Tag: Andy Reid

Watch: Patrick Mahomes goes in motion, throws TD pass

Patrick Mahomes went in motion and still managed to throw a touchdown pass.

Andy Reid can do whatever he wants as long as Patrick Mahomes is his quarterback.

Watch Reid’s newest bit of genius as he sends the quarterback in motion before Mahomes takes the snap and fires a touchdown pass to Demarcus Robinson.

Reid and Mahomes can turn a one-yard touchdown pass into highlight-reel material.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid was a popular Halloween costume this year

Complete with his signature foggy face shield.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid is a popular figure in Kansas City, but he crossed into the realm of iconic during Halloween 2020.

Reid had an infamous moment to kick off the NFL season. In the Chiefs’ Week 1 game against the Houston Texans, Reid debuted his face shield as a part of the NFL’s in-game COVID-19 protocols. The face shield fogged-up throughout the course of the game, making it very difficult for the veteran coach to see his play sheet and call plays.

He’s since replaced that face shield with one that doesn’t get as foggy, yet everyone still remembers that moment. When kids and adults alike went to choose their Halloween costumes this year, many decided to imitate Reid for the holiday.

“Listen, that’s all right,” Reid told reporters on Monday. “It’s all good. Humbling, right?”

Reid just can’t seem to live down the foggy face shield. Check out some of the best Andy Reid Halloween costumes that were shared to Twitter below:

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid on NFL trade deadline: ‘There has been movement’

Could the Kansas City Chiefs be active at the NFL’s trade deadline? Andy Reid commented here.

The NFL trade deadline for the 2020 season is just a day away, closing at 3:00 p.m. CT on Tuesday. Two trades have already come together on the eve of the deadline, with the Titans acquiring Chargers CB Desmond King and the 49ers swapping linebackers with the Saints.

Will the reigning Super Bowl champions make any moves to improve their roster? Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid was non-committal during his Monday press conference.

“We’ll see how it goes here over the next couple days—the next day or so,” Reid told reporters on Monday.

It’s been four years since the Chiefs last made a move at the NFL’s trade deadline, sending reserve RB Knile Davis to the Packers in 2016. Things are much different now given the climate surrounding COVID-19 and the 2020 NFL season. Still, teams are finding ways to get better, whether that means acquiring draft capital for the future or acquiring a player.

“Yeah, I mean, it’s unique but there’s been movement,” Reid explained. “And I don’t know what takes place here over the next couple days, whether it’s here or anywhere else, but there has been movement.”

Reid will leave the trading legwork to general manager Brett Veach and his team. As a Super Bowl contender, you have to assume that the front office is at the very least exploring ways to get better.

Kansas City, however, finds itself in a unique situation. They don’t exactly have any immediate needs on the roster. It could make acquiring players that are still on a rookie contract more favorable to the one-year rentals that often come this time of year.

Another challenge that the Chiefs face is COVID-19 screening.

“I guess it’s somewhat unique just from the testing standpoint and what you have to get done before the player can actually get on the field,” Reid said.

How quickly Kansas City can get a player into the building would play a large role in the team’s decision to make a trade or stand pat. Luckily, with the bye week just around the corner in Week 10, they should have the time to get a player screened and up to speed for the final push of the 2020 season.

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Chiefs’ skill players remind Jets how important nailing the NFL draft is

Almost every offensive contributor for the Chiefs was drafted by the team. The Jets need to replicate that model.

If Joe Douglas wants to build through the draft, he could learn a lesson from the team that just beat his Jets.

The Chiefs drafted almost every offensive skill position player who played in Week 8. Patrick Mahomes is the crown jewel of the group, but Travis Kelce, Tyreek Hill, Clyde Edwards-Helaire and Mecole Hardman were all selected by the Chiefs over the past seven years and have become staples of the offense. The lone exception, ironically, was Le’Veon Bell. 

This is the type of draft success Douglas needs to foster if he wants to establish a winning culture in New York. The Chiefs excelled at finding quality talent throughout the draft and developing stars. Douglas has laid the groundwork for a solid young core after his first draft, but he has a long way to go.

