KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs Head Coach Andy Reid met with the media on Monday. Following are his comments.

OPENING STATEMENT: “Alright, don’t have anything injury-wise to give you. I will tell you though that it was a good game. From a fan standpoint, I’m sure it was a great game. I appreciate our fans and our stadium people for cranking it up. They (Minnesota) had a few folks there and our people kind of squashed them when it needed squashed. That was very good. Harrison Butker, my hat goes out to him for the day that he had – four field goals. That one at the end, that was a big one. They did a pretty nice job. You could see the little technique that they used. They jumped over our guys and actually tipped the ball slightly. It was a nice job. He drilled that thing. He put a lot into it and was able to get it over, even with the hand that hit it. Good team win all the way around. I thought our defense just really played well. (Defensive Coordinator) Steve (Spagnuolo) and his staff had a great game plan. The guys trusted and believed in it. They executed it. You saw it during the week in how they practiced. They practiced fast and aggressive. That’s the way they played. It just carried right over to the field. Offensively, again, my hat goes off to Matt (Moore) for being thrown into a thing like this. He goes from coaching high school to having an opportunity to play back in the NFL. But you could see his experience. All of those years that he’s been in the league, you can see that in how he just kind of calmed the storm at the end and ended up making a couple of huge throws. Tyreek (Hill) had a big day. And none of this happens without the offensive line doing their thing, too. I thought EB (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) was persistent and aggressive with the guys during the week. I thought that paid off all of the way around. Our guys played aggressive football and I thought that was a result of the way that EB handled them during the week. Anyways, Tyreek had the big day with 140 yards, or whatever it was, receiving. Then Damien (Williams) had the big run there. The right side of the line really collapsed everything down. The guy that really helped out, too, was Tyreek, just by shielding their secondary player there. Damien had a good day. He had over 100 yards. He played well. Defensively, Damien Wilson, with the seven tackles, that was a big day. That D-line, I mean it starts there. How they played, the aggressiveness that I thought they played with, I thought was tremendous. It’s important that we are continuing to improve. When your defensive line plays aggressive and is able to pressure a quarterback like that, where it just throws him off balance enough to where it alters his throws, it helps everybody out. It helps the secondary out. It helps the linebackers out. All while still being able to latch down on the run. It was good on both sides with the bigs, and normally with that the end result is good. Anyway, we have plenty of room to improve. We’re still minus a few guys, but we’ll see how this week goes. I don’t have an answer for you on anybody really right now. But we’ll just see how it goes with the players and see how they heal up. With that, time’s yours.”

Q: You’ve been around Tyreek Hill for quite a while now. Does he still continue to amaze you with some of the things that he does on a weekly basis?

REID: “You know what? He loves to play the game. I think the thing that amazes me the most is that he is fast and quick, but it’s his endurance while being fast and quick. Normally, you don’t see that. I tell him that he has this “cheetah” nickname, but he is really not a cheetah because they’re normally a burst and then they go rest for about eight hours (laughter). That’s not this guy. He can keep going, over and over again. It’s pretty amazing.”

Q: What is it about Tyreek’s ability to go get those deep balls?

REID: “He would’ve been a great center fielder.”

Q: How often do you see that in a speed guy?

REID: “He’s got a unique combination. He does. Then, he’s smart on top of all of that. He can handle all of the stuff that we do with him and all of the positions we put him in. He is able to handle that.”

Q: Has it gotten to the point where when the offense is driving down the field, you can just throw it up to Tyreek and he’ll come down with it?

REID: “Yeah, you think he has a pretty good shot at it. Listen, he’ll tell you that he still has room to improve. He is still young in this thing. He’ll keep getting better with time here.”

Q: Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub hasn’t been shy about saying how much he would like to use Tyreek on special teams whenever possible. Is the way that you guys used him yesterday late in the game the perfect example of the way to utilize him?

REID: “Yeah, and Mecole (Hardman) is getting better. He has had a couple of balls on the ground, but that’s not him. That’s not who he is. That hasn’t been his M.O. coming out of college. That’s not what you saw. He’ll get all of that straightened out. He, likewise, is a heck of a weapon back there. We have a lot of confidence in him. He’ll continue to grow. That’s a lonely position back there. You have some pretty vicious guys coming to take care of business there, so that’s a unique spot to be in. He’ll keep getting better, too.”

Q: There were a couple of touchdowns that Minnesota scored in the second half that kind of seemed like mistake plays. Do you leave a game like that, overall, more optimistic because those errors are correctable things?

