Duke Riley – January 11, 2024
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Thursday, January 11, 2024
LB Duke Riley
(What is the key to getting everybody up for this cold weather situation?) – “Just embrace it. Regardless if it is 100 degrees here in Miami or zero degrees wherever it is at, I’m going to be high energy. I’m going to be loving it and enjoying it. At the end of the day, it’s a chance for a lot of people to make a household name for themselves. When I think of the playoffs, I think of Raheem (Mostert) and what he did when he was in San Francisco and made a huge name for himself because a lot of people didn’t really know who he was and he showed them who he was. That’s the message I’ve been relaying to a couple of the guys. The weather doesn’t really matter. The place doesn’t really matter. What matters is the mindset of everybody in the room and on the team, and how consistent can we be and the effort we give. That’s really all that’s going to matter.”
(Kansas City got you guys earlier in the season. What would the feeling be to end theirs at their place?) – “It’s just going to be a surreal feeling. We all know that – I don’t know how long it has been since Miami has won a playoff game. But I tell everybody, why not us? Why not be the team that does that? Why not break that cycle? We’ve got a lot of guys in this room, even though we’re losing guys, we’ve still got a lot of guys who play some really good ball. We’ve brought some guys in to help us. We’re just taking it day by day. We’re enjoying the process every single day. I feel like a lot of guys are ready to play, especially with that feeling still in our gut from last week.”
(How do you avoid pressing when you guys are coming off back-to-back losses and you want to get that feeling out of your system but it is win or go home?) – “Win or go home. We understand that and it’s all about how we respond. It’s really just getting back to the fundamentals. When stuff goes wrong, just get back to the fundamentals and technique. Be huge on that. Be huge on communication. Over-communicate. I feel like a lot of guys have been doing that throughout the week and a lot of guys are ready to play. I know for damn sure that I am. I want to give my everything in the meeting or walkthrough or whatever it is, so I can be the best for the team.”
(How tough was it to see LB Jerome Baker again after coming right back?) – “I mean we all know ‘Bake’ (Jerome Baker) and we love ‘Bake.’ Just him going out there and playing through the stuff that he was going through just shows how strong of a person he is. This game is so crazy when things like that happen because he did it and he was still playing with it. I don’t know when he did it, maybe earlier in the game or the second quarter, and he said it was hurting, and he got it taped and he was just thinking it was something because things happen. You get hit and nine times out of 10, if you wake up with an injury, you don’t know when it happened or where it came from because that adrenaline is so high. So for him to even finish the game with that just shows you his strength, his courage and how much he really loves the team.”
(QB Patrick Mahomes, do you have some sleepless nights thinking about him?) – “Nah, I sleep really well every night.”
(What’s the challenge going against a former MVP?) – “The challenge is us being who we are and doing what we do. It doesn’t matter who a team has, one person can’t beat 11 if we’re all doing our job. Obviously I’m not going to ever discredit who Patrick Mahomes is. We all know he’s one of the greatest. I personally love Pat. I know him. We trained with the same guy coming out of college, so we have a lot of mutual respect. I definitely truly respect him. I think he’s one of the best quarterbacks in the NFL. Statistic-wise, he’s won two Super Bowls already. He’s been in big games, so he’s going to be prepared and we know that. We just have to be ready and prepared just as much.”
(Is the frustration covering him the fact of what QB Patrick Mahomes can do with his legs? Or is it the arm angle?) – “Everything. He can extend plays and guys will have to plaster and cover guys. We have to do a good job of keeping him in the pocket, even if we’re pressed, because we know the magic he can do with the ball regardless if he’s on a run, doing circles, throwing no-looks. We all know what he can do. We’ve all seen it. We just have to play our game and be detailed and on our stuff.”
Terron Armstead – January 11, 2024
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Thursday, January 11, 2024
T Terron Armstead
(It seems like the locker room is really loose. How important is that going into a playoff game? You’re one of the few that has a ton of playoff experience.) – “Yeah, I’ve never seen any situation where stress helps. Stay loose, get prepared, work on our craft, our preparation and get ready to go out and execute Saturday night.”
(Cold weather, that’s kind of the big factor. What are the keys to staying warm and being able to execute what you need to at a high level?) – “Yeah, I mean when we’re out there running around and all that good stuff, the temperature doesn’t matter. As far as weather, when you get into wind or rain and all that good stuff, then it can affect the game, the passing game, the kicking game. But temperature, you just have to deal with it.”
(You’re going against the Super Bowl champs. What does it mean to try and steal the belt or crown so to speak?) – “Yeah, this is the way to go. It’s the way to go. Got to go through KC to get our dreams, our goals, our aspirations. There’s no better way than that. Knock off the defending champs and keep rolling from here.”
(Last time you guys played them it was your first game back, and you guys didn’t have OL Rob Hunt out there. How much better do you think the offensive line will be now that you have Rob and you’re a little bit more…) – “Yeah, I mean our goals and objectives don’t change. Protect the quarterback and create lanes for the runner. That’s what we’re going to do to the best of our ability. As a unit, we’re playing pretty well. We got a lot of chemistry and cohesiveness going on. We’re flying off the ball. So that’s non-negotiable. We’re going to do that Saturday night as well. So it’ll be fun. It’ll be a fun battle up front. They have a really good defensive line and defense in total. It’ll be a very big challenge, but we’ll have fun out there.”
(What do you notice when WR Jaylen Waddle and WR Tyreek Hill are on the field together being without Jaylen for the last couple weeks?) – “Yeah, it just opens up more options in our offense. It’s more of a defense has to pick their poison a bit more. They can’t just focus on 10 (Tyreek Hill) as much. It opens up more lanes in the run game at times if you take a body out of the box. That can be very beneficial to the run game. 17 (Jaylen Waddle) is a major weapon. You can’t minimize his absence at all, so having him back is a huge asset.”