What’s even more impressive about the Chiefs is their ability to find offensive talent all over the draft. Mahomes and Edwards-Helaire were both first-round picks, but Kelce was a third-rounder, Hardman was a second-rounder and Hill was a fifth-rounder. Receiver Demarcus Robinson, who has tallied more than 800 yards and eight touchdowns over the past two seasons, was a fourth-round pick. Kansas City even found contributors among undrafted free agents Darrel Williams and Byron Pringle.

The Jets, meanwhile, have notoriously drafted poorly and overspent in free agency. Sam Darnold, Chris Herndon and Trevon Wesco are the only active offensive players on the roster who were drafted before 2020. None are locks to stick around after this season.

Douglas made his first attempt to change things this year, though. He spent frugally and tried to find as much talent as he could in the draft. Mekhi Becton looks like a generational tackle, Denzel Mims looked fantastic in his two starts and La’Mical Perine has shown promise despite limited work. The position that has alluded the Jets for years, though, is quarterback. Douglas was among those who thought Darnold would be New York’s franchise quarterback, but he may be rethinking that idea after this season – especially if the Jets secure a top-three pick in the 2021 draft.

The next two years will be even more important for the future of the Jets. New York has 19 picks in the 2021 and 2022 drafts. If Douglas wants to build something even remotely close to what the Chiefs have, he’ll have to do it there. Whether that means switching quarterbacks, fortifying the offensive line or finding skill position players is up to Douglas. If he’s able, though, he needs to create an offensive identity centered around a quarterback – whether that’s Darnold or someone else – much like the Chiefs did.

But players alone don’t make the Chiefs a dominant team. Douglas needs to pair his future young players with a solid coaching staff. Andy Reid and the Chiefs offensive staff played a huge role in Mahomes’ development, while Adam Gase’s staff hasn’t done much to help Darnold in their time working together.

The Chiefs didn’t build a championship contender overnight, either. Among the Chiefs’ core of talent, only Edwards-Helaire started in his first season with the team. This was a process cultivated when Reid took over in 2013 and fully formed into a Super Bowl contender in 2018.

Douglas watched two other franchises – the Ravens and the Eagles – build foundations for long-term success through the draft before he joined the Jets in 2019. How the Chiefs have performed in the past several seasons should be just another reminder of how to create a winning franchise.

Chiefs’ Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes commend Tommy Townsend’s fake punt

The offensive-minded head coach and quarterback had nothing but good things to say about Townsend’s pass.

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The Kansas City Chiefs executed the rare fake punt passing play during Sunday’s win against the New York Jets.

Chiefs rookie punter Tommy Townsend had a penchant for fake punts in college at the University of Florida. They always used his athleticism as a runner to get the job done, though. Andy Reid and Dave Toub would never be satisfied running the same old trick punts that Townsend ran in college. Instead, they called upon his days as a quarterback at Boone High School in Orlando, Florida.

Reid had high praise for the play and execution by Townsend following the game. It wasn’t perfect, but it was good enough to get the job done.

 “Yeah, well they’ve been working on it. I mean, they’ve been doing it the last couple, three weeks, and it’s been like clockwork,” Reid said. “That one did get a little high. It’s different when it’s in a game, and he’s as good a thrower as there is. So, he’s a real good athlete and he was able to show a little bit of that today. But it’s a little different in a game. Next time he does it, it’ll be better. It won’t be quite as high, but we’ll take it right there.”

As for Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes, he was unaware that the fake punt was called. He was disappointed that he didn’t have an opportunity to pick up the fourth-down himself. Little did he know what was coming. After they called the fake, he was blown away by how it turned out, going out and scoring a touchdown on the very next play. After the game, Mahomes complimented his teammate on his arm and the coaching staff for the gutsy play call at a key point in the game.

