing right now. And when you guys (evaluate) – you guys evaluate everything – so you evaluate who we’re playing and we’re going about our business against these teams and winning games. And so, you got to look at that kind of close.”
Q: Your team has had very close games against all AFC West opponents this season, but you find a way to win. Is there something you can pinpoint about your group that gets those things done?
REID: “Yeah, when you look at it, it’s – and I know I’m summing it up – but it seems when the other team scores, we go score. So we start scoring and then when they score, we score. But we got to stay more consistent with it, obviously. We can’t have the mistakes once you get into the playoffs.”
Q: What more can you do with the special teams situation in regard to the holding mishap and the fumbled punt today?
REID: “Yeah so, it’s a good lesson for (Kadarius) Toney. He doesn’t have a lot of experience at doing this, but you keep that ball in the other hand – keep it on the outside. And so, it’s great for him to learn that. Listen, we’re blessed to have him. He came right back and made a huge play for us. And he’s a good football player. So, we’ll get that all worked out. But he just needs time, experience doing it.”
Q: What happened on the hold?
REID: “Yeah, well the hold was – the one that we dropped are you saying? Yeah, it ended up being not so good.”
Q: Jerick McKinnon has had seven receiving touchdowns in the last five games. What’s gone into him becoming such a redzone target for you guys?
REID: “Yeah, well he’s always had that. He’s so patient. I mentioned to our guys that he’s a quarterback – a legitimate quarterback in college – so he kind of knows how the game works as a whole, and he’s patient with that. So, I think that helps him in the run game knowing how gaps are set up, knowing how secondaries fill in for the run. And again, he just can catch the ball on top of all that. (He’s a) good runner (and a) good catcher.”
Q: Do you have plans to watch tomorrow’s game with the Bengals and the Bills going against each other?
REID: “Yeah, we’ll watch it and just see.”
Q: Will you watch it live?
REID: “Yeah, we’ll see how it goes. We’ll be in and out of (meetings). What we’ve done is we have to take it as if we’re playing on Saturday. That’s how you have to go about it. So our coaches were working today and yesterday – this morning and yesterday – finishing up the run game and some of the pass game stuff. And so, we’ll get tomorrow to add a little bit to it and then we’re right into it. So, we’re treating it like (it’s a Saturday game) which is the only way you can do it. If they sprawl a Saturday on us, we have to be ready to roll.”