Thursday, January 11, 2024
WR Tyreek Hill
(What’s it going to be like going back to the old stomping grounds?) – “Just another game man. I’m looking forward to it. Obviously I’m very excited for it. I’m not looking forward to the cold, but to see old faces again and play inside of Arrowhead is going to be a special moment for myself. It’s going to be awesome.”
(You wanted the game at Arrowhead earlier in the season. Now you get a chance to end their season. What does that mean when you hear that?) – “Like I said, it’s just another game. I’ve been in this league eight years now. I’m going to play it just like any other opponent. I’m excited about the opportunity and they got a great team. That’s all I can say.”
(You have a lot of memories at Arrowhead. Does one stick out to you?) – “My favorite memory from Arrowhead was probably my rookie year when the crowed chanted my name against the Raiders, Thursday Night Football. That was a very special moment for me. Because as a kid, that’s what you grow up visualizing in your head. Man, I’m going to have moments like that. For that to happen to me, it was a very special moment.”
(How’s your family?) – “My wife is good. Mom is good. And my nephews are good. That’s all that matters. That was the main concern of mine, being at practice and hearing about the news. Right now, it’s just a transition for us. But that’s what players do. We find a way to bounce back. That’s what life is, ups and downs. You have things happen and you have to find a way to adjust to adversity. So we just had a slight adversity and we’re going to find a way to face it. And that’s what we’re doing now.”
(What’s your focus with that? With your big game and you have a big family thing, is it hard to focus?) – “Nah. Nah, for real. I feel like there are crazier things in the world going on. The way that I look at it is I’m not the only person in the world having a bad day. There are other people having bad days. God has blessed me with great things and I have a great support system with teammates and family and stuff like that. I just always try to look at the positive side of things. So that’s been my whole approach throughout all of this. Although it sucks to see rooms destroyed and everything that you worked for destroyed – it sucks – but my main thing was health, making sure my kids are alright. And yeah, this gives me and my wife a chance to get closer.”
(Where are you guys staying now?) – “I can’t tell you all that.”
(But you guys are all safe?) – “Yeah, we’re all safe. But I can’t tell you all that. We’re staying at Tua’s house.” (laughter)
(When do you expect to be able to move back into your house?) – “I don’t know man. I don’t know. Whenever that time comes, we’ll move back in. But for now, we’re just going to enjoy our time on the beach.”
(Before you opened up about using IV’s when there’s certain type of weather with cramps and things like that, how do you keep your body, knowing this could be one of the coldest games in NFL history, warm as the game goes on?) – “Well, it’s a mindset. I feel like if you believe it’s going to be cold, then you’re going to freeze your balls off. But if you go into this game not even thinking any of that, you’ll be fine. With me being me, I played there and I understand the conditions. I’m not even worried about it at all. I’m going to go out there with no sleeves and tell the rest of the guys it’s a mindset. If those guys see you wearing sleeves, obviously they’re going to think you’re soft. We’re going to go out there and do our thing.”
(You were named team MVP today, voted on by the media.) – “Oh, y’all voted for me?” (laughter)
(We did.) – “That’s what I’m talking about. Thank y’all.”
(I wanted to get your reaction to that. Also, there’s no one harder on yourself than you. With some of the drops that you’ve had, how have you been working through those?) – “I mean, I’ve been busting my tail, man. Dealing with a lot of stuff as far as injuries and stuff like that. Just trying to get back to the basics. I try to catch JUGS like each and every day after practice. Even though I don’t got to, I try to get back to the things that got me to this point, which is attention to detail, the fundamentals and the techniques that the coaches taught me or even my dad taught me going back to the roots. When you’ve done so much, you’ve got to find new ways, create new ways to entertain yourself because the season is long, the season gets boring. I’ve said this before, you’ve got to find a way to fall in love with the boring things and I feel like I’d kind of gotten away from that and now I’m back to it, refocusing just on catching the ball and stuff like that and I feel like I’ll be alright.”