 “I thought it was sweet, he ripped that thing,” Mahomes said. “It wasn’t a lollipop at all, I mean he caught it and he ripped it over there, so it was pretty impressive. I actually didn’t know it was happening. I was trying to go for it and Coach (Andy) Reid was – I should’ve known by the way he kind of just said go ahead and he sent the special teams out there. I was like, “man, you’re not even going to think about it?” I guess he already had things planned ahead. I think Toub (Coach Dave Toub) does a great job and he has for a very long time of having different tricks and having different ways to execute at a high level of that special teams group. It gave us a chance to have another play and we were able to score on it. It was a big point in the game.”

Mahomes, of course, is safe and won’t have to worry about Townsend coming for his job. New York, however, might want to call the Chiefs about acquiring Townsend to become their new starting QB. Townsend (118.8) finished the day with a better passer rating than Jets QB Sam Darnold (70.6).

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Chiefs’ Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes pitch Kansas City as host city for Toronto Raptors

Two of the most influential members of the Chiefs spoke on the push to get the Toronto Raptors to play in Kansas City.

Kansas City hasn’t played host to an NBA team since the 1980’s when the Sacramento Kings were known as the Kansas City Kings.

With COVID-19 forcing the Toronto Raptors to explore an alternative stateside home during the upcoming basketball season, many cities are vying for the team, including Kansas City. It’s very real too, with public officials making their bid to host the Raptors known to NBA Commissioner Adam Silver and the Raptors’ ownership.

Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes made his voice heard too, posting on Twitter on Monday. Mahomes, who became a part-owner of the Royals this offseason, knows a thing or two about sports franchises in Kansas City. During Wednesday’s media availability, Mahomes offered up a more official pitch to the Raptors.

“Obviously, Kansas City is a great spot for any franchise to be at,” Mahomes said. “I mean if you look at the support that the Royals have, the Chiefs, Sporting KC and everyone else that plays out here, the fan base is crazy, and they love sports and they love to be here. If you look just down the road at Lawrence, and you see the way the Jayhawks how they pack out that place every single week, you know that the T-Mobile Center would be a great spot for any basketball franchise to be at.”

Mahomes’ influence seems to have got the ball rolling on this and now everyone is on board. That includes Mayor Quinton Lucas and a number of local officials. It also includes Chiefs HC Andy Reid, who offered up his pitch to Toronto on Wednesday.

“Well, it’s a phenomenal sports town, I guess is what I’d tell them,” Reid said. “And not that Toronto’s not, I’m not saying that, they’re good people up in Toronto, too. But I believe we would love to have you, and let’s go, let’s roll. No better sports place than right here.”

No matter what happens with the push to get the Raptors to play in Kansas City, the excitement and support from local fans tell you that the city is ready to host an NBA franchise again and that this time around it could yield much greater success.

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Chiefs’ Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes won’t overlook winless Jets in Week 8

Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes are determined to not overlook the New York Jets in Week 8.

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Andy Reid began his Wednesday press conference giving his usual spiel.

“We look forward to the challenge of playing the Jets,” Reid said. “They’re a good football team, well-coached.”

Those aren’t exactly the comments you’d expect to hear in reference to a New York Jets team that hasn’t won a game this season, but that’s part of what makes Reid such a successful NFL coach. He doesn’t pay attention to the fact that the Chiefs are 20-point favorites over the Jets. He doesn’t care about season records. He cares about putting together a gameplan and executing it each week, no matter who lines up opposite his football team.

“This league is all about parity,” Reid said. “That’s what the league strives for. It’s never as good as you think and it’s never as bad as you think. Whether it’s driven by the gambling or the media or whatever it’s driven by that presents those numbers — I don’t pay attention to them first — I go off of what I see on tape. Every week, somebody gets picked off that was one of these ‘favorites’ or whatever. So you go back and you focus on your agenda. You study the opponent, you respect the opponent and then you get yourself right and make yourself get better every week. If you lose focus on that, then you have a problem in this league. These are good football players and good coaches — the best in the world, right? You don’t lose focus on that.”

Reid’s philosophy has trickled down throughout the locker room, namely to his quarterback Patrick Mahomes. After the Week 7 game against the Broncos, Mahomes was caught giving a fiery postgame speech in the locker room.

“Make sure you come in prepared this next week,” Mahomes shouted. “I don’t give a f*** who we’re playing. We go out there and dominate.”

