Kansas City Chiefs DB Juan Thornhill enters Year 3 in the NFL healthier and with a fresh perspective.
The veteran reported to camp early with the injured players to continue to work through some mental obstacles with his 2019 knee injury. Working with the incoming rookies, Thornhill had a chance to act as a mentor and a leader for young players at the onset of camp before other veterans arrived.
“Yeah, I love it,” Thornhill told reporters on Sunday. “Just because of the guys. I was once a rookie, and with Tyrann, we were going through the playbook at the same time, but he had a little bit more— he was a little bit ahead of me. But with me being a vet out here, there are some rookies that are not really sure how camp is going to go. Basically, I don’t have to say a lot, just tell them to follow me. And if there are calls they don’t know, I’ll communicate and walk them through it. If they mess up on a play, it’s okay, you’re gonna make mistakes, just get through it, forget the play and move on.”
Thornhill’s transition to a leadership role on the defense hasn’t exactly been a natural one. Entering the league, he was quieter and reserved, trying to take his cues from veterans like Tyrann Mathieu and Daniel Sorensen. Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo had some different plans in mind for Thornhill, though. During practice one day, Spags took some measures to ensure that a young Thornhill would gain some much-needed confidence to become a more vocal leader within his defense.
“The biggest thing with him is just turning me into a leader,” Thornhill said of Spagnuolo. “Because I noticed my rookie season, there was a time that I was really quiet not saying much, (with) Tyrann (Mathieu) making a lot of the calls. I’m not sure, but I’m pretty sure that (Steve Spagnuolo) told Tyrann not to say something in walkthroughs one day. Like he told Tyrann not to speak and basically made me make every single call. And I was like, ‘there’s something going on, Tyrann’s not making any calls?’ I started making every single call louder, and from that point on, I started getting louder and louder, and I feel like that’s just him turning me into a leader.”
And sure enough, that experience helped Thornhill take up more of a leadership role in the Chiefs’ secondary. He knows all the calls for the defensive backs, corners and more. At 2021 Chiefs training camp, he’s louder and more confident than he’s perhaps ever been. He’s also on message with the rest of the veterans, explaining to the young players what they can accomplish together during the upcoming season.
“I mean, we’ve got a heck of a football team,” Thornhill concluded. “So, we don’t shoot for nothing less than winning a Super Bowl.”
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