(What about MVP? What’s your reaction to being named Team MVP?) – “Oh, thanks. (laughter) Thanks, that means a lot.”
(We know you’re a Twitter instigator. What are the text messages like between you and Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, TE Travis Kelce and the rest of the old teammates this week?) – “Well, I haven’t texted Mahomes since they beat our ass. I texted Kelce but he still hasn’t texted me back. He’s probably still on his Taylor Swift thing. But yeah man, those guys are too famous for me now, I guess. (laughter) Yeah, there hasn’t been any trash talk but obviously when we get there face to face, I’m going to be talking my trash. I’m really looking forward to it.”
(Do you think WR Jaylen Waddle will be good to go Saturday?) – “Of course. Huge playoff game, you’re going against Super Bowl champions, so who wouldn’t be ready for this game? That’s just my opinion. The type of competitor he is, these are the type of games that Jaylen Waddle lives for.”
Thursday, January 11, 2024
LB Duke Riley
(What is the key to getting everybody up for this cold weather situation?) – “Just embrace it. Regardless if it is 100 degrees here in Miami or zero degrees wherever it is at, I’m going to be high energy. I’m going to be loving it and enjoying it. At the end of the day, it’s a chance for a lot of people to make a household name for themselves. When I think of the playoffs, I think of Raheem (Mostert) and what he did when he was in San Francisco and made a huge name for himself because a lot of people didn’t really know who he was and he showed them who he was. That’s the message I’ve been relaying to a couple of the guys. The weather doesn’t really matter. The place doesn’t really matter. What matters is the mindset of everybody in the room and on the team, and how consistent can we be and the effort we give. That’s really all that’s going to matter.”
(Kansas City got you guys earlier in the season. What would the feeling be to end theirs at their place?) – “It’s just going to be a surreal feeling. We all know that – I don’t know how long it has been since Miami has won a playoff game. But I tell everybody, why not us? Why not be the team that does that? Why not break that cycle? We’ve got a lot of guys in this room, even though we’re losing guys, we’ve still got a lot of guys who play some really good ball. We’ve brought some guys in to help us. We’re just taking it day by day. We’re enjoying the process every single day. I feel like a lot of guys are ready to play, especially with that feeling still in our gut from last week.”
(How do you avoid pressing when you guys are coming off back-to-back losses and you want to get that feeling out of your system but it is win or go home?) – “Win or go home. We understand that and it’s all about how we respond. It’s really just getting back to the fundamentals. When stuff goes wrong, just get back to the fundamentals and technique. Be huge on that. Be huge on communication. Over-communicate. I feel like a lot of guys have been doing that throughout the week and a lot of guys are ready to play. I know for damn sure that I am. I want to give my everything in the meeting or walkthrough or whatever it is, so I can be the best for the team.”
(How tough was it to see LB Jerome Baker again after coming right back?) – “I mean we all know ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) and we love ‘Bake.’ Just him going out there and playing through the stuff that he was going through just shows how strong of a person he is. This game is so crazy when things like that happen because he did it and he was still playing with it. I don’t know when he did it, maybe earlier in the game or the second quarter, and he said it was hurting, and he got it taped and he was just thinking it was something because things happen. You get hit and nine times out of 10, if you wake up with an injury, you don’t know when it happened or where it came from because that adrenaline is so high. So for him to even finish the game with that just shows you his strength, his courage and how much he really loves the team.”
(QB Patrick Mahomes, do you have some sleepless nights thinking about him?) – “Nah, I sleep really well every night.”
(What’s the challenge going against a former MVP?) – “The challenge is us being who we are and doing what we do. It doesn’t matter who a team has, one person can’t beat 11 if we’re all doing our job. Obviously I’m not going to ever discredit who Patrick Mahomes is. We all know he’s one of the greatest. I personally love Pat. I know him. We trained with the same guy coming out of college, so we have a lot of mutual respect. I definitely truly respect him. I think he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Statistic-wise, he’s won two Super Bowls already. He’s been in big games, so he’s going to be prepared and we know that. We just have to be ready and prepared just as much.”
