Sunday, September 8, 2019
CHIEFS WIDE RECEIVER SAMMY WATKINS
(On if he envisioned this type of game right off the bat) “Not this type of game, but I think the work I put in in the offseason and the trust I have in the coaches and the staff and the training and what I did in the offseason would lead up to playing good and being successful. Just got to continue to build and keep working and keep building that foundation with the team and keep winning.”
(On what was it about today’s game that contributed to his performance) “Having fun. Not trying too hard. I think we have the players, the team, the work ethic that we all put in, and we’ve just got to continue to build on that. I’m not a statistics guy. I love scoring three touchdowns and whatever many yards, but the objective is to get the win.”
(On the first touchdown) “Just playing fast. Usually I don’t get the ball, but somehow Pat [Patrick Mahomes] looked at me and I looked at him and I caught it and ran as fast as I could, and it felt great. I’ve never had a touchdown in this league to break a tackle and run 67 yards. It felt really good.”
(On if yards-after-catch sets him apart as a player) “Yeah, I think it’s just practice. I know how to practice now and I know what coach wants out of me and all my coaches. So if I come out every day at practice and put the work in, I think hard work and practice lead to great games. I’ve got to continue to just stack that and move forward to the next game.”
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CHIEFS TIGHT END TRAVIS KELCE
(On the atmosphere of today’s game at TIAA Bank Field) “Kansas City travels so well it felt like almost a home game for us.”
(On the heat and humidity during today’s game) “The heat was everything that people made it out to be, but with that hype you go out there with an understanding of what’s to come. You just go out there with the right mentality knowing it’s going to get tough later in the drives, because of the heat, because of how draining it can be, and just play ball.”
(On whether holding the record for yards by a TE for only an hour last season is driving him to succeed this season) “No, last year we fell short of the Super Bowl and that’s what drives me the most.”
(On what this win means to the Chiefs) “It means it’s the first win on the board. We have a mindset throughout the season of taking care of certain goals and this was one of them. Just come out blazing, on fire, like we were last year and sure enough as a team we came together and put up forty points on offense and the defense held them there in the fourth quarter. I think we’re on the right track and we’re going to keep working to get where we want to be.”
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CHIEFS RB LESEAN MCCOY
(On adjusting to a new team and playbook with the Chiefs) “That’s the veteran part of the game that I’ve been a part of. I study all day, all night, all morning. I get up early, workout, and get back and study. I’ve been prepared. Honestly, I don’t know all the different terminologies the guys had in camp, but they simplify it a lot more just based on game plan. I feel comfortable in there. I probably had one mess up mentally, but other than that I was locked in. I want to earn myself on this team. I don’t want it just because of my name or what I’ve done in the past. I want to earn it. These guys are already established. It’s been a great offense before I got here and if I wasn’t even here it would still be a great offense. I just want to be a part of it, earn every play I get and every possession.”
(On the Chief’s offense) “It was nice just watching it how fast they were going up and down the field, how much space they had, how many opportunities they had, and the gains they were getting each play. At one point in the game we were averaging fifteen yards per touch. That’s not normal. To see it firsthand is pretty cool.”
(On learning a new offense with the Chiefs after being a member of the Eagles offense) “I don’t think it’s hard to learn because I’ve been around ball so I’m cool with concepts and I’ve been studying and working my butt off every day, every morning, every night. But it’s a lot different, just the terminology and plays. Like in Philly, we did a lot of vertical things. Here they go to the sideline, they go speed, they go everywhere. They make the defense guard the whole field, sideline to sideline.”
(On the weather in Kansas City versus Buffalo) “I didn’t know Missouri gets that hot. I’m sitting here in practice like God it’s hot. In Buffalo, it doesn’t really get too hot so I could run all day. My first practice I was dead so then the next day I had to go out there and show that I can keep up. I got better, but the heat is definitely tough.”
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CHIEFS QB PATRICK MAHOMES
(On his sprained ankle injury) “Yeah, I just kind of rolled my ankle. I just kind of got stood up and I was trying to throw the ball away to Kelce, to drop it to him real quick, and they hit me and it just kind of rolled under me. We just got it taped up and then we had to go out and play some game.”
(On the adrenaline moving forward after the injury) “Yeah, I mean, definitely. The adrenaline helped out, of course. I was going out there and just playing football. I mean, obviously, I wasn’t as mobile as I usually am. But the team helped me out step-by-step as I tried to get the ball out of my hands and guys were making plays.”