REID: “Yeah, exactly. That was a good observation. That’s the communication part, playing together, knowing a funky offensive formation or motion. Sometimes it’s just sight adjustment on those. You don’t have enough time to communicate everything verbally. So, it might be a point, or whatever it is, but it has to get done quickly. In those situations, that’s like playing together; the more that you do it, the better you’ll get at it.”

Q: Are you at all surprised at how many big plays you’re still getting in the passing game with Matt Moore at quarterback?

REID: “I’m not because of the way that he handles himself. We still have Chad (Henne) sitting back there, too. Chad is another one that can do those things. I think Brett’s (Veach) done a good job of kind of getting the right guys in for what we do. Maybe they don’t have the same arm that Patrick does, but they’ve got good vision and they’re athletic enough to do what you need to do. And listen, they’re throwing to some pretty good people, too. I’m not surprised by it. I’d like to do more and get more.”

Q: Do you think it can be part of your weaponry moving forward, being able to use Chris Jones as a flex position rather than just being in one spot?

REID: “We did that last year with him a tad. We did more of it yesterday, just increasing that role. I think that’s something you can do, and it gives you that flexibility. He’s a big kid and can handle the load outside that a tight end and a tackle put on you. I think he has the athletic ability to do that, yeah. He does good inside too. He’s not a speed rusher, that’s not what we’re talking about here, but he has a lot of power and he can do that.”

Q: Damien Williams had a big game yesterday. What goes into the decision to use one running back over another?

REID: “We’re lucky that we have some guys and they all played. And we’ll keep that up. We’re going to need all of them. That’s a tough position and I thought he did good in there. We kept giving it to him and that’s how it rolls. You saw on the long touchdown, there was LeSean (McCoy) congratulating him. They all get along and are pretty unselfish that way.”

Q: Do you feel like Damien Williams has been healthy?

REID: “Yeah. I think he has gotten more healthy as he has gone along here. I think he feels pretty good right now.”

Q: Are you seeing some benefits from those guys knowing there’s more competition in that position?

REID: “No, but I’ll always say that I believe competition brings out the best in you. On one hand I don’t know where that comes into effect, but I know they’re close, but I also know they’re competitive, however, that works out. You can read into it from there, but we’re always trying to bring in competition at all spots. It makes us better as a football team. We really don’t care if everybody plays in a game, so we encourage that. Be ready and we’ll use you anywhere type deal.”

Q: You mentioned EB (Eric Bieniemy) was aggressive with the offense last week, how have you seen him progress and grow as an offensive coordinator?

REID: “I mean you saw him there at the end, he kept everything intact, and there was a lot happening there at the end that could have gotten away. He was able to calm everything down and still get the play into the quarterback and the quarterback did a good job of calming everything down at times when it was a rat race out there, which happens at the end of games under two minutes. I thought he handled everything well, and at times, it was two plays at a time. He’s getting a play and then trying to coach a guy up on the next play so we can keep rolling on. He’s good with all that and not a lot fazes him. He’s pretty in-tune.”

Q: Just to clarify, you mentioned Patrick Mahomes is getting close. Can you explain where he’s at in the rehab and how he’s getting closer to where he needs to be?

REID: “It looks like he’s moving around better. That’s all I can tell you. I don’t know all the medical terms for it, I just thought he looked better this week than he did last week. Is he ready? I can’t tell you that. I’m not sure we’ll know that until we get there. Who knows? We’ll see how it all goes here. I’ll let the doctors handle all that stuff.”

Q: The way you see him in practice or pre-game routine, do your own eyes suggest he’s ready?

REID: “I didn’t go out for all the pre-practice stuff. I didn’t watch him do all that. I can tell you during the week I watch him, and he just looked better than he had the week before. He wasn’t quite there. I don’t know that injury well enough to stand here and predict something and it’s not the most common injury in this league.”

Q: How important will it be for him to put in a full practice to show that he is getting closer?

REID: “He knows our stuff. I’m comfortable with that and that’s how I felt going into last week. If something were to happen and he could go, then he knows the stuff and it’s not a problem there. He knows our receivers; he spends so much time with those guys. I’m not that worried about it. I don’t know a time for you. We’ll just see. I’m going to play it by ear and just go off of that.”

Q: How has Mike Pennel helped in his short time of being here?

REID: “He’s a big guy that brings good energy. Again, I don’t know him that well, he’s only been here a short period of time. I know that what I see, I like. He’s not a selfish guy. He’s all in. Those are all positive things and he’s been contributing the last couple of weeks, which has been good.”

Q: A follow up to what you said earlier about Tyreek, that you don’t think he’s a cheetah. Is there a more accurate animal that he is?

REID: “No, just keep being him. Be Tyreek.”

—CHIEFS—