During Wednesday’s media availability, Mahomes echoed his head coach when it comes to preparing for a winless Jets team.

“I think people understand that in this league, you can’t overlook anybody,” Mahomes said. “If you watch the tape and don’t look at the record, you’d understand that this is a good football team. It’s a team where a lot of guys are making a lot of plays and they have a lot of guys that have made plays in other spots on other teams. So you understand that it’s going to be a great challenge for us and we have to go out there and play our best football if we want to win. That’s not an overstatement, that’s just true and how this league works.”

New York might be using the point spread and media commentary as bulletin board material this week, but now they’ve heard it loud and clear from the people in charge in Kansas City. The Chiefs won’t be underestimating or overlooking the Jets in Week 8.

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Chiefs’ Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes pleased with Le’Veon Bell’s first game

Le’Veon Bell’s Chiefs debut drew rave reviews from his head coach and quarterback.

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The Kansas City Chiefs saw Le’Veon Bell notch just 17 snaps and six touches for 39 yards in his debut. Despite limited opportunity in his first outing, Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes came away impressed by what Bell was able to show in his first game as a Chief. After just one game, they’re both steadfast in the belief that he’s a perfect complement to rookie RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire.

“It was great,” Reid said of Bell’s debut following the game. “It was two-fold because we had both those guys playing. It was great to get Le’Veon (Bell) in and get him going. I thought he was very productive. There are a couple things he’ll learn from, just with the offense, but I thought the run game part of it was excellent. He had good, positive yardage and ran hard. It was great for 25 too, Clyde (Edwards-Helaire), coming off six days rest. That’s a new thing for a rookie, how are you going to handle that? I love the way he did. He ran hard and had, again, great production.”

Mahomes echoed his head coach, praising both running backs and pointing out that there are a few details to work out. I imagine some of those details will revolve around picking up free pass rushers on a blitz or getting their head turned more quickly in the passing game.

“I thought they did well,” Mahomes said. “I thought Clyde obviously continued to put up tough runs and break tackles and get different types of stuff. And I thought Le’Veon did a great job coming in off a week of practice where you only get a couple days and being able to step right in and have a few big runs and really get his footing. Obviously, there’s still some little details that we need to work out here and there, but for someone to come in and have success like that early is really exciting.”

Ultimately this was the best you could possibly hope for given the game flow. The team lost some snaps on offense because the defense and special teams both scored touchdowns. Reid noted that when evaluating what Bell was able to do in his first week with the team.

“The defense’s snaps were way up, and the offense’s snaps were way down,” Reid said on Monday. “I think we weren’t able to get the whole gameplan going the way you necessarily wanted to do or get into that rhythm by the time you’re up by quite a few points, which is a great thing. That makes the head coach very happy. That cuts down on opportunities for some of the offensive guys to do their thing. I would say in that case, with Le’Veon (Bell), just doing both, rotating with Clyde (Edwards-Helaire), it’s already cut in half there with that and having the number of plays cut back. We had a pretty healthy load for him in there as we went. You saw the two-back set where we shifted both of them out. We had a couple of other things in there that we can utilize his skill and Clyde’s.”

As the Chiefs prepare to face the New York Jets at Arrowhead Stadium in Week 8, you can rest assured that Bell will have his head in the playbook. He’ll want to be prepared to make a big impact against his former team but he’ll also want to build upon the success that he saw with his new team. Reid has plenty of creative stuff up his sleeves to get both Bell and Edwards-Helaire on the field, involved and producing at a high level.

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Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid think Le’Veon Bell is an excellent fit with Chiefs

Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes addressed their thoughts on Le’Veon Bell’s potential influence on the Chiefs.

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The worst kept secret in the league is that Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid is a master offensive play designer. The variety of options at his disposal already has the team feared by every defensive coordinator around the league. As news broke about the Chiefs signing former All-Pro running back Le’Veon Bell, it was assumed that the combination of Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Bell would create endless possibilities.

