OPENING STATEMENT: “As far as the injuries go, really Norman-Lott – is Omarr, is really the only one. He hurt his knee and we’re getting an MRI to see how he is – tomorrow – exactly what it is. Other than that, the guys did a nice job there as far as that goes. Great win. Appreciate our fans, they’re unbelievable (with) how loud they are, how disruptive they are for an opposing team and we appreciate that. There are all kinds of good stats to go over. I’m not sure I can cover them all. The media, you can do your homework and get them. There are a lot of people that played really well. I’m proud of them for that. Coming off of an emotional win against the Lions and then coming into this thing and playing with the energy that we played with. I thought the coordinators had great plans, like I said, all three phases contributed. Between (Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo) Spags and (Offensive Coordinator Matt Nagy) Nags they both did a great job with their game plans (and) the guys bought into them. (Assistant Head Coach and Special Teams Coordinator) Dave (Toub) he obviously – (Harrison) Butker’s back now, he’s got a couple of field goals under his belt and killing that ball right now so it’s a good thing. (Matt) Araiza had a nice day punting. All in all, it was just a good day, and my heart goes out to (Raiders Head Coach) Pete (Carroll). Pete and I’ve been doing this for a long time. So, when you see him and he gets the team and has injuries, that’s crushing for him. Especially when 98 (Maxx Crosby) goes out of the game. I mean that’s a tough thing for a guy to go through. I know it’s the Raiders and I know we like to get after the Raiders, but you hate seeing that happen to his players there. He had a couple of different injuries that took place. Tough deal. But he’s a good football coach. Time’s yours.”
Q: On Rashee Rice’s first game back.
REID: “Listen, it was great to have him back. I think you saw him – the trust that Pat (Mahomes) has in him which is so important for Pat and the guys, but it was great. I thought the whole receiving crew did a nice job. But it was great to have him in there and the energy that he brings I think is tremendous.”
Q: Was Rashee Rice the first option on his second touchdown?
REID: “It was today (laughter).”
Q: On the team’s performance as a whole.
REID: “It was great. Any time you can have a win like that (or) fourth quarter like that where you can run the ball every snap – and at this level – is a good thing. I appreciate the energy the most Vahe (Gregorian), the guys, their whole frame of mind was solid. Now, we got a good team coming in again this week. We got to make sure we’re solid there as we go.”
Q: How much does the defense and the offense play off of each other?
REID: “Yeah – I’d tell you (that) you know the answer to that (laughter).”
Q: Could you tell the offense was going to open up having Rashee Rice back?
REID: “Yeah, he (Rashee Rice) did. He did a great job. I was a little cautious with him on how many plays and all that. I thought he came out and functioned at a high level for being gone for all this time. It’s crazy that he can come back and do what he did and do it at the level that he did it at. We’ll gradually build him up. We’ll get his reps up here a little bit as we go. You got to be careful with that when somebody’s been off for a while. I thought all of them together did some really good things. Then at the end Xavier (Worthy) had another (end) around that he did very well with. There’s a lot of things happening there that are positive.”
Q: How critical was it to shut down the Raiders run game early?
REID: “That running back is good player (Raiders RB Ashton Jeanty). I was really impressed with him and for our guys to do what they did, I thought was tremendous. It always starts up front with the big guys, and they take care of their job on both sides of the ball and normally good things happen.”
Q: On Trey Smith and Mike Caliendo.
REID: “I didn’t mention Trey (Smith). Trey’s back did lock up on him. We’ve got to just see. Hopefully it’s nothing but you’re right. We’ll just see how he does. Then, (Mike) Caliendo did a nice job of coming in. (Jaylon) Moore filled in again and did a nice job there. All in all, it was a good job there.”
Q: On getting the backup players reps in the fourth quarter.
REID: “We got everybody into the game. Without pouring it on here. With some of these questions – and we have to play the Raiders again. But it was great to do.”
Q: Is it difficult to finish a game that way?
REID: “Very seldom do you get a fourth quarter and not throw the ball. That doesn’t happen very often. It was good, it’s a great thing to have. Compliment to our guys for the job they did.”
Q: On the back shoulder TD throw to Rashee Rice
MAHOMES: “The back shoulder touchdown obviously we’re in that situation we’re happy to be in the end zone and got a matchup with Rashee (Rice) one-on-one. We worked on that throw all offseason. To be able to do that in the season kind of like we did in the preseason was good to see.”
Q: On the no-look pass to Rashee Rice.
MAHOMES: “The no-look one I wanted to throw it to Rashee (Rice) the whole time but Xavier (Worthy) was holding that flat defender with his release so the corner was in between and so just holding and putting it in the spot at the right time but obviously he (Rashee Rice) catches the ball and gets up and gets the first down.”
Q: On the fake fourth down call.
MAHOMES: “I think it comes from all my State Farm commercials. I’m joking (laughter). (Offense Coordinator Matt) Nags actually came up with the idea. We had talked about doing the hard count and trying to draw the teams offsides. I can’t remember who I watched do it a couple years ago and they had said that. I was like I’m going to use that as part of my acting to try and get the defense relaxed a little bit. At the end of the day, we still got to go get it (the first down) and the offensive line did a great job of driving off the ball and then Kareem (Hunt) in those situations is money.”
