KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs coordinators and safety Tyrann Mathieu met with the media Thursday. Following is a transcript of their comments.
Chiefs Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy
Q: How excited are you to have a home game this weekend?
BIENIEMY: “We’re very excited. We have an opportunity to come and play our home opener in the Chiefs Kingdom. I know the fans will be fired up, the barbeque will be smelling real, real good and the players will be ready.”
Q: After the first two games, how would you asses Patrick Mahomes’ development with his footwork and how much does improved footwork impact accuracy?
BIENIEMY: “I think it helps out tremendously because now he is able to place the ball where he wants to. We always talk about pin-point accuracy throws and making sure that he is giving the receiver an opportunity to catch and run, as well, in our short to intermediate game. I think his technique and his fundamentals in the pocket have been very good. I think (Quarterbacks) Coach (Mike) Kafka has done one heck of a job with him throughout the entire offseason. He still is focusing on it, as well.”
Q: What does it say for Mahomes to still have that pin-point accuracy while playing with an ankle injury?
BIENIEMY: “When it’s all said and done, regardless of the position that anybody is playing, the only thing that you can rely on is your fundamentals. One thing I always talk about with all of our players, we have to have a consistent bend in our ankles, knees and hips. If we’re playing with that consistent bend regardless of position, we are giving ourselves a chance to execute the job that we’re being required to execute.”
Q: Where is your concern level at with the left side of the offensive line?
BIENIEMY: “I’m not concerned at all. It’s next man up. (Offensive Line) Coach (Andy) Heck has done one heck of a job since we’ve been here. This is Year 7 and Season 7 for us together. Injuries happen, but like I said in the past, we coach our starters not to get beat by our backup players, we coach our backup players to make sure that they’re preparing themselves to be starters. Those guys are ready. They do a great job of communicating with one another. That group is very, very unique. The O-Line Room is always a unique room. So, we roll.”
Q: Will Cam Erving fill in the open spot at LT?
BIENIEMY: “I think we’re still figuring it out. But at the end of the day, all of the guys are going to play. Whoever the next man up is, that next position, will fall right in line and we’re going to continue to do what we do.”
Q: What makes Mahomes so successful in being able to handle and pick up the blitz?
BIENIEMY: “His preparation is one that is uncanny. He spends a lot of time watching film. As a group, we’ve done a great job of making sure that we stress the importance of over-communicating clarity with one another. We understand that communication is the key to any successful relationship. At the end of the day, it doesn’t make a difference what call we make. As long as we understand the route concept and we understand where our issues are in protection, we’re good to go. That allows him to go out there and play fast. But, we have to be on the same page. The communication aspect of it is very, very important. That starts with the O-line, that starts with (Austin) Reiter, our Center, and that continues with Pat.”
Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo
Q: You said you wanted to see the defense react to adversity, did you get what you were talking about?
SPAGNUOLO: “That was a pretty good example of it. We were down quick. We talked about it the night before, you go to a place like Oakland with the crowd, etcetera, and there’s going to be an early surge by them, there always it. We had an early surge and what we talked about was that we had to survive it and thrive in it. I thought after we plugged the whole in the dam there, we thrived a little bit and kept them out of the endzones.”
Q: What do you see in the challenge of Lamar Jackson?
SPAGNUOLO: “Look, I’m not saying anything that anybody else hasn’t said, but it’s hard enough in this league to defend a quarterback who can throw the ball much less add to it the speed that he has, that he possesses. He can wreck the football game with his feet. I think he’s becoming a real good drop back passer. We always knew he had a strong arm. By listening to things and researching, everything says that he worked tremendously hard in the offseason to get better as a drop back passer and I think you’re seeing that. They came out in the game against Arizona and he moved them right down the perimeter a couple times, but he threw it down there. He’s impressive.”
Q: Based on turnovers are you talking to your guys about that?
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, we always talk about that. Turnovers are one thing that helped us this year. There’s been some leaky series where they’re driving, and we get a turnover and thank God for that. I thought the turnover Breezy (Bashaud Breeland) got last week was huge on the three-yard line or wherever they were and he picks it off, that’s a huge turnover. But they’re always important, we talk about it and hopefully we can find a way for them to get the ball on the ground.”