(Is the frustration covering him the fact of what QB Patrick Mahomes can do with his legs? Or is it the arm angle?) – “Everything. He can extend plays and guys will have to plaster and cover guys. We have to do a good job of keeping him in the pocket, even if we’re pressed, because we know the magic he can do with the ball regardless if he’s on a run, doing circles, throwing no-looks. We all know what he can do. We’ve all seen it. We just have to play our game and be detailed and on our stuff.”
Thursday, January 11, 2024
T Terron Armstead
(It seems like the locker room is really loose. How important is that going into a playoff game? You’re one of the few that has a ton of playoff experience.) – “Yeah, I’ve never seen any situation where stress helps. Stay loose, get prepared, work on our craft, our preparation and get ready to go out and execute Saturday night.”
(Cold weather, that’s kind of the big factor. What are the keys to staying warm and being able to execute what you need to at a high level?) – “Yeah, I mean when we’re out there running around and all that good stuff, the temperature doesn’t matter. As far as weather, when you get into wind or rain and all that good stuff, then it can affect the game, the passing game, the kicking game. But temperature, you just have to deal with it.”
(You’re going against the Super Bowl champs. What does it mean to try and steal the belt or crown so to speak?) – “Yeah, this is the way to go. It’s the way to go. Got to go through KC to get our dreams, our goals, our aspirations. There’s no better way than that. Knock off the defending champs and keep rolling from here.”
(Last time you guys played them it was your first game back, and you guys didn’t have OL Rob Hunt out there. How much better do you think the offensive line will be now that you have Rob and you’re a little bit more…) – “Yeah, I mean our goals and objectives don’t change. Protect the quarterback and create lanes for the runner. That’s what we’re going to do to the best of our ability. As a unit, we’re playing pretty well. We got a lot of chemistry and cohesiveness going on. We’re flying off the ball. So that’s non-negotiable. We’re going to do that Saturday night as well. So it’ll be fun. It’ll be a fun battle up front. They have a really good defensive line and defense in total. It’ll be a very big challenge, but we’ll have fun out there.”
(What do you notice when WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Tyreek Hill are on the field together being without Jaylen for the last couple weeks?) – “Yeah, it just opens up more options in our offense. It’s more of a defense has to pick their poison a bit more. They can’t just focus on 10 (Tyreek Hill) as much. It opens up more lanes in the run game at times if you take a body out of the box. That can be very beneficial to the run game. 17 (Jaylen Waddle) is a major weapon. You can’t minimize his absence at all, so having him back is a huge asset.”
(Are you doing sleeves or no sleeves) – “No sleeves. It’s a football game.” (laughter)
Thursday, January 11, 2024
LB Justin Houston
(I know obviously you wanted to be with a playoff contender towards the end of the year after being with Carolina. Was Miami a team that you had eyeballed a while back as injuries starting happening at the edge for them?) – “I definitely did. I think it’s a great situation to be in. Perfect timing, I guess. You never want to see anybody get hurt but I’m here now and I’m happy to be here.”
(How crazy has this transition been? Joining a team mid-week, short week, and trying to get ready to play on Saturday?) – “Thank God for my experience so it’s easier to learn the playbook. I’ve been in this system before, so it’s not that bad. I’m in a good situation because I’ve played in a system similar to this when I was in Carolina. It’s not too much on me. But if I was a young guy, there would be a lot on my plate. But I’m cool right now.”
(How would you describe what you bring to the team?) – “I’m a pass rusher. That’s my job is to put pressure on the quarterback. So I came here to put pressure on the quarterback.”
(A lot of familiarity with Arrowhead, memories there. What’s it going to be like in the visitors’ locker room?) – “Old stomping grounds. Have you seen that locker room? It’s a closet. That’s not a locker room. They’re going to put us in a closet. (laughter) But it’s cool man. New environment. I’m just happy I’m still playing ball so it’s a blessing to be here.”