(On what allowed WR Sammy Watkins to have a big game) “Yeah, I mean, we’ve said it all offseason. Sammy, the way he has prepared his body, the way he’s practiced. He really understands the offense at a different level than he did last year. And so, whenever he got his number called, he made plays. I mean, the first play that he scored, whatever yard touchdown that was, he was like the third or fourth read, he made someone miss and he scored. So, just having a better understanding of the full offense lets him play faster and he can see that that offseason is paying off.”
(On whether he saw that WR Sammy Watkins was going to have that play because it looked like he might’ve had WR Tyreek Hill) “Yeah, so it was a play where Tyreek, obviously, was the first read. I actually was looking for [TE Travis] Kelce to get open and Kelce struck back out and he took that defender with him. So, I just laid it out there for Sammy and he made a great catch, first off, and that was all I was expecting. He made a quick move and shut off the speed that, we were saying, goes back to his Clemson days.”
(On whether he even saw the rest of that play) “The best thing about this offense is it seems like if we can make one guy miss and the guys get open space, we usually score. So, once I saw him make that safety miss and it was just a foot race, I knew he was going to get there.”
(On RB LeSean McCoy’s performance) “I thought he played really well. I mean, he had some big runs of course. He was able to do the pass protection and do that different type of stuff. You can tell he’s a veteran, someone that’s been with [Head] Coach [Andy] Reid before. And as he gets more and more accustomed to the offense, we’ll be able to really work that whole running back room.”
(On whether he was wondering what this might look like without WR Tyreek Hill in the lineup) “I mean, obviously whenever someone with Tyreek’s ability goes out, you wonder what’s going to happen. But, the best thing about this team – and you’ve seen it the last few years now – is whenever someone gets their opportunity, they step up and play. And we really pick each other up. So, I was glad the guys stepped up, made plays; and that was running backs, receivers, tight ends, and whatever it was. I mean, that’s just how we roll. Whoever is given the opportunity to make the play, they make it.”
(On his thoughts when he was limping off the field) “I know when I got over there, I told the trainers just to tape it up, but they wanted to look at it a little bit. So, I mean, I just told them to tape it up and that I’d be fine. They looked at it, of course, gave me the okay, taped it up and I was ready to go back out there.”
(On whether that was his first time in the tent) “Yeah, it was the first time I had ever been in the tent. It was pretty hot in that tent, today. So, I was trying to open it back up as soon as possible.”
(On the two drives in a row involving the defense and LB Damien Wilson with the fumble and long drive) “Well, we talked about it in the locker room. We made the defense go out there and get a stop and us go out there and score a touchdown. I mean, in the NFL there’s always close games, but if you can get a 2-3 score lead, especially late in the game, you kind of change your offense into the we’re gonna run the timeout, run our offense the right way, let the defense do their thing and stuff. But then you get that stop in that situation and then use the executed drive to go score, definitely changed the aspect of the game.”
(On whether TE Travis Kelce gave him any grief on the no-look attempt) “Yeah, I owe him a dinner or something for that one. That was a bad one. He ran and got open – he ran a great route and he did something that I didn’t expect him to do. He wrapped around the guy and kind of went over the top and I definitely tried to do a little bit too much on that play.”
(On their confidence going into the game despite Jacksonville’s talented defense) “We always have confidence going into any game – no matter who we’re playing. We knew Jacksonville had a very good defense. They played us really well last year, so we really prepared ourselves to do what we could to have success on the field. It’s always good when you look back at it now and all that hard work that we’ve put in the last few weeks really paid off and now it’s off to Oakland and they’re going to have a really good defense as well. So, we’re excited for the opportunity to go out there and play that game.”
(On which ankle suffered the injury) “It was my left one, yes sir.”
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CHIEFS HEAD COACH ANDY REID
(Opening statement) “Ok, let me finish up with some of the injuries real quick. Pat [Patrick Mahomes] has an ankle sprain so we’ll see how that goes. He’s being looked at now. [LeSean] McCoy came out and he had cramps. He’s being taken care of there.”
“Listen, I mentioned to the guys; It doesn’t matter how pretty they are or everybody can come down hard on themselves if they didn’t play well, but you enjoy every win in the National Football League. They are too hard to get. It’s a good, good team here. Doug [Marrone] has done a heck of a job working these guys and putting them together. They played with some key positions injured and still competed their hearts out until the end. Coach Coughlin, who is not a coach anymore, but Tom Coughlin. You play one of Doug’s teams and you better be ready for a big tough football game. That’s what it was. I’m proud of my guys for the effort they put in. It was a son of a gun out there. It was hot. While you guys were up there eating hotdogs, man it was hot down there. Our guys fought through and did a nice job today.”