Q: What have you thought about Damien Wilson’s progression in your defense?
SPAGNUOLO: “Yeah, he has been great. The great thing about Damien, he is a pro, he loves football, he’s passionate about it and he plays multiple positions. Not everybody is able to do that. He gives us a little bit of flexibility because he moves around. I’ve been really happy with him.”
Chiefs Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub
Q: How special has it been working with Dustin Colquitt over the past few years?
TOUB: “He’s just so consistent and has been such a leader for our football team. No matter who we bring in, kicker-wise, he’s the kicker whisperer. He’s a great holder. Probably the best holder I’ve ever had, and I’ve had some good ones – Brad Maynard was really good at Chicago, too. He’s a student of the game. He’s just a great person to be around. Good family man and a great teammate. A really, really good player. He wouldn’t be lasting this long if he wasn’t that good.”
Q: What makes Colquitt a leader?
TOUB: “Just a leader in the locker room. He gives people advice, tips. He’s been around. He’s 15 years older than everybody in that room, pretty much. But again, he’s young at heart at the same time. He’s not untouchable. He gets down in there with them and jokes with them. Shoots baskets and whatever. He’s got it figured out.”
Q: How high of a priority was it when you first got here to keep Colquitt around?
TOUB: “It was important. Coming in, I knew he was great. I knew he was really good and solid. The only thing we wanted to do was make him a little bit more directional, because that’s our philosophy. We’re more of a directional team. He accepted that role and got better at it. It actually extended his career, I really believe.”
Q: When you were playing against him in Chicago, what was your scouting report on him?
TOUB: “He’s a bomber. He can bomb the ball to you. We had Devin Hester at Chicago and we played against him a few times. We got a big one against him. We like playing against bombers when we were at Chicago because they put the ball down the middle deep, (then) Devin gets the ball and we have a chance. That was one of the scouting reports we had on him. Going forward as you get older, you need to be a little bit more directional. You need to be able to move the ball a little bit so that you can use your coverage. That’s really what he turned into and it extended his career.”
Q: Is being a left-footed punter a factor at all?
TOUB: “It is. It’s always a factor. But, there are a lot of lefty punters now. We have the lefty JUGS machine and it’s not like it used to be.”
S TYRANN MATHIEU
Q: What are your thoughts heading into the home opener?
MATHIEU: “Really, I’m just excited. You hear a lot of good things about the fans here. We got off to a pretty good start as a team, so to come back home 2-0 with our fans, it should be exciting. I’m ready for it.”
Q: Where do you think the defense is right now?
MATHIEU: “We still have a way to go. This week was a step in the right direction. Obviously, week one we feel like we gave up a lot of big plays, especially in the pass game. This past week feels like we handled that part, but we didn’t necessarily handle the run. It will be a good test for us this week, especially against the Ravens, to kind of limit Lamar’s ability and tackle.”
Q: You had to overcome some adversity last week. How does that help you going forward?
MATHIEU: “It’s a confidence boost for us. You know, we don’t think about last season. I think each and every week, especially in the NFL, you just try to get better at something. I thought last week we got better at something and like I said, this week presents a whole new challenge for us. I think it’s the first time we’ve played a quarterback with that kind of big-play ability with Lamar Jackson. He is going to test us and stress us a lot Sunday. I think it’s just important to get off the field and get the ball back to our offense. Understanding the kind of game it’s going to be, they’re going to use as much clock as they possibly can to keep Patrick off the field. Defensively, we need to put our offense in position to really score this week.”
Q: From your perspective how are Charvarius Ward and Bashaud Breeland doing?
MATHIEU: “Just about those guys, Breeland has been in this league a while. He’s seen enough football to make certain adjustments. I think for those guys in particular, just the consistency each and every week. The way they played last week, I think they have the ability to do it just by going out there and putting it on the line, play-in and play-out.”
—CHIEFS—