OFFENSIVE COORDINATOR LIAM COEN

(On going through the game without key players like wide receivers Mike Evans and Chris Godwin)

"Yeah, obviously, it's really hard to replace those guys with the production. I thought everybody had to step up in ways, from a protection standpoint, from the [running] backs, from the tight ends. Everybody had to step up. Was it perfect? Was it as clean as we'd like? Absolutely not. We had too many self-inflicted wounds, but I was proud of their effort – absolutely proud of their effort. We just didn't play very smart; we didn't coach very smart in some moments, and we have to learn from those moments. But if you're asking if there's a positive, the guys who had to step up and make plays, it's, 'Okay, they're taking the next step.' How do we take the next step now from, 'Okay, we're out there,' to how do we now go out there and be detailed, on the screws, no miscommunication so we take advantage of busted coverages on third downs, we're on the same page, so we don't have those penalties and issues occur. That's the next step we have to take."

(On QB Baker Mayfield handling the challenge of losing his top two receiving weapons)

"You know, I think for the most part, he handled it really well. I mean, if you look at him, he's throwing an out-cut to Cade [Otton] as a single receiver on a third down – we hadn't done that much this year; that wasn't something we really dialed up. We had those routes back there in the past, but it wasn't really part of our thought process, but he goes and he just takes it. I think Baker has the ability to trust people in spots, which we know he does. I didn't want to throw the ball that much in that game, obviously, but it turned into one of those types of games toward the end. I put us in some bad positions that forced us out of some runs, which I'm frustrated with. But if you look at him, 37-of-50 [passes completed], with two throws we'd love to have back—those interceptions—and a couple other plays we'd like to have back. You're sitting there and you're like, 'Man, you're almost at 40-of-50,' which is not easy to do. So, I thought he played really well for the most part. He kept us in it, we just have to minimize those turnovers."

(On whether missing top wide receivers is an opportunity for Mayfield to prove himself)

"I think so. I think he takes that on himself in a way. I don't even think he pressed in those moments – I put him in a poor position on one play, and maybe on the other, he needed to go to the back pylon on the throw and you've got a shot. Are there going to be mistakes when you have 50 throws? Probably, because we didn