The rumors that have swirled over Bell since his Pittsburgh Steelers hold out have been negative and didn’t get any better while being cut by the New York Jets last week. Bell’s reputation had some worried about how he might handle a shared backfield. Reid and Mahomes addressed their thoughts on Bell’s potential and fit with the team during Wednesday’s press conference with local beat reporters.

“Every week is going to be different. You play these different teams, and they have different ways of going about their business against you,” Reid told reporters. “But to have that flexibility is maybe the most important thing, and to have players that can do those things I think is important. So, Clyde (Edwards-Helaire), my hat goes off to him. He was phenomenal, and it doesn’t hurt to have a running mate or two, and we’re lucky to have a nice group of running backs now. Different flavors isn’t bad to throw at a defense, and I think when you see Le’Veon, you’re going to see how big he is—he’s a big man. So, that’s a different flavor than maybe what we have at the other spots. But somewhere, they’re all going to play, that’s just how it goes. But Clyde sure had a nice day, and he’s had a great year, and welcoming in another helping hand doesn’t hurt at all.”

Reid is confident with the game plan featuring both running backs as Kansas City looks to build on their amazing rushing performance in the Week 6 victory over the Buffalo Bills. Bell can fit into the current system and schemes with time to adjust to the new game plan while Edwards-Helaire is on a hot streak. As for questions regarding Bell’s character in the Chiefs’ locker room, star quarterback Mahomes spoke candidly on his chemistry fit moving forward.

“First off in the locker room, I mean we’re extremely excited,” Mahomes said. “If you’ve looked at how (Brett) Veach and Coach (Andy) Reid have kind of put this culture together, it’s about bringing in great players and binging competition. We’re excited for him to be here and be a part of the team, be a part of the culture of winning and being able to go out there every single week and keep getting better and better. He’s obviously a mismatch coming out of the backfield. The way he’s able to run routes, the way he’s able to split out and basically be another receiver out there, and he’s going to get a lot of matchups I don’t think he’s had recently with a lot of linebackers on him, and I’m sure he’s pretty excited about that.”

Mahomes has shown to be a locker room leader early in his career, and if he’s confident in Bell’s personality meshing with the team, that should alleviate all worries. It’s just another reminder that the Chiefs’ team culture has been among the best in the NFL and an underrated aspect of the recent success in Kansas City.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides injury updates ahead of Wednesday practice

Four Kansas City Chiefs players won’t practice on Wednesday.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided some injury updates when he spoke to the media ahead of the first practice of the week on Wednesday. Four players won’t be participating in practice according to Reid. He provided information on those players, including a new addition to the injury report in Taco Charlton.

“It’s not a personal day, he is hurt,” Reid said. “It happened later in the game and it just started bothering him. It was his knee and we’ll just see how it goes and give him some time here to let the thing heal up and see how bad it is.”

Charlton played in just 13 snaps during Monday’s win over the Bills. He was one of only three players available after Alex Okafor went down with an injury. This injury has the Chiefs approaching dangerous levels in terms of depth at the defensive end position. Only Frank Clark, Tanoh Kpassagnon and Demone Harris are currently healthy with Mike Danna on the injury report.

The other players that won’t participate in practice on Wednesday include Sammy Watkins, who suffered an injury in Week 5 against the Las Vegas Raiders. Okafor won’t practice as he is dealing with a hamstring injury. Reid also said that Mitchell Schwartz wouldn’t practice on Wednesday as he continues to recover from a back injury.

Reid did provide another injury update on OL Martinas Rankin, who is able to practice for the first time this week after starting the season on the PUP list. Reid’s comments from last week suggested Rankin might not be ready to go, but today it sounded like he could be making his return to practice.

“He hasn’t done anything, so we’ll just see how it works out for him,” Reid said. “We’ll kind of take that day-by-day too. Again, we’ll just have to see, that’s why they have [the practice window] in here for us. You’ve got a [six] week period there that you can work with. Let’s just see how he does and where he’s at right now.”

If Rankin does indeed return to practice, he might not be a full participant right away. He could be a limited participant working his way up from individual work to something that could include some contact, though the Chiefs do a lot more walkthrough type of work during the course of the season.

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