Q: How do you practice those plays?
MAHOMES: “I don’t want to get too far into the weeds but there’s stuff that we do – everybody is on the same page, and we know when we’re acting and when we’re not acting and all the different type of stuff and plays off it. That’s just kind of what you have to do in order to be a step ahead in this league.”
Q: On how much of the playbook the Chiefs were going to open for Rashee Rice.
MAHOMES: “He (Rashee Rice) said it when he said the EGE thing. We have a lot of weapons. We have a lot of guys (and) they all love each other, (and) they all want each other to succeed. Having him and Trav (Kelce) working underneath with Hollywood (Brown) and Hollywood downfield, Tyquan (Thornton) downfield (and) Xavier (Worthy) downfield. You don’t know where it ‘s coming from. JuJu (Smith-Schuster) is out there making plays happen. Guys are just ready to go out there and when they get their opportunity they’re going to make the plays and you saw that throughout the entire game, everybody made plays. It might be one guy’s game one game and then it might be another guy’s game the next game but as long as we’re getting better all together, we can go out there and have a lot of success.”
Q: On the defense complimenting the offense.
MAHOMES: “100%. It gives us a lot of confidence. It gives me confidence I can make some of the throws that I try to make sometimes because I know that the defense is going to get stops. At the same time, I have to be smart in certain situations and in the second half I think you saw that. Once you get the lead, you know that they’re (the defense) going to shut the door. Be smart (and) to be aggressive but they’re playing at a high level as well so we got to keep building. We want to be better than what we are right now. This was a great step in the right direction but we gotta keep building as a whole team.”
Q: How long has it been since the defense and offense have both been playing this well at the same time?
MAHOMES: “I think there has been points throughout these last few years, but I think this is probably the most consistent that we’ve seen that we’ve been able to stack games together. Obviously, our record is still not where we want it to be but you can see from the offense (and) defense we’ve had bright moments in this season and now it seems like we’re coming together as a team. That’s what you want to do is be a team as the season goes on and keep getting better. We’re still early and we have everything out in front of us. How can we be better this next week going up against a good football team.”
Q: On Xavier Worthy’s contested catch and if he saw the penalty flag.
MAHOMES: “I saw the flag. I was going to throw to Xavier (Worthy) anyways and then he got tackled. I started to run, and I saw the flag come in and seeing him (Xaver Worthy) get tackled and then I just gave him a chance to make a play. You’ve seen – Xavier might be skinny, I guess and fast but he makes contested catches. He’s more than just a fast receiver that runs down the field, he can do everything. Like the AFC Championship game against the Bills, you throw the ball up there, he can go up there and make plays. Give him a chance, he goes up there and makes a play happen and that’s the type of players we got.”
Q: On how the offense still is playing well despite the offensive line missing guys.
MAHOMES: “They (the offensive line) heard all the talk too over the offseason. Over the offseason, they took it upon themselves to get better. We added guys and those guys have played well whenever they’re in there – Josh (Simmons) (and) Jaylon (Moore), but Mike’s (Caliendo) always gave us great snaps. Wanya’s (Morris) always gave us great snaps so whenever their number gets called, they’re ready to go. They have a pride of they’re going to show everybody who they are, who they truly are and you’ve seen it throughout this season. Everybody’s going to look at the stats and the receivers and my stats but it all starts up front and I truly believe that. When they play like that, we can go out there and score on anybody.”
Q: On the play in the red zone that brought in Gardner Minshew but got called back due to a false start.
MAHOMES: “Man dude. We had talked about through the week if I should do the cadence or if he (Gardner Minshew) should do the cadence and we decided I should. Obviously, we should’ve let him do it because it was going to be a walk in touchdown and I wanted to get Gardner a touchdown man, especially against those guys. Sucks that we didn’t get to make it happen but the creativity by the coaches of putting us in that situation where I’m the distraction and we’re giving the ball underneath – I watched it on film and it looked like it was going to be a walk in. We’ll be better with the cadence the next time we do it.”
Q: What was the process of building trust with Rashee Rice again?
MAHOMES: “I have a good sense for Rashee (Rice), man. Ever since he’s played (Rashee Rice) I got a good sense of his – I don’t know if it’s a body language thing or what it is. There was a couple here and there
you saw where we were a little off – on stuff that we worked through because of that time we didn’t get throughout the season. When it comes to the way he moves and the way he runs routes, I have a good feel for when he wants the football and where I need to throw it to. He’s been working. Even though it’s not in the building he kept himself in shape and you saw it out there today.”
Q: On the value of reading players body language.
MAHOMES: “These last few years have built up for this for us. If it’s Xavier (Worthy) (or) if it’s Rashee (Rice). Those guys have had to take bigger roles than young receivers have in our offense with injuries and stuff like that. You get those valuable reps in these high-leverage moments in playoffs and stuff like that. Whenever they come back man, you just have a good feel for them and how they run routes and their indicators of their routes. That stuff that I have with Trav (Kelce) and I’ve had with other receivers before, but I have a good feel for those guys and what they’re doing.”