(Are you doing sleeves or no sleeves) – “No sleeves. It’s a football game.” (laughter)
Justin Houston – January 11, 2024
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Thursday, January 11, 2024
LB Justin Houston
(I know obviously you wanted to be with a playoff contender towards the end of the year after being with Carolina. Was Miami a team that you had eyeballed a while back as injuries starting happening at the edge for them?) – “I definitely did. I think it’s a great situation to be in. Perfect timing, I guess. You never want to see anybody get hurt but I’m here now and I’m happy to be here.”
(How crazy has this transition been? Joining a team mid-week, short week, and trying to get ready to play on Saturday?) – “Thank God for my experience so it’s easier to learn the playbook. I’ve been in this system before, so it’s not that bad. I’m in a good situation because I’ve played in a system similar to this when I was in Carolina. It’s not too much on me. But if I was a young guy, there would be a lot on my plate. But I’m cool right now.”
(How would you describe what you bring to the team?) – “I’m a pass rusher. That’s my job is to put pressure on the quarterback. So I came here to put pressure on the quarterback.”
(A lot of familiarity with Arrowhead, memories there. What’s it going to be like in the visitors’ locker room?) – “Old stomping grounds. Have you seen that locker room? It’s a closet. That’s not a locker room. They’re going to put us in a closet. (laughter) But it’s cool man. New environment. I’m just happy I’m still playing ball so it’s a blessing to be here.”
(A lot of the guys haven’t played in cold weather games. You have. What advice do you give them?) – “Just stay by the heaters during TV timeouts. I think that’s the worst situation. Because other then that, you’re playing ball. You don’t even think about the cold weather until a TV timeout when you’re just standing there. I think that’s the worst.”
(We’ll how Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio uses all of you guys Saturday, but with four accomplished pass rushers with you, LB Bruce Irvin, LB Melvin Ingram and DE Emmanuel Ogbah, do you feel like in those conditions, maybe all four of you could give something, high-energy snaps if you all four play?) – “I think we can do a great rotation to keep everybody fresh. I think it would be good for us and this team.”
Mike McDaniel – January 11, 2024
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Thursday, January 11, 2024
Head Coach Mike McDaniel
(Unlike last year, this year against playoff teams, offensive output generally has been for you guys in the teens, low twenties. But at the same time, in that first Kansas City game there were maybe four plays that were this close to being a touchdown. So I guess my question is this, do you feel like you need to do exactly what you’ve been doing on offense and just do it better? Or do you feel like because the offensive production against good teams hasn’t been great, that you need to try new things Saturday, whether it’s stuff you haven’t gotten to in the playbook, whether it’s more hurry up, whether it’s a new wrinkle that you need to do?) – “I think the state of every phase on a football team is an evolving process. You go through highs and lows. The point you make about the last time we played them is exactly right. I think you have to base your decisions on how you schematically attack a defense based upon not theoretical crystal balls, more so your players and what they’re executing, what they’re doing well, what the matchups are and how to put them in good positions. Every game, I kind of approach the same way where you’re trying to get your players in good position to have an effect on the game. You don’t necessarily have to change your identity as much as you have to learn lessons on every level. Each player has to look at their failures the same way I look at my failures and I think our team does that, which is why it’s the only way that – amongst all your doom and gloom, they’ve held themselves to a high standard on offense. I think they started the year out first week number one. That carries a lot of weight with it and we’ve maintained that throughout the season. There were highs and lows like there are always going to be in football. The bottom line is we have a confident group that will be in position to make some plays and I think we have the right people in place to do those, so I feel pretty good about this game.”
(What is the status of WR Jaylen Waddle and RB Raheem Mostert?) – “That’s a good questionable. (laughter) Short weeks, you really have to take it up to the end-of-the-week clock. Specifically with those two, you want to make sure everything you’re doing, that you’re pressing them enough. Not too much, but you kind of have to be able to forecast what’s going to happen in the game all things equal. That doesn’t mean they can’t get injured on – I think the last time we played the Chiefs, Jaylen Waddle got rolled up on in the second play of the game. You can’t forecast those types of things, but you need to know that the player you’re taking into the game has, with your best inclination, a reasonable chance to play the entire game. That’s where we’re kind of at right now. We haven’t had any setbacks with those two and I’m feeling optimistic with both. But the reason why they’re in question is because we’re pressing them to see if – you only have a certain amount of active players on a gameday roster, every time somebody gets hurt in a game, it puts stress on your entire team. We saw that last week and it trickles down, all the way down to special teams. Even when a player that doesn’t get any special teams reps gets hurt, then someone else who plays on special teams has to play. So that trickle-down effect we’re protecting against and we’ll utilize the time until kickoff to make that decision.”
(Do S Jevon Holland and S DeShon Elliott fall in that questionable distinction and how confident are you that they are going to be able to play?) – “They both fall into that questionable kind of situation there. I think specifically, the way DeShon really pressed through that game last week, he’s not going to be able to take any reps to get that calf to his best position. He seems to be of the stubborn quality where I’m optimistic about him, but I still won’t know. He’s going to take all the time. He might as well have a post office box here in the training room and get his mail delivered there because he’s been living in it. Then same thing with Jevon. Those two are going to be game day decisions for sure based upon their ambition to play in the game, their work. The training staff does an outstanding job with those guys and short weeks, playoff games, are kind of adding variables.”
(Bill Belichick will not be back with the New England Patriots. Certainly he has a long history of playing against this team and you’ve seen him a few times. Just your thoughts on his legacy.) – “It’s really mixed emotions, I would say. I’m more kind of taken aback by that in conjunction with Coach Saban and Pete Carroll. They have as much responsibility to what the game is right now as anybody that’s around. I have so much respect and regard for being able to do what they’ve done for that amount of time. I have a very close first-hand experience on what it means, the sacrifice it takes to do this job. It is a sacrifice – such a blessing, such an opportunity – but you really have to pour yourself into it. And when you do that for a quarter century, I can’t say enough positive words about Coach Belichick, and I lump Coach Carroll and Nick Saban in there because it feels the same way. It’s a reminder to me that – I’m just going to be candid – that Father Time is a (expletive). Really not a nice guy. But it’s real and it reminds you that everything is finite and I think a lot of people have gained a lot of perspective, motivation. The leadership of Coach Belichick has been really, really cool to watch. He’s been at the chair for 24 years in one organization and it wasn’t because of entertaining press conferences. (laughter) It was because of his due diligence at what his job was, so I have a lot of regard and I’m kind, as you can tell, I’m kind of mourning the loss of those three, for sure.”