(A lot of the guys haven’t played in cold weather games. You have. What advice do you give them?) – “Just stay by the heaters during TV timeouts. I think that’s the worst situation. Because other then that, you’re playing ball. You don’t even think about the cold weather until a TV timeout when you’re just standing there. I think that’s the worst.”
(We’ll how Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio uses all of you guys Saturday, but with four accomplished pass rushers with you, LB Bruce Irvin, LB Melvin Ingram and DE Emmanuel Ogbah, do you feel like in those conditions, maybe all four of you could give something, high-energy snaps if you all four play?) – “I think we can do a great rotation to keep everybody fresh. I think it would be good for us and this team.”
Thursday, January 11, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Unlike last year, this year against playoff teams, offensive output generally has been for you guys in the teens, low twenties. But at the same time, in that first Kansas City game there were maybe four plays that were this close to being a touchdown. So I guess my question is this, do you feel like you need to do exactly what you’ve been doing on offense and just do it better? Or do you feel like because the offensive production against good teams hasn’t been great, that you need to try new things Saturday, whether it’s stuff you haven’t gotten to in the playbook, whether it’s more hurry up, whether it’s a new wrinkle that you need to do?) – “I think the state of every phase on a football team is an evolving process. You go through highs and lows. The point you make about the last time we played them is exactly right. I think you have to base your decisions on how you schematically attack a defense based upon not theoretical crystal balls, more so your players and what they’re executing, what they’re doing well, what the matchups are and how to put them in good positions. Every game, I kind of approach the same way where you’re trying to get your players in good position to have an effect on the game. You don’t necessarily have to change your identity as much as you have to learn lessons on every level. Each player has to look at their failures the same way I look at my failures and I think our team does that, which is why it’s the only way that – amongst all your doom and gloom, they’ve held themselves to a high standard on offense. I think they started the year out first week number one. That carries a lot of weight with it and we’ve maintained that throughout the season. There were highs and lows like there are always going to be in football. The bottom line is we have a confident group that will be in position to make some plays and I think we have the right people in place to do those, so I feel pretty good about this game.”
(What is the status of WR Jaylen Waddle and RB Raheem Mostert?) – “That’s a good questionable. (laughter) Short weeks, you really have to take it up to the end-of-the-week clock. Specifically with those two, you want to make sure everything you’re doing, that you’re pressing them enough. Not too much, but you kind of have to be able to forecast what’s going to happen in the game all things equal. That doesn’t mean they can’t get injured on – I think the last time we played the Chiefs, Jaylen Waddle got rolled up on in the second play of the game. You can’t forecast those types of things, but you need to know that the player you’re taking into the game has, with your best inclination, a reasonable chance to play the entire game. That’s where we’re kind of at right now. We haven’t had any setbacks with those two and I’m feeling optimistic with both. But the reason why they’re in question is because we’re pressing them to see if – you only have a certain amount of active players on a gameday roster, every time somebody gets hurt in a game, it puts stress on your entire team. We saw that last week and it trickles down, all the way down to special teams. Even when a player that doesn’t get any special teams reps gets hurt, then someone else who plays on special teams has to play. So that trickle-down effect we’re protecting against and we’ll utilize the time until kickoff to make that decision.”
(Do S Jevon Holland and S DeShon Elliott fall in that questionable distinction and how confident are you that they are going to be able to play?) – “They both fall into that questionable kind of situation there. I think specifically, the way DeShon really pressed through that game last week, he’s not going to be able to take any reps to get that calf to his best position. He seems to be of the stubborn quality where I’m optimistic about him, but I still won’t know. He’s going to take all the time. He might as well have a post office box here in the training room and get his mail delivered there because he’s been living in it. Then same thing with Jevon. Those two are going to be game day decisions for sure based upon their ambition to play in the game, their work. The training staff does an outstanding job with those guys and short weeks, playoff games, are kind of adding variables.”
