The Kansas City Chiefs have been hard at work during their training camp practices in St. Joseph, Missouri, and gave the media some great quotes about their preparation for the 2023 season in their post-game press conference on Sunday.
Andy Reid, Justin Watson, Donovan Smith, and Joshua Williams all addressed reporters after workouts concluded on Sunday, and shared some interesting tidbits about the method to Kansas City’s madness at Missouri Western State University:
Check out their top quotes below:
Andy Reid on how he structures his practices
“[Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve] Spags [Spagnuolo] plays his coverages – works his coverages. We don’t game plan against that, that’s not what the offense does. They’re not game-planning against the offense from a defensive standpoint. Just trying to get the base stuff in and one thing I’ll tell you about it is the windows when they’re playing zone are tighter really all over the field. That’s because the guys have a better feel, so they’re able to tighten down those triangles there that they play.”
Andy Reid on pay disparities at the running back position
“I think it’s cyclical. I just think it goes – running backs when I got in the league were making good money. Then all the sudden the pass game came up, and it’s working through the colleges and high schools and so everyone wants to play wide receiver now that teams are throwing the ball, so it devalues that position just a bit but it’ll come around. It’ll work its way back around.”
Andy Reid on new offensive tackles Jawaan Taylor and Donovan Smith
“I like their effort. You’re never sure exactly what you’re going to get there. But they’re competing and that’s important – that’s an important part of this that you’re able to push through these practices – run and pass. I like the way they work their game [Chiefs offensive line] Coach [Andy] Heck likes them the way they’re working. And he’s got them in the individual and everything else there.”
Justin Watson on the difference between Chiefs receiving corps heading into 2023
“You know, I think there’s been a lot of change in this receiver room over the last two seasons. Last year I was the new guy even just being here for one season, this year it’s like you’re the seasoned vet. MVS [Marquez Valdes-Scantling] and myself are kind of the only two vets that we’ve had play in this system and so it’s just becoming a leader this year. We have a bunch of young guys that are just chopping at the bit and really pushing everybody, so it’s been a good mix of older guys and younger guys so far in camp.”
Justin Watson on his relationship with Blaine Gabbert
“Blaine [Gabbert] is one of my closest friends, we were working out all offseason together while we were still free agents. So, whenever I signed, I put the full court press on him, wanting to get him up here. He’s such a tremendous talent, and to get him in this quarterback system and working with Pat [Mahomes] and seeing how those two talk about the game, you know, I think Blaine [Gabbert] is going to have a lot of success in the preseason and whatever capacity he has to throw the ball here.”
Donovan Smith on his competition against the Chiefs' defensive line
“It’s good, it’s definitely an adjustment here. We definitely work our tails off here, you know it’s great. Anytime you’re going against a good defensive line like that you’re just able to hone in on your skills and get better each day. Make the man across from you better and you get better. So, we just strive for perfection each day and just go with it.”
Donovan Smith on how he and his teammates hold each other accountible
“Oh man, just the way we approach practice and a lot of things. When you touch the field just making sure you look the part, attention to details, uniform out in practice, those small things go a long way because obviously the more you pay attention to the details the other things make it easier. As soon as you lock in on all of those things, you key in on all of those things, it makes your job easier, you don’t have to worry about that stuff.”
Joshua Williams on his hilarious serpent-in-a-cooler prank in the Chiefs' locker room
“They had the little cooler in there with the snake thing man and really all I was doing was recording it. That was a – the crazy thing is they got me the first time. They had one of those little kids in there and he was asking me if I wanted an ice cream bar and I was like ‘Aw man that’s nice’, a little kid offering ice cream bars in the locker room. I go up to him, and he just, sweet as can be, he walked up and opened it up and I jumped up. There was like three of us. We ran out the locker room running. So, I’m just glad nobody caught me (laughter).”
Joshua Williams on what he worked on during the offseason to prepare for training camp
“Definitely the little things. Of course, you can always work on the playbook and that’s what I did, that’s what I’m still doing, but just technique things, things that might have got me in trouble last year, little penalties, stuff like that. That was a big emphasis and just working on my game as a whole, being prepared and knowing how to attack this second year.”