(When you’re trying to beat a Chiefs team that is the defending Super Bowl champs, is there something in knocking off the champ that has that championship DNA and pedigree that makes it even more of a challenge when they’re in their house and they’re defending the crown, so to speak?) – “I think there’s a reason for everything. You can make everything that you experience purposeful if you have the mindset of you’re kind of dictating the terms. I do think there was something to get over playing the Chiefs and fortunately we played them this year. I think that, even if you go into a game with as much as confidence as you had all season, there’s still an element of, ‘okay, this is the team that holds the crown.’ And then I think within a game, like every game, it turns into a football game that you’re used to that has to do with executing the fundamentals and technique of your job at a high level. And I think I’m more comfortable with the team going into Arrowhead now than I probably was playing them in Germany, even with all the this, that’s and the others of why we shouldn’t have that confidence. I feel like we have a team that has fought and gotten knocked down and stood up and they’re excited for the opportunity to play a team that deserves all of their accolades because they’ve earned them. They’ve earned the home playoff game so you have an uphill battle that your job is to make it not that. I think our team understands the whys to the position we’re in and are excited for the opportunity to go compete against a team that they know they can compete with, and let the chips fall as they may. But I know we’re a closer team that has weathered life’s lessons and are still coming to work with a lot of gusto to go do something special, and I’m very, very motivated to go against a championship-caliber team on the road. It will be difficult, but that’s why it’ll be that much more enjoyable, so it’s worth the grind and it’ll be fun.”
(I wanted to ask you about running game – playoff season or weather-related in terms of why it ratchets up in postseason and this time of year?) – “I think you can control the game in a different degree. I think everybody’s emotions are high and the orchestration of pass game execution can be fickle at times and an equalizer is ‘hey, we have the ball, you don’t.’ With the run game, it’s really cool because you’re building all year to be able to perform and hold the ball for your team, maintain possession and score points doing it. So I think it’s the buildup that makes run games in the playoffs so powerful. I think that is – I’ve been on teams that have run the ball well in the postseason and all of those teams have had a journey that I think we’ve had this year, where you’ve pressed along and if you narrow it down to individual blocks or combination blocks, and if you watch a cut up of how we’re executing blocks, how we’re blocking people now versus the beginning of the season, it’s night and day. So that’s what you’re trying to do, to me, at least that’s what we’re trying to do every year, is to make it that way. So the results are the results. We score a lot of point sometimes. Sometimes we don’t score as much. But what I can say as tangible fact, is that we’ve progressed in how we’ve blocked people and that’s a big deal in the postseason because just think about it this way. There’s a bunch of individual human beings and when you walk into a playoff stadium, the energy is just tangibly different. Why is it different? Well, because every person in the stadium knows that the loser goes home. So that energy is on-tilt. Every play you can hear a bigger gasp when there’s something positive or negative. All of that weighs into the human element and the human experience of an elimination game. It’s a powerful experience that you can’t replicate. It’s why you do it. And in those types of moments, you like to control the will of the game and the most control you have is on the ground for sure, so you’ve got to be able to stop the run and run the ball.”
(There’s a cat and mouse game between offense and defense obviously. WR Tyreek HIll talked after the Baltimore game I think about always going against two-deeps. Last week, Buffalo changed their safeties at half. Is that where that safety is lined up more pronounced with your offense? It just seems to be a conversation going through this season.) – “Yeah, well it’s more of a conversation I think –it’s something that the Kansas City Chiefs offense is very well versed at – but there’s a certain time where if you’re productive enough, if you have gained the attention or garnered the attention and respect of opponents enough, you every week seem to be finding out what they’re going to do live. They end up changing who they are. So as a result, your game plan has to adjust. When people are prioritizing surprise and elements of unknown defensively, that conversation comes up because guys are very aware. Listen, we practiced all week against this single-high safety. I think, in particular, one that stands out is we talked a lot about safeties the Giants game. They blitz the most or second-most in the NFL. So we prepared a lot for our game plan to be able to handle that. And they played two safeties pretty much the whole game. So you’re players are more in-tune with what are we getting because week after week after week, it’s been, okay, do they show up and play a different defense? I think the conversation amongst our players is just because they know the most football they’ve ever known. They’ve really progressed that way. And that’s what happens when you get people’s best shots week in and week out, which is what you want. But I think it’s also them just having more knowledge of what their opponent is and then it stands out when they adjust.”
(A win Saturday would be the franchise’s first in the postseason for 23 years. What would breaking that drought mean to you?) – “Well, I’ve been saying a quarter century just because it’s more impactful. But I’ve been saying means that I’ve been saying it a lot, which means it means a lot. It was one of the first things I talked about my first day on the job because you have to understand what the passions that your fan base, the experiences they’ve had, what they’re harboring and then what it will feel like to bring people that joy of rooting for a team for that long and then to not be able to experience at least one postseason win. That’s rough. That is rough. Myself and the whole organization want to deliver on ending that and doing right by all those years of passion. I also think it’s something really cool to achieve, so I’ve been leaning on that both seasons I’ve been here. We talked about it in my first team meeting this week when we’re beginning this prep because that is an obstacle, but generally obstacles have – there’s a huge pot of gold, so to speak, when there are obstacles. There’s a saying that I just came up with right now – adversity is an opportunity. (laughter) But that’s why. Because it’s like wow, how great would it feel to be able to be the team that ends that drought and for a fanbase that is very steadfast and hungry. We have a lot of love for our fans. So it’s a big deal that you don’t chase directly. You know it’s there. But if you worry about constantly your technique, fundamentals and execution of your job, that’s something that is a reward waiting for a job well done.”
