KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs personnel met with the media Monday. Following are their comments.
VICE PRESIDENT OF SPORTS MEDICINE AND PERFORMANCE RICK BURKHOLDER
“First, Kendall Fuller fractured his right thumb against Houston. He didn’t play against Denver and was operated on in Los Angeles on Friday by Dr. (Steven) Shin. He returned back to Kansas City on Sunday and started rehabilitation. That’s one that you didn’t know about. Just to address Patrick Mahomes. You guys saw the game and the video. Dr. Paul Schroeppel reduced the dislocated patella. We had X-Rays at the game that came back negative. Did an MRI on Friday here at the facility, and that turned out as good as we could possibly imagine. He has worked all weekend here. He has done rehabilitation. He did extensive pool therapy here at the complex. He has done some stuff in the athletic training room and is progressing nicely. As I’ve talked to you guys over the years here, every guy is different, and every injury is different. You saw that with Tyreek (Hill) and how we managed that. We do this with all of our players. We’ll manage Patrick accordingly and he is right in the middle of the process. I appreciate your time.”
HEAD COACH ANDY REID
OPENING STATEMENT: “Just to add to a couple of the injury things. Andrew Wylie has the sprained ankle. He’s getting better, but not quite all of the way back yet. (Eric) Fisher, (Chris) Jones and (Sammy) Watkins are all making progress. They are day-to-day and working hard. We’ll just see how things go here over the next few days as we get ready to play Green Bay. We look forward to the challenge of playing the Packers. We know that they are a good football team. (Packers Head Coach) Matt (LaFleur) has done a nice job with that crew, which was evident yesterday against a good Raiders football team. And then, (Packers Defensive Coordinator) Mike Pettine has that (former Chiefs Defensive Coordinator) Bob Sutton connection there. He is doing a good job with their defense. Between the two of them, they’re playing good football. Anyways, with that, time’s yours.”
Q: What are the challenges of preparing a reserve quarterback to start an NFL game?
REID: “We’ll see how it all goes, but we have a lot of confidence in Matt (Moore). Just having known him for a short period of time, really, but also knowing what he has done when he has had opportunities to play, he’ll get himself ready to go – which he does every week. He’s relentless with that, even when Patrick was healthy there. He spent a lot of time getting himself ready to go.”
Q: What was it about the preparation conducted beforehand that led to a level of comfort when a situation like that presents itself, like it did on Thursday night?
REID: “I think it’s the way that Matt goes about his business. He works extremely hard at that. He doesn’t get a lot of reps in practice. He stands in the back – you guys have been out at practice, so you know – but he stands in the back and goes through all of the different motions as if he is actually playing there. As well as you can be prepared, he does that without being the starter.”
Q: How much do you think that you built up confidence in Moore to understand the playbook well enough to be ready to play?
REID: “He came in just right after that third preseason game, just before the last preseason game there, so it’s been a short period of time. He has digested what we’re doing and has done it well. He’s been around long enough to where he is probably seeing most of the things that we do, or close to it – individual route-wise, at least. He has picked it up well. Sharp kid.”
Q: Going back to your time with the Eagles and even in your early years here, you’ve been able to get some good play out of your backup QBs. What is the key to getting a backup ready to play at a high level?
REID: “I think it’s the player and their relationship with the coordinator and their coach. We have had good coordinators here. We have had good quarterback coaches. And, we have had good players, which helps. That’s the way that it was, whether I was at Philly or here, it was that way. Those guys dig in and they learn. It’s not an automatic that they play well, that’s not it. You have to work extremely hard at that. Matt is going to have to put a lot of time and effort into this week, like he does every week, and get himself ready.”
Q: Does having a QB who you haven’t worked a lot with going into this situation put more on your plate to try to figure out what he is comfortable with?
REID: “Well, you hope that you have done enough studying on him before that player gets here to kind of know their strengths and weaknesses, but it doesn’t really put more on your plate, as far as that goes. We have enough in the offense to where I might be able to get you a couple of plays, BJ (Kissel).”
Q: Is there a set timeline of when you would like to see Mahomes return to the practice field?
REID: “All of these guys are different. The way that they do it, I don’t think you put a timeline on this thing. I think you just go off how he feels and what the doctors say and go with it. I don’t think there is a set time though. I know people want a time, but I don’t think you can do that with this injury.”
Q: Is Mahomes officially ruled out for this week?
REID: “We are going to just see how he does. I would probably say that it would be a stretch for him to get there, but he is working hard. From the information that we have to this point, he is doing what he can do, and we’ll just see. We’ll see how it goes. But we’re going to get Matt ready to go, on the other hand. That’s where we’re at right now.”
Q: What have your conversations been like with Mahomes?
REID: “They’ve been good. When you’ve been around him for long enough, you know that nothing is impossible with this kid. He goes 100 miles an hour. He is smart this way, but it is important that he listens to the doctors and the trainers, and that he continues to work hard at the same time and gets himself ready to go. He’s doing all of the things that he can possibly do. One of the reasons I have (Chiefs Vice President of Sports Medicine & Performance) Rick (Burkholder) talk is so that he can tell you about all of this. Those guys, they spend a lot of time together. We’ll just see how it all works out.”
Q: When you’re missing a guy like Patrick, do you have to guard against tendencies amongst the other guys to not stretch beyond their assignments on plays and to just stay within the offense?
REID: “Matt gives you the confidence that he can come in. It’s not going to be exactly like Pat’s. They’re all different, every player is different. Just because he has been around for a long time and has had success, and with the way that he handles himself, people have confidence in him. But it’s important that he continues to be Matt and that the other guys continue to be themselves. Let’s just go on with the week. You never know what’s going to happen, one way or another.”
Q: When you’re trying to weigh when to bring back any player, is it different when you have a guy that’s a franchise quarterback and you’re trying to look down the road, even when you have a Sunday night game this week?
REID: “I’ve been asked that over the years. What we do is just the right thing. We make sure that the player is able to play. Then, as opposed to playing all of the games with that, that you might think or people might think, we’re real with the whole thing. If you can play, you can play. If you can’t, you can’t. I expect the next guy to step up and play. I’ve been fortunate to be around good people that brought in good players and have been able to do that. That way, you don’t have to get into all of the, ‘Who do you play next?” How do you explain that to a player, a team? Well, we’re not going to play this guy because we think that we are going to be OK, but next week we have to really win. You can’t do that, right? That doesn’t make sense. As opposed to getting into all of that, (Chiefs General Manager) Brett (Veach) busts his tail to find good players and bring them in so that we don’t have to get into all of that stuff and the politics of the game, so you can just go play. If you’re healthy, you play. If you’re not, you’re not.”
Q: If you end up in a position that Kyle Shurmur is your backup behind Moore, what have you seen thus far that tells you that he is ready for that?
REID: “He has worked hard. He is obviously young and doesn’t have a ton of experience, that would be the negative part. The positive is that when he had opportunities to play in the preseason, he did well. I mean, he made the team, which is a big thing. If that’s the direction we go, we go. Brett deals with all of that. He sure put together a nice preseason, if that means anything. You have no data and I have no data on him playing in a regular season game.”
Q: Is there any optimism that Fisher, Fuller or Watkins could be ready to practice this week?
REID: “We’ll see. We have a couple of days here, so we’ll see. Listen, if you’re there, let’s go. If you’re not, then you’re not. If you’re ready to go, let’s get in there and go.”