The Kansas City Chiefs were back to work on Monday after a day off at training camp with fresher energy and enthusiasm on the field during their workouts at Missouri Western State University. Four Chiefs got in front of the podium for the team’s post-practice press conference, and each gave reporters’ generous responses heading into preparation for this Sunday’s preseason opener.
Andy Reid, Isiah Pacheco, Trent McDuffie, and Tommy Townsend spoke to reporters and provided valuable insight into their thoughts on training camp, teammates, and more.
Check out their top quotes below:
Andy Reid on L'Jarius Sneed's injury
“It just – it swells so we’re trying to keep the swelling down on that. The better we do that the better off he’s going to be for the season.”
Andy Reid on Charles Omenihu suspension
“Well I mean it’s done. He’s just got to keep pushing through and make sure he doesn’t slack off on the football part and then take care of business off the field.”
Isiah Pacheco on which rookies have jumped out at him
“I say all of them. That’s what I looked at last year with my class, all of us stood out. For example, we got some of those younger guys asking me, ‘How was this? How was that? Where do I take care of my body?’ You know just asking questions and for me I was doing the same as well. So, I don’t have a problem with sharing that information with that younger player to allow them to be the best they can be.”
Isiah Pacheco on how much has the game slowed down for him
“It’s slowed down a lot. Obviously, I trust myself and I trust the scheme, the quarterback and the coaches. For me it’s just like I said before, finding the little things that I got to get better at. Like I said, I got high standards and I’m unsatisfied.”
Trent McDuffie on feeling comfortable at the nickel position
“Yeah, I mean this offseason I spent a lot of time just trying to learn the position a little more. I didn’t play it a lot in college. I’ve always been someone who said, ‘Throw me anywhere, I can play it,’ but nickel was something that I definitely had to learn. Coming into camp this year, it’s been tough, but I feel like I’ve learned a ton. Just the communication, having Nick Bolton on the inside talking to me a ton. Having corners out there, J-Wat (Jaylen Watson) and Josh (Williams) who know what they’re doing, and then a backend, my safeties, even Michael (Edwards) came in and his learning the playbook has been tremendous. Being able to just go in there and help out, especially with (L’Jarius) Sneed who is not in all the time, still working on himself. It’s going to be helpful.”
Trent McDuffie on L'Jarius Sneed's help with learning the nickel position
“Yeah, I feel like last year especially, coming back and then jumping straight inside, over the course of the end of last season. He’s just someone I can really just truly look up to and ask all the questions. He’s been here three years, he’s done it, inside outside. Just picking his brain and what he sees, how he does it, certain things, why he lines up that way has been for me, a teacher to student type of thing.”
Tommy Townsend on being challenged by Assistant Head Coach/Special Teams Coordinator Dave Toub
“I mean he’s always putting pressure on me; he’s always putting a lot of pressure on me. That’s one thing that he always takes pride in, is making practice harder than the game. I think he does a really good job of that because I do get a little nervous out here; especially the first couple of practices back, you know it’s really nervy. Getting everything going, just the speed of it, you know, just how he has our practices set up, it really gets you prepped and ready for the season.”
Tommy Townsend on the status of his ankle after rolling it last week
“I mean it’s just kind of been a day-to-day thing, you know it’s been improving really quickly which is good. It just got twisted up a little bit last week, but like I said, it’s been feeling really good. I’ve been working with (Assistant Athletic Trainer David) Glover in the training room, and it’s been progressing really well. I don’t really expect it to be lingering or anything like that, so feeling good.”