(I know you’re a fan of the game. You look back at all of these Ice Bowl, super cold weather games. They’re all iconic for some reason. I know you’re laser focused on the task, but is there a part of you that kind of says, as cold as it’s going to be, you’re balancing that and it will be kind of cool to be a part of something like that?) – “No, absolutely it is. No one likes being cold. That’s why we have temperature control. (laughter) However, it does make the moment bigger when you know that it is an absolute fact that it’s going to be frigid. Well, what if as a team, you find a way for it to not affect you? To be able to go and do athletic performance in that weather, it takes will. That will comes from a passion that is deep down that has been derived while a lot of these guys started playing the game that you’re unlocking. The last time I played in zero-ish degree weather was 2021 at Green Bay in the divisional round. And much like this team, we were up in Santa Clara and had like one coat in our closet. We weren’t used to that at all. But it galvanizes people. Kind of like when you talk to our players, the most fun game, outside of the result, that we played in the last two years, was the one at Buffalo on that Saturday night on a short week last year. So it’s about the team part of it. It’s about doing something that’s difficult inherently. That motivates you as a competitor, I think. And we have a lot of competitors on our team. I think the places that teams have to go to execute in those types of situations are hard. I think that’s what kind of makes them stand out in history, because you get a lot of cool spirited efforts by people doing things that a lot of people would struggle to do.”
Tua Tagovailoa – January 10, 2024
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Wednesday, January 10, 2024
QB Tua Tagovailoa
(Are you bringing the Isotoner gloves to Kansas City this weekend?) – “No. (laughter) Probably no Isotoner gloves, but I’m going to see what we can wear for the game. You can’t prepare for a game like that with that kind of weather, so it’ll be new.”
(So are you testing gloves for on-field play?) – “No. I’ll just see what it feels like without gloves. I just think the whole thing is a mindset.”
(What do you remember about watching last year’s playoff game that you think will help you now playing in your first playoff game?) – “Well, I think outside of the playoff game, there were a lot of other games that I missed. A lot of the guys from last year’s team, there’s been a lot of guys that haven’t returned. There’s a lot of new guys on this team and I think it’s a different team. I think a lot of the guys, we all want to do it right. It just sucks when we’re not able to with the work that we put in. But it’s a new season, the way we look at it. New season, new opportunity, and we can still get to where we want to get to after this week. But for me, I mean, not much I can say from me missing last year to now except for me missing it. So that was it.”
(You’ve made huge strides in the last couple of years. One area Head Coach Mike McDaniel was talking about earlier is maybe the end of game stuff. I asked him about that and he said that you’re still kind of learning those situations and you get better every time. What have you learned this season from end of game situations that you can apply going forward?) – “Just continuing to take what the defense gives me. There’s a lot of things on film that we can continue to get better at that had presented itself and just never took those opportunities. We had a lot of time in those instances and then in some of them there were miscommunications. But they’re all learning opportunities, and now it’s win or go home. So you can’t have those mistakes going into games like this.”
(Does anything change in those late game scenarios, high urgency on both sides, you guys to score, defense to stop you?) – “I mean you just got to find a way, any which way you can help your team win, whether it’s a field goal or scoring.”
(Obviously there’s no way to prepare for those conditions, but when you go out there and the wind might be a factor, how important maybe is the pregame warmups? What might you have to adjust based off the wind and the conditions there?) – “I think it’s just a feel of how everything is, what the ball feels like, what throwing feels like, what holding the ball feels like, if there’s wind, if there’s not wind, you have to take all those things into consideration. But we’ll go there, we’ll test it out and we’ll see what we have to do as far as adjusting or not.”
(What is just the feel around the locker room? We didn’t get a chance to see you guys practice, but this is it. This is what you play for all season.) – “I think the guys are excited that we still have another opportunity and we’re not necessarily leaving the building with a bad taste in our mouth from the last game. It’s just another opportunity for us to hopefully do what we said we wanted to do all along.”
(Head Coach Mike McDaniel talked this morning a little bit about the Chiefs aggressiveness in their blitzing and how it makes the offense have to be on their stuff. What can you do to help the offense be on top of your stuff this weekend?) – “I think it’s playing on time, knowing where my hots are. If I can, outside of our motions, if we’re allowed time to change protection, then we can do that, but because of how on time we do play, that’s sort of how we have been beating teams with pressures.”
(For a long time we’ve talked about WR Tyreek Hill and his professionalism since he’s arrived here, how he shows it every day in practice and so forth. In the past week or so, he’s had to deal with an awful lot of stuff. What have you seen from him and his ability to compartmentalize what he’s had to deal with?) – “I think he’s such a very mentally tough individual that from what had happened throughout what he’s been going through with injuries and then also with the fire that happened at his house, he hadn’t mentioned it much to his teammates, but guys will go and show their support for him. He has a good perspective on life. He has a good perspective on, ‘it’s not about me.’ And how he copes with it is definitely different. You can tell he’s mentally strong with how he goes about doing his business. But that’s what I would say.”
(If WR Jaylen Waddle is able to come back this week, how much does that help you guys get you to what you want to do offensively?) – “Yeah, I think it helps us out a lot. And then it’ll uncover what defensively what they want to do. If they want to bracket both those guys, we’re going to have to find other guys that can win their one-on-one matchups. Or if they want to double Tyreek (Hill), we’ll find Jaylen or we’ll find someone else who is working their matchup. We’ll come out, we’ll see what they want to do and we’ll go from there.”
(Is there an experience that you’ve had throughout your career, maybe not just at this level but going back to college, that you kind of pull from to prepare for this high-stakes game? Or I guess what is your personal approach to it?) – “Yeah, I don’t think I could compare this to anything because it’s all new. Everything is all new. This is a different feeling than it was in the National Championship game. Different feeling than it was in the SEC Championship game. I think they all come from new feelings. But the way I cope with it is go about my business the way I’ve been going about my business, take care of my job and trust my teammates will do the same with theirs.”
(What areas of growth – Head Coach Mike McDaniel talked about how this has been a continued season of growth for you – what areas of growth do you think you’ve had the most this year?) – “I don’t think I’ve had the opportunity to really sit down and look back at areas of growth for myself because of the day-to-day process of ok, whatever happened last week, you have to let that go. This is the gameplan for this week. You have these many cans, you have to know this, that, or the other. You don’t necessarily have that time to sit back and reflect necessarily. So, I would say I don’t have an answer right now for you. But after the season, we’ll definitely look back at things we’ve improved on and things we can continue to get better at.”