(On weighing Patrick Mahomes injury) “Yeah, he was good. He said he has had ankles before in basketball, hoops and so on. He felt comfortable going, but I kept a close eye on him the best I could as Rick [Burkholder] did. It didn’t look like it was hindering him, so we left him in.”
I would also like to say Sammy [Watkins] also did a heck of a job out there today. I thought he had a nice game. The kid had worked so hard to get over the whole injury thing he had and has never wavered. He has put it on the back burner and worked his tail off to have a nice game.”
(On Mahomes showing a new level of toughness playing though his injury) “He loves to play. I wanted to make sure I kept a close eye on him so we’ll see how he does here when he’s done with this. He’s a tough kid, he’s a competitive son of a gun.”
(On what in the game allowed Watkins to have a big day) “Well, from the first (catch) on, you saw him break tackles and split seems. There were no indecisions after catches. He’s big, he’s fast and he is strong. We’re moving him all over the place and he is smart, so that helps. I think that combination is what contributed to that. We asked him to play that zebra position and he didn’t blink at that. He said put me in and let me go and I will do my thing. He plays inside and outside.”
(On Watkins being comfortable physically second year in the system) “Yeah, I think that’s it right there. I imagine football-wise plays and all that. He has always come back from injury so the demands of training camp when he came to us was a bit of a shocker. Thought the season, it was tough, he got nicked up a little bit in camp last year and he was fighting back from that. Here he has been healthy. He hasn’t missed an OTA practice. He was one of the best receivers I have seen coming out of college. He was phenomenal and this is what you saw today. This is a tribute to the kid 100 percent.”
(On if he wondered what the offense would be without Tyreek Hill) “I did. The guys played hard. Mecole [Coleman] stepped in and did his thing. DeRob [Demarcus Robinson] should have had a touchdown right there but had his hands pulled down. But he had an opportunity to score. [Travis] Kelce had his go there. They tried to play a little bit of man, but he played well. He’s coming off an injury. He fought through that with the surgery he had in the offseason. He did a nice job of pushing it for four quarters.”
(On if Hill will go home with them) “We’ll see. They’re checking on him right now so we will see.”
(On what he saw from the defense) “I’ll tell you that huge play (Jaguars fumble) at the beginning of the third quarter. We needed that and that was tough on their (Jacksonville) team. It put a bit of doubt in their mind. We were able to take that down and score. I thought our defense played hard. Games like this are the toughest on the defensive line. I thought our guys battled through it and kept constant pressure. They were keeping people in to block. There are things we can do better all the way around in all three phases of our games – offense, defense (and special teams). I sure liked the effort. The more those guys play together and with the system, I just think the sky is the limit.”
(On the how the first-year players did today) “I’ll go back and look at the tape. They did well. They all got to play today so that’s a good thing. We have so many different groups that play in the secondary, so we consider Dan [Sorensen] a starter and [Juan] Thornhill a starter which a plus to Thornhill and to Spag having him available. He had good skill and instincts and that allows him to get in there and play.”
(On the fans saying how good this offense is even with injuries) “It’s the first game of the season. I’m excited for some of the young guys getting an opportunity to play. We can be better. Our fans were absolutely phenomenal from the time we walked into the hotel. It was like going to a college bowl game because they were all there and were cheering us on. You saw here today they were unbelievable. There is nothing like getting down to the end of the game, if you are winning, and it’s all red, all red – that is a beautiful thing. We appreciate every bit of it, and we feel them. We appreciate all that.”
(On the key to handling the heat) “So much of it was getting hydrated and preparing for it before you get to it today. You’re travelling, you’re on the road, and you just came off our two hot days in Kansas City and the hard work in camp, all those things, pay off for you so you can function in the third and fourth quarter at a high level. Rick is a big part of that by staying on the guys about drinking and having the liquids around. He also takes care of them during the game, but there is a huge emphasis put on that. Games like this pay off for you.”
(On what he saw from McCoy) “That’s the way he looked on tape. He looked like he still had the vision and the quickness. He has good feet and he has that vision, that patience. You’re talking about a future Hall of Fame guy who is at the end of his career. He’s getting there. He’s 31 years old. It’s young to someone like me but it’s old in the football world. He trains hard. He never dieted like now when I had him the first time as far as the food that he eats and the training that he does. He is really staying on top of his game the older he has gotten. It paid off for him today. He is a nice addition with Damien [Williams] in there. That is a good combination to have and our rookie [Darwin] Thompson got in there too and had a chance to play. I think that was a plus.”