(Bill Belichick will not be back with the New England Patriots. Certainly he has a long history of playing against this team and you’ve seen him a few times. Just your thoughts on his legacy.) – “It’s really mixed emotions, I would say. I’m more kind of taken aback by that in conjunction with Coach Saban and Pete Carroll. They have as much responsibility to what the game is right now as anybody that’s around. I have so much respect and regard for being able to do what they’ve done for that amount of time. I have a very close first-hand experience on what it means, the sacrifice it takes to do this job. It is a sacrifice – such a blessing, such an opportunity – but you really have to pour yourself into it. And when you do that for a quarter century, I can’t say enough positive words about Coach Belichick, and I lump Coach Carroll and Nick Saban in there because it feels the same way. It’s a reminder to me that – I’m just going to be candid – that Father Time is a (expletive). Really not a nice guy. But it’s real and it reminds you that everything is finite and I think a lot of people have gained a lot of perspective, motivation. The leadership of Coach Belichick has been really, really cool to watch. He’s been at the chair for 24 years in one organization and it wasn’t because of entertaining press conferences. (laughter) It was because of his due diligence at what his job was, so I have a lot of regard and I’m kind, as you can tell, I’m kind of mourning the loss of those three, for sure.”
(When you’re trying to beat a Chiefs team that is the defending Super Bowl champs, is there something in knocking off the champ that has that championship DNA and pedigree that makes it even more of a challenge when they’re in their house and they’re defending the crown, so to speak?) – “I think there’s a reason for everything. You can make everything that you experience purposeful if you have the mindset of you’re kind of dictating the terms. I do think there was something to get over playing the Chiefs and fortunately we played them this year. I think that, even if you go into a game with as much as confidence as you had all season, there’s still an element of, ‘okay, this is the team that holds the crown.’ And then I think within a game, like every game, it turns into a football game that you’re used to that has to do with executing the fundamentals and technique of your job at a high level. And I think I’m more comfortable with the team going into Arrowhead now than I probably was playing them in Germany, even with all the this, that’s and the others of why we shouldn’t have that confidence. I feel like we have a team that has fought and gotten knocked down and stood up and they’re excited for the opportunity to play a team that deserves all of their accolades because they’ve earned them. They’ve earned the home playoff game so you have an uphill battle that your job is to make it not that. I think our team understands the whys to the position we’re in and are excited for the opportunity to go compete against a team that they know they can compete with, and let the chips fall as they may. But I know we’re a closer team that has weathered life’s lessons and are still coming to work with a lot of gusto to go do something special, and I’m very, very motivated to go against a championship-caliber team on the road. It will be difficult, but that’s why it’ll be that much more enjoyable, so it’s worth the grind and it’ll be fun.”
(I wanted to ask you about running game – playoff season or weather-related in terms of why it ratchets up in postseason and this time of year?) – “I think you can control the game in a different degree. I think everybody’s emotions are high and the orchestration of pass game execution can be fickle at times and an equalizer is ‘hey, we have the ball, you don’t.’ With the run game, it’s really cool because you’re building all year to be able to perform and hold the ball for your team, maintain possession and score points doing it. So I think it’s the buildup that makes run games in the playoffs so powerful. I think that is – I’ve been on teams that have run the ball well in the postseason and all of those teams have had a journey that I think we’ve had this year, where you’ve pressed along and if you narrow it down to individual blocks or combination blocks, and if you watch a cut up of how we’re executing blocks, how we’re blocking people now versus the beginning of the season, it’s night and day. So that’s what you’re trying to do, to me, at least that’s what we’re trying to do every year, is to make it that way. So the results are the results. We score a lot of point sometimes. Sometimes we don’t score as much. But what I can say as tangible fact, is that we’ve progressed in how we’ve blocked people and that’s a big deal in the postseason because just think about it this way. There’s a bunch of individual human beings and when you walk into a playoff stadium, the energy is just tangibly different. Why is it different? Well, because every person in the stadium knows that the loser goes home. So that energy is on-tilt. Every play you can hear a bigger gasp when there’s something positive or negative. All of that weighs into the human element and the human experience of an elimination game. It’s a powerful experience that you can’t replicate. It’s why you do it. And in those types of moments, you like to control the will of the game and the most control you have is on the ground for sure, so you’ve got to be able to stop the run and run the ball.”