(Is it a point of pride that you led the league in passing this year?) – “Not necessarily. Individual accolades are super cool. They’re awesome. But if we could’ve won all our games, I would’ve traded that for that. if I would’ve thrown for 200 yards the entire season and we would’ve been 17-0, I think anybody would’ve done the same. Yeah, it’s cool, but that doesn’t mean you won or you accomplished what you wanted to accomplish as a team.”
(I imagine the same answer for your first Pro Bowl? We didn’t ask you last week.) – “Well, first Pro Bowl, that’s different because it’s recognition across the league from coaches, players and fans. I’m very grateful for that honor. It’s not something that I take lightly. But when it’s about me, it does get a little weird. But I am very grateful for that.”
(What’s the coldest temperature you’ve ever even been in?) – “I think maybe 20 (degrees)? Or like a little lower than 20? Nothing lower than I would say, 15. So probably in between there.”
(When was that?) – “It was in Seattle. We played an all-star game in high school and it was raining. It was bad. It was at night, too, and it was very windy. Terrible. No heaters on the sideline. (laughter) High school game. Terrible. All you have is like everybody under one blanket and the blanket is wet. (laughter)”
(When you were coming from Hawaii and going to Alabama, what was that reaction to cold weather?) – “Well, at first I thought it was really cool because that was my first time I got to see snow and now everybody’s like, ‘wait, it snows in Alabama?’ (laughter) Yeah, it’s crazy. It didn’t snow the two years after, but it snowed and the snow stuck. That was my first time seeing snow. It was super cool. But yeah, like the things that I can remember while it was cold is it was a little different gripping the ball. Your hands aren’t as moist when you’re feeling the ball so you either have a hand warmer or something to keep it not dry, if that makes sense. But yeah, that’s what I can remember.”
(Could you educate me – I got pushback because I referred to you as Hawaiian on social media. You’re Hawaiian? You’re from Hawaii?) – “I’m from Hawaii. I’m not Hawaiian.”
(Explain the difference.) – “So Polynesian, it entails Hawaiians, Samoans, Tongans, Fijians, you can throw people from the Cook Islands in there. Like anyone within the Polynesian Triangle, if you look it up, they’re Polynesian. I would say we are similar but different. I say that because there are words that sound very similar in each culture, but they’re said differently. And then obviously outside of that, the cultures are all different. That’s what I would say with Polynesian people, but I’m Samoan. I just grew up in Hawaii. That’s it. But there’s a lot of people that are Samoan, there’s a lot of people that are Tongan that live in Hawaii, that are in Hawaii, but are not Hawaiian. But yeah, that’s not to say that we don’t like Hawaiians or we don’t like whatever; that’s what that is.”
(So you were raised in Hawaii but you are not Hawaiian?) – “Correct.”
(What is the biggest challenge in facing this very good Chiefs defense?) – “The different looks that they present to us and then obviously you have Chris Jones. I mean, that dude is different. A lot of respect for his game and what he can do in disrupting a game plan and disrupting a game. So we’ll have to know where he’s at during the game and really just trust our keys. They give us different looks. They present one-high deals, then go to two-high. They present two-high deals, then have fire zones, so we’ll just have to be ready and then with their (Cover) 0s that they have, too. So we’ve just got to be ready with that and yeah, here we go.”
Frank Smith – January 10, 2024
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Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Offensive Coordinator Frank Smith
(Fans want to know, what do you do on gameday if Head Coach Mike McDaniel is calling plays?) – “Well, when the hot dogs are out, and the chips are done… (laughter). It’s more of, we’re actively involved in communication throughout the game. What we’re seeing, what the defense is doing, talking about play suggestions, what we’re looking at as far as the attack, how we need to address stuff like that. So it’s just active communication with him and then really the whole staff as to what’s occurring and what we need to do at that moment.”
(Do you suggest plays?) – “Yeah, we talk about it. I mean, as far as – the great thing is when you work with someone for so long, normally it’s like, ‘hey what do you think?’ Yep, I was kind of already there. At halftime it’s hilarious. I mean, literally as we’re game planning for this game, he (McDaniel) pulled up a couple plays and then he’s like, what about that. I’m like, this is eerie. Because you’re just around someone so much, you kind of see things in a certain light and it makes it real easy to get connected to what you think the approach and the attack is. A lot of the times where it’s ‘hey, I’m seeing this,’ and he’s like ‘yep, just circled it.’ It’s a very fluid conversation with him and I. That’s why it makes coming to work so much fun.”
(The Panthers announced that they had requested to interview you for their head-coaching vacancy. Just wanted to ask do you plan on interviewing for that and if so, how are you balancing that with the playoff game this weekend?) – “That stuff’s for the future. It doesn’t happen for the next week or something. As you guys know, and we talked about it before, it’s extremely humbling. I mean, you go out in your career and you set forward so many things that you want to have as your personal goals. To be at the cusp of all that, I’m truly thankful for all the people who helped me get here. Those things in the future will obviously transpire when they do. But today is about today and we have a lot of work to do to get ready for Saturday night. The one thing that I never take for granted is where I’m at today and what is necessary. Those things in the future will be when they come. I have the greatest job that I could ever ask for and I work for an organization with people that I’ve always wanted to work with. We’re just worried today about being the best we can be and getting ready for Saturday.”
(Would they like you to interview next week?) – “I don’t know. I don’t really concern myself with that just because of the rules and all that. I just know that’s the future. I know that today in about an hour and a half, I know exactly what I’m going to be doing. The future will handle itself when it does. I’m not really concerned about it right now. I’m concerned with helping these guys get ourselves ready to go to Kansas City.”
(Things are so fluid and changing it seems like by the minute almost. Have any other teams contacted you or put out feelers?) – “I don’t know. I can’t talk to anyone. I try to stay in my little world and fight crime in the darkness of trying to solve problems for the Dolphins. All that stuff, I’m fortunate I have people to help me in my life, and I just try and stay focused on today and make sure that we’re putting ourselves in the best position to have a successful game on Saturday.”
