On the injuries and the game overall
“The only injury really is [LB] Willie Gay. The rest of the guys will be sore. Willie has a tailbone issue we’ve just got to check it out and see if he’s all right or not. Five turnovers—that’s the obvious, three in the red zone. Seventeen points we gave them really off the turnovers, great field position. I take full responsibility for it. The guys saw things that I, this afternoon, that I haven’t seen before from the guys, so that’s my responsibility to make sure they’re right, and we weren’t ready today.”
On what he hasn’t seen before
“I haven’t seen five turnovers. I saw people that were involved with that, [but] I haven’t really been involved in those type of things.”
On QB Patrick Mahomes’ health
“He’s OK; he was sick. He’s not going to use that as an excuse, and he wasn’t feeling well but he was able to do some good things out there.”
On if there was any consideration that QB Patrick Mahomes wouldn’t play
“No.”
On if anything else besides the turnovers showed that QB Patrick Mahomes was off
“No, there wasn’t. You miss off an inch in this league and it’s a mile, it kills you so you can’t be off, not like this.”
On WR Mecole Hardman’s mistakes
“We all had pieces.”
On how the Broncos defended better in the redzone
“They did better. We didn’t execute the way we need to. I have to go back and look at the things that I called that were not very good.”
On the feeling of losing this type of game
“These things happen. You’ve got to work it out and take it to heart and try and move on.”
On the defensive line’s mistakes
“It wasn’t even a player, so however I answer that doesn’t come out right, but I would say that was a problem.”
On Denver’s defense
“It was basically the same stuff they’ve shown. They did a nice job though. They did a better job than we did.”
On QB Patrick Mahomes’ hand
“He scratched that thing up pretty good.”
CHIEFS QUARTERBACK PATRICK MAHOMES
On when he started to feel sick
“I started feeling bad last night. I got up pretty well in the morning, so just kind of trying to do whatever I can to go out there and play my best football.
On if he had any thought of not playing today
“No.”
On the offense
“It wasn’t good enough. Obviously, the turnovers but just the execution in general. They did a good job against us with their defense, but we’ve got to execute at a high enough level, and we clearly haven’t done in the two games played against them.
On his hand injury
“I don’t know exactly. From what it looks like, it got stepped on. I didn’t notice it until I started walking to the sideline after the fourth-down play.”
On how he was feeling ill
“Stomach stuff. It is what it is.”
On his play with T Donovan Smith
“We were just trying to make something happen and obviously we weren’t in the right situation as far as the score. Then the down and distance, just trying to make something happen back there. Obviously got caught trying too many times. The offensive line was trying to try to do whatever they can to give me time and obviously, I’ve got to try to find a way to maneuver myself out of the pocket to get a throw downfield.”
On the offensive line and redzone trouble against Denver
“We weren’t down there too much today. The two times we were, we just got a couple third downs that were manageable, and we just didn’t execute. That eventually was the theory the entire day and the last time we played them.”
On if he thought they Broncos did anything differently
“They did pretty much the same as they did last time they played us. It worked once and they ran again and obviously it worked again.”
On if the defense was covering TE Travis Kelce more than usual
“It was similar zone-type coverages. They did a good job of not letting out the easy ones at the line of scrimmage. At the end of the day, you’ve got to execute at a higher level. I’ve got to be better and the offense has to be better.”
On what he tells the young players who have dropped the ball
“They’re going to know that I’m going to keep firing to them, that’s just who I am. I’m going to keep firing to open guys, let them make plays and I trust those guys. We’ve got to continue to get better and better because as the season goes on, we continue to play good teams. Even better teams probably as the season ends. Some of our biggest rivals I guess you would say, so we’ve got to be better. Those little things, not just drops but just little things that add up and the Broncos did a great job of making us be patient. Like I said, they had a great game plan and executed it and we didn’t execute and score any points.”
On how successful he has been at Empower Field and seeing the Broncos’ reaction to the win
“Obviously I felt the worst I’ve felt walking out of the stadium. It’s a great environment, I actually had a lot a lot of fun playing here. The fans are awesome. They enjoy the game and know the game, but it just kind of is what it is. They beat us, they were a better football team today and I give them their props.”