(There’s a cat and mouse game between offense and defense obviously. WR Tyreek HIll talked after the Baltimore game I think about always going against two-deeps. Last week, Buffalo changed their safeties at half. Is that where that safety is lined up more pronounced with your offense? It just seems to be a conversation going through this season.) – “Yeah, well it’s more of a conversation I think –it’s something that the Kansas City Chiefs offense is very well versed at – but there’s a certain time where if you’re productive enough, if you have gained the attention or garnered the attention and respect of opponents enough, you every week seem to be finding out what they’re going to do live. They end up changing who they are. So as a result, your game plan has to adjust. When people are prioritizing surprise and elements of unknown defensively, that conversation comes up because guys are very aware. Listen, we practiced all week against this single-high safety. I think, in particular, one that stands out is we talked a lot about safeties the Giants game. They blitz the most or second-most in the NFL. So we prepared a lot for our game plan to be able to handle that. And they played two safeties pretty much the whole game. So you’re players are more in-tune with what are we getting because week after week after week, it’s been, okay, do they show up and play a different defense? I think the conversation amongst our players is just because they know the most football they’ve ever known. They’ve really progressed that way. And that’s what happens when you get people’s best shots week in and week out, which is what you want. But I think it’s also them just having more knowledge of what their opponent is and then it stands out when they adjust.”
(A win Saturday would be the franchise’s first in the postseason for 23 years. What would breaking that drought mean to you?) – “Well, I’ve been saying a quarter century just because it’s more impactful. But I’ve been saying means that I’ve been saying it a lot, which means it means a lot. It was one of the first things I talked about my first day on the job because you have to understand what the passions that your fan base, the experiences they’ve had, what they’re harboring and then what it will feel like to bring people that joy of rooting for a team for that long and then to not be able to experience at least one postseason win. That’s rough. That is rough. Myself and the whole organization want to deliver on ending that and doing right by all those years of passion. I also think it’s something really cool to achieve, so I’ve been leaning on that both seasons I’ve been here. We talked about it in my first team meeting this week when we’re beginning this prep because that is an obstacle, but generally obstacles have – there’s a huge pot of gold, so to speak, when there are obstacles. There’s a saying that I just came up with right now – adversity is an opportunity. (laughter) But that’s why. Because it’s like wow, how great would it feel to be able to be the team that ends that drought and for a fanbase that is very steadfast and hungry. We have a lot of love for our fans. So it’s a big deal that you don’t chase directly. You know it’s there. But if you worry about constantly your technique, fundamentals and execution of your job, that’s something that is a reward waiting for a job well done.”
(I know you’re a fan of the game. You look back at all of these Ice Bowl, super cold weather games. They’re all iconic for some reason. I know you’re laser focused on the task, but is there a part of you that kind of says, as cold as it’s going to be, you’re balancing that and it will be kind of cool to be a part of something like that?) – “No, absolutely it is. No one likes being cold. That’s why we have temperature control. (laughter) However, it does make the moment bigger when you know that it is an absolute fact that it’s going to be frigid. Well, what if as a team, you find a way for it to not affect you? To be able to go and do athletic performance in that weather, it takes will. That will comes from a passion that is deep down that has been derived while a lot of these guys started playing the game that you’re unlocking. The last time I played in zero-ish degree weather was 2021 at Green Bay in the divisional round. And much like this team, we were up in Santa Clara and had like one coat in our closet. We weren’t used to that at all. But it galvanizes people. Kind of like when you talk to our players, the most fun game, outside of the result, that we played in the last two years, was the one at Buffalo on that Saturday night on a short week last year. So it’s about the team part of it. It’s about doing something that’s difficult inherently. That motivates you as a competitor, I think. And we have a lot of competitors on our team. I think the places that teams have to go to execute in those types of situations are hard. I think that’s what kind of makes them stand out in history, because you get a lot of cool spirited efforts by people doing things that a lot of people would struggle to do.”