(As a candidate, you don’t wake up on Tuesday and go to an interview Wednesday. This is prep you’ve probably done for years of your career to get to this point, putting together action plans, binders, things like that. Is that correct?) – “Maybe some people do. I’m more of like, I didn’t really look at, ‘okay, some day I want this.’ I never looked at my career as at the end, I want this result, because then what if you don’t? How do you look back on your career as to what it meant? I’ve always focused on each day, it’s helping the people around you, serving others and adding value to their day, adding value to their lives. And you’re going, why is that? For me, football taught me who I am. It helped me find my career. It helped me find a lot of value in my life in college. It helped me give me my best friends. So much. I’ve found when you love something, you sacrifice and you invest. The more you give to football, to me, it’s always given back. So I never really looked at, ‘hey, I want all these things and I’m planning for all that.’ I always looked at it like, ‘alright, what’s my job today and how do I maximize it, and how do I become the best at what I need to do today?’ Then as you go along, you get reps. I’ve been surrounded by some great people I’ve been able to work with. I mean, Super Bowl-winning head coaches and great players. As many reps that you need to get ready for all the stuff in the future, you can get by listening and absorbing. I never really worried about what the end result was going to be. I just worried about making sure that I could add value today and be the best service I could to whoever I needed to do it with.”
(Since your focus is on this week, what impresses you about Chiefs Defensive Coordinator Steve Spagnuolo’s defense?) – “Basically, their ability to really communicate well. You can see that they’re very well connected. They like to dictate the terms, make sure that they’re all, from the back end to the front end, they’re playing sound defense. I worked with him in New Orleans in 2012, so he’s a very meticulous guy. He’s going to be on all the details. He’ll be on all the things that we do as an offense. So it’ll be a big challenge because you have a guy like Steve and his staff that do a great job with Andy (Reid) and just the whole program, and going into Arrowhead is not an easy endeavor. It’s going to be on us to be on all of the things we need to be ready for and our communication and the environment as we go into Saturday night.”
(I’m doing something on the big play. What does the big play do for this offense? We’ve seen many big plays from this offense. And what do your big plays do the opposing defense?) – “I mean, if you just into the nitty gritty of football, you say, okay, 100 yards equals seven points. So your ability to manufacture yards is you’re ability to score. The more yards you can accumulate, the more likely you are to get points which is how you win the game. An explosive play allows for you to cut down how many opportunities you need to go there. You’re increasing your likelihood to get down to the other side, to the end zone. But then, what does it allow for the offense to do? That’s like nitty gritty. My first year in the NFL, I had Howard Mudd explaining that to me and just the essence of manufacturing yards and moving the ball down the field and what it means to points. At the time I was like, okay? Now the older I’ve gotten, the more it makes sense from the old (Bill) Parcells stuff about the hidden yardage and how it all relates to scoring. But for our offense, it’s about how we’re trying to attack the defense as far as attacking them from sideline to sideline and then goal line to goal line. Our ability to attack down the field, it just falls into kind of our identity and what we try to do in our strive and our approach to each game. Defenses then have an answer to that. Then what is our response to it and trying to make sure that we can accurately keep trying to challenge down the field. It’s a complementary aspect. There’s different ways to get explosive plays down the field or gain yards, whether it’s explosive runs, explosive passes, screens. There are many different ways you can try and manufacture it. Through play-action passes, you’re giving a conflict of the run element to collapse and then now to stretch, to find the holes in between the zones. So that’s just something that is kind of part of our offense and allows for you to accumulate more yards in a shorter period of time.”
(Does the deflating affect on the defense, especially QB Tua Tagovailoa, WR Tyreek Hill, WR Jaylen Waddle, does the defense think, how do you defend this? Do you see that?) – “Sometimes you can see that their initial thoughts maybe weren’t materializing the way they thought, or they started off trying to defend it, and then the running game gets going where they have to come down to take it away. It works complementary. The NFL is full of a lot of experienced defensive coordinators who have multiple ways of trying to take elements of your offense away. Then it’s on us to make sure that for one area that they are trying to work on, ok how do we have the complementary piece to attack their scheme offensively. It’s an area that we enjoy working at, and it’s built for the guys we have here. But at the same time, it’s about gaining yards, getting the ball down the field, either in chunks, or efficient movement. It’s like whatever way we need to do it to effectively play at our best is what we’re striving for.”
(I wanted to ask your philosophy on the practice squad, and kind of stashing veteran guys on there. How much more helpful is it to be able to bring in an experienced player in a tight spot versus having to plug in a 23-year-old who doesn’t have as many reps?) – “I think it’s kind of more of their perspective. If you got a more experienced guy, they’ve had more years in the league and they’ve probably been in situations where they understand what they are going to be thrust into. Guys who are younger in their career are still growing and developing, and maybe through the development, they can continue to have a good career. The ability to have veterans who have been through tough situations and playoff experience, those things are invaluable because when they come in the building, they know what time it is. They also are trying to maximize their opportunity to be on a successful team. Clearly there is value to both, and whenever you have the opportunity to get guys who can help you, and help their teammates, that’s something that we’re always looking for.”
(What are the challenges that you’re preparing for with the cold and maybe the wind too?) – “All inclement weather, there are obviously factors that we try to make sure that we’re on what we can control. You can’t control what the weather is going to be that day, if it is minus weather or whatever. All we can do is make sure that we know how to maintain what we need to do to be at our best. When I was in New Orleans in 2013, we were a dome team and went to Philadelphia, and I think it was a 20 degree or 10 degree weather day. We went through a plan of how we were going to do it, and how we would handle the weather, but ultimately it comes down to the guys you have and their mindset. Whatever the challenges are going to be, you want to approach it and take it on. I grew up in Wisconsin. I was laughing. I remember when I was in high school and it was -10, and the windchill was miserable, and I remember it not being that cold. And then now when you’re coaching, and it’s -10, you’re like it is cold. Actively moving around sounds fantastic in that weather. (laughter)”
Raheem Mostert – January 10, 2024
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Wednesday, January 10, 2024
RB Raheem Mostert
(On winning the media’s Good Guy Award) – “First off, I appreciate you guys for giving me this. It means a lot just because in my life, I feel like through all the bad and negative things, there’s always positives in trying to do something, even the right thing. Whether it be football, off the field activities, talking to you guys, I feel like it’s important to get not only my story out there but many stories that are shared in the locker room and guys that are in position to share those stories. So I appreciate this, this definitely means a lot. I’m definitely going to cherish this moment with you guys, because like I said, you guys aren’t as bad as I thought. (laughter) I appreciate you. This is pretty cool though. This ‘Good Guy Award,’ I appreciate that. That’s awesome.”