On losing a road game against an AFC team
“It kind of is what it is. It’s going to happen at some point. We try to do whatever we can to bounce back because that’s all you can do. You’ve got to learn from the mistakes you made this game. I’m trying to be better going into Germany this next week and kind of getting the momentum back in our favor. Obviously, today, it wasn’t our day, but we can continue to get better and better.”
On what he is going to focus on the next couple of days
“You go back and watch tape knowing that team are going to replicate it and there’s different versions of it and try to find answers to that. That’s the biggest thing. Obviously, we’ve seen two out of out last three weeks, the Broncos be able to stifle our offense, if that’s the right word. Just come get after us as far as making us execute all the way on the field. I’m sure other teams in the league are going to watch that and we have to prove that we have answers for that. That will be something that I’ll go back to the film and really try to pay attention to.”
On if he felt out of sync
“We just didn’t play good enough. I would have had enough energy for the offense, but we didn’t hit our shots when they were there and then when they were there, we didn’t execute it there. It was just a bad day for us but like I said, all props to them (the Broncos). They played their tail off and they deserved the win today.”
On how he makes sure this isn’t a domino effect
“It won’t be.”
CHIEFS WIDE RECEIVER MECOLE HARDMAN
On the muffed punt return in the fourth quarter
“I got greedy; I got selfish. Trying to make a play down there. Should have been a fair catch or let the ball bounce. That’s [a] problem, like the reason that we probably lost the game. I just let that thing go or fair catch it and secure the catch. I believe we were still down eight—five. So that’s probably the one [play] that cost the game for us. I’ll probably take responsibility for that one. I definitely take responsibility actually for losing that game. Because you never know,[I] let that ball go, I catch it at the five-[yard-line] or wherever it was, and we go down to score and that’s it. So I’ve just got to be more smart.”
On trying to make a play
“Just being aggressive. Things weren’t going on. No energy, no spark. Just trying to find our rhythm, just trying to be the guy to give us some energy or spark right there. But I just got to know where I’m at on the field. Ball was slick, dropped it straight through my hands. Just got to be better. So I take responsibility again, right there. That one is on me. I’ve got to make sure I’m better next week.”
On it being a day of missed opportunities
“We missed our opportunities. (Not) staying on the field, I mean getting off the field on third down. We’ve got a lot to look at the film and see what we could be better at but you’ve got to take advantage of (the) opportunities that we get and just go from there.”
On what stands out after that game
“It was a hard-fought game. Gotta give credit to them, they had a good gameplan for us. Those guys fought hard. I’ve been on that side of the football before. Been through what they are going through. They came in, they fought hard and had a game plan for us. They made plays when they needed to and we fell short on our end.”
On keeping teammates focused
“We don’t try to change too much, that’s the game. They start calling you to play maybe a little bit differently. But you don’t want to change your style of play too much (to) where you’re not the guy and you aren’t confident out there. This is a team, we know each other’s personnel well, and they came in with something to prove after our first game. Good job by them.”
On the blocked field goal
“We come out of half. Still 14-9 at this point. They came down in field goal range. It felt like we just needed a spark. Just wanted to bring a spark and get some momentum going so we change the type of game. Earlier, the first extra point that they kicked; I didn’t rush. I paid attention to their snapper and what their snap count looked like. So I was going to save that in my back pocket for a good time in the game to use it. I was able to take advantage of that, jump the snap and get the block.”
CHIEFS WIDE RECEIVER MARQUEZ VALDES-SCANTLING
On the loss today
“Not the Super Bowl today. Obviously, there haven’t been many teams that go 17-0 or 16-0 and win the Super Bowl. So we just bounce back and keep growing one week at a time, [and] try to be 1-0 next week.”
On what was most surprising about the loss
“That we lost. That’s the most surprising thing. Obviously, we never want to lose to a team that we should’ve beat. Obviously, back to the drawing board. We have a really good football team. The defense is playing lights out and we can’t put them in a bad position. We gave them 14 points because of our turnovers. The punt return and then gave them 14 points off of those two turnovers. [I] can’t ask for a better defense to give up seven points on their own.”
On the illnesses around the team
“[QB Patrick Mahomes] is a competitor. He can have no legs and still try to run around and throw the football. As long as he can suit up, he’s going to be out there. He’s out there for a reason. We got the utmost confidence that he’s going to go out there and give it his all, and that’s what he did today.”