(Does Head Coach Mike McDaniel sort of set a tone for transparency and honesty?) – “He tries everything in his power to make sure that all the guys are doing the necessary things. If you take a look at this year, I mean even last year when we came in, we just tried to do some things like team bonding and all that stuff, guys hosting events and guys actually popping up. I didn’t know how it was prior to the coaching staff or even me arriving, the second stint being here, but I will say that it’s very positive to know that guys are actually supporting each other, and even you guys supporting us too. I think that’s a big part of this thing.”
(So how are you doing?) – “I’m doing good. I’m doing good. Just got through a walkthrough. Feeling good. Still a decision that needs to be made, but the only thing that I can control is my mindset and how I approach this game, and I’m approaching it like it’s going to be my last one like everybody else. It’s a one game season. Just getting ready, getting prepared for that. We’ll see how it shakes out.”
(How difficult has it been for you as a competitor to not be available these past two games?) – “Yeah, it’s been very, very difficult. Just the mental restraint that you have to have in order to help your teammates, help my brothers out there on a different level, from a coaching aspect, it’s definitely a struggle. But all in all, you just live to fight another day. I guess that’s the mantra that you always hear. So for me, the playoffs, that’s where I feel like I thrive the most. It’s something that I try to exploit a lot of the defense and whatever they have going on. That’s something that I take pride in because December ball is different. January, February ball is completely different. I just try to take the approach of, ‘Hey, I’ve got to save myself for the playoffs.’ And that was the mentality that I had these past two weeks. Unfortunately, injuries happen. But all in all, that’s the mindset that I have.”
(I was watching Hard Knocks last night and it focused a lot on what LB Jerome Baker went through coming back from the knee and unfortunately having the wrist injury. It stood out to me because I think sometimes as media or fans, we kind of forget the toll the game takes on your guys’ bodies. Can you speak to that, especially knowing how much this team has dealt with injuries, guys missing games, being back in and back out?) – “This is a long season. It seems like every year there is a game that is added to the schedule. All and all, that’s a part of what we deal with on a consistent basis. There are some guys in this league that can stay healthy, and there are other guys that go through excruciating pain and have to deal with injuries that can linger on for a long time. For Jevon (Holland), he’s done an unbelievable job with his mindset. I was in there a few times with him getting treatment, and all he could talk about was getting back on the field. That’s something that he really harps on. For him to be able to do what he’s done, he’s one of the best safeties in the league, if not the best safety in the league. I definitely was shocked that he did not make the Pro Bowl. I feel like that was the wrong decision in trying to get him there because he’s playing lights out when he’s on the field. He’s doing uncharacteristic things of being a bandage on the defensive side of the ball. You see he’s flying around, he’s doing everything he possibly can to put his body on the line. You see why he was hurting and the pure tenacity he has, and him being a young guy, I really look up to him and his mindset because he’s approaching this game as if this is his last go around. And he’s only in year three. The guy is unbelievable. I have nothing but good things to say. I’m glad he is getting back right, and I’m hoping that he can join me out there on the field, and try to help win for the team and beat the Chiefs.”
(It might be -5 with -15 windchill, and 23 mph winds. How important is it to run the football in conditions like that?) – “You know me, I’m always advocating for running that ball. That’s something that I really believe in. But it’s good weather for running the ball. I’ve played in this type of weather at Purdue. I’m very familiar with it. I’m excited about the opportunity and it’s going to be a lot of fun. I’m assuming there is going to be snow, right?”
(25 percent.) – “Let’s keep it going up so we can get more. I’m excited about the opportunity. I can’t wait. It’s going to be a hostile environment. There are going to be a lot of good fans there. I’ve played in Arrowhead before and the fanbase is unbelievable there. With that being said, we still have to handle business at the end of the day.”
(You mentioned playoff football. Your best game was in the playoffs, four touchdowns to get the 49ers to the Super Bowl. Is there an extra mentality or oomph you have to bring into the postseason?) – “Yeah. For the postseason, I hate to say it, but it’s do or die. It’s a one-game season. If you have that mentality, it can carry you quite a bit a ways in the playoffs. You have to have some things that work out. The scheme has to be right. The play-calling has to be on point. Players have to make plays. Players have to do unconventional things to help with the success of the playoff run. There are a lot of different aspects that go into it, but you do have to have that dawg mentality when you’re going into the playoffs, because that’s the best of the best at that point.”
(How close do you think the locker room is to having that, especially coming off the two losses, and limping in here?) – “We have pure confidence in ourselves, and we believe in ourselves. We just got to go out there and play smashmouth football and do what we got to do. The added pressure converts into even more greatness when you get that win. It’s going to be good going into this game and getting that test. We got handled in Germany, and it wasn’t anything we just shunned away from. We took that full on. Now it’s time for us to go. We’re ready.”
(Is the ankle or the knee a little more challenging today?) – “No. We’re good.”
(Neither one is more of a challenge?) – “Nope, we’re good.”
Vic Fangio – January 10, 2024
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Wednesday, January 10, 2024
Defensive Coordinator Vic Fangio
(With LB Melvin Ingram and LB Emmanuel Ogbah and LB Justin Houston and LB Bruce Irvin all in their 30s, would your hope ideally be to play all of them to conserve their energy on Saturday night?) – “Yeah, I mean we’ll just see how it’s going. Again, it depends upon the flow of the game – how many plays are you playing and how short a time span.”
(What role did you play in making the decision or maybe co-signing their additions?) – “That was Chris (Grier) and his department handling all of that.”
(When he comes over to you and he says, “hey, we’re thinking of signing these guys,” do you say, “I’m all for it” or…?) – “I said ‘good, we’ve got to have somebody.’ (laughter)”
(What was the challenge for you with so much not just new, but you’ve got backups in other roles. What’s the challenge for you in figuring out who can do what?) – “I think the biggest thing is not to try and do too much because the worst way you can play is to beat yourself – not knowing what to do, not being in the right place at the right time. So you’ve got to be careful not to do too much, but we’ve got half our starters out there and they’re yearning for anything to help win the game so you’ve got to balance that.”
(I wanted to ask you about LB Channing Tindall. He does have some edge kind of athleticism, skillsets. Could he potentially help you out there at the edge or is he…?) – “No, I don’t think so. We’re keeping him focused at ILB.”
(What do you think worked well last time in defending Chiefs TE Travis Kelce?) – “I just think it was one of those games where it kind of happened. We did pay him some attention, which helped. Probably kept a couple balls away from him, but it wasn’t like it was every play. Just sometimes games work out that way.”
(We hear a lot of criticism about the Chiefs receiving corps and what they don’t do well, but what are a couple things that do stand out on tape as good?) – “I think (Rashee) Rice has really emerged for them. He’s really a good runner after the catch. He’s shown good hands. (Justin) Watson has really emerged here the last part of the season and really gets down the field. He’s fast with good speed and you can tell Mahomes likes throwing to him. (Marquez) Valdes-Scantling has always been a good receiver. They’re still one of the top offenses in the league and they can explode at any moment with Mahomes at quarterback.”
(How hard is it not to know how many snaps S Jevon Holland and maybe S DeShon Elliott can give you on Saturday as far as preparation?) – “It’s just up in the air. It’s one of those things you can’t control. It’s the injury situation. I know they both want to play and are trying to do everything they can from a treatment standpoint. I think DeShon (Elliott) showed his toughness and want-to by playing in that game the other night.”
(How has S Brandon Jones done in terms of filling in?) – “Good. I think Brandon (Jones) has done a good job. Like I’ve said before, in a weird way, the season has worked out good for him. He’s gotten a lot more playing time than he probably thought he would and it’s come in intermittent pieces, which was good because he had no training camp and offseason. I think he’s done well.”
(Any other team you’ve been around where you’re going into a playoff game with half the starters replaced and you’re bringing – any comparison that you’ve had?) – “No.”
(I know it was a few days ago, but there was a moment against the Bills where I think with 15 seconds left you guys played more prevent coverage instead. I guess what was the thought process behind I guess calling that?) – “Because at that point in the game, at that point in the first half, they were out of timeouts and it just felt like they had to go to the end zone. They got a seven or eight-yard gain I think on the play and tried to score again and came up short and the half ran out so the sequence worked out good for us.”
(Are you familiar with the Taylor Swift hit, “Shake it Off?”) – “No.” (laughter)
(It’s a good song, “Shake it Off.”) – “The highlight of my day is driving home at night and I listen to the 70s on 7. And I don’t think Taylor Swift has any song on there.” (laughter)
(I know you’re always forward thinking about the next game, but has there been a moment where you’ve said I can’t believe how injury-ravaged our unit is?) – “Yeah, I mean it’s a lot all at once. Some of it is at one position in particular, outside linebacker and safety in particular. There’s no woe is me in this business. Everybody looks at this as kind of Madden on PlayStation and they all expect results. Is that what they, used to say in the maternity ward, don’t tell me about the pain, just show me the baby? (laughter) You can’t say that anymore, but everybody is expecting a good performance from us and we’re going to do everything we can to do it.”
(We’ve seen more of DT Christian Wilkins lining up farther from the ball at defensive end. Are you looking to do some of that to supplement the losses on the edge?) – “No. Christian has had a hell of a season inside. We don’t want to weaken ourselves there. He had two great plays the other night. I mean two all-time plays. That’s one thing you have to be careful of. You don’t weaken yourself somewhere to patch a hole somewhere else.”
(How did you, with what you guys went through on Sunday, hold Bills QB Josh Allen to 14 points? What was it?) – “Well we hung in there. We got some takeaways in the red zone. We gave up a lot of yards, but we didn’t give up the points. They are a great offense. They’re going to move the ball on everybody. So you have to come up with some plays and our guys battled and we got some plays. It was under duress. They had a lot of plays. Our guys just played really good overall.”
(Is that kind of the blueprint for Saturday?) – “You hope. We’d like to not let them drive it as long as Buffalo did, but they’re obviously very capable of that with (Patrick) Mahomes at quarterback and the talent they have on offense. I mean, I think if we hold them to 14, that would be good.”
(Do you recall LB Justin Houston or LB Bruce Irvin having an impact on any of the past years’ games that you were involved with?) – “I know Justin. Those two guys have been good players in the league for a long time at different places at different levels. I really don’t because when you’re a defensive coach, you really don’t watch the other team’s defense unless you’re studying them in the offseason and I never really did.”
(This is a housekeeping question. Have you ever had say in what defenders you bring in or do you just leave that to front office?) – “Every place is different.”
(What’s the coldest game you’ve ever been a part of in your years of coaching?) – “Well, we played in Green Bay in 1996 – actually it would’ve been 1997, but the 1996 season (NFC) Championship game. Carolina against the Packers. That wasn’t the record but it was in the top five. Then we played in Green Bay for a playoff game when I was in San Francisco. Really cold. I think there’s one other one. Those are the two that come to mind.”
(I think the first touchdown you gave up Sunday night, the tipped pass, are there any coaching points for that or is that one of those plays where it’s like?) – “Yeah, that’s a little bit of buzzard’s luck. Eli (Apple) could’ve kept competing because once the ball is tipped, there’s no more pass interference. But it happens that fast. They had linemen down field on the play clearly. I mean way down field because it was an RPO. Unfortunately, the officials didn’t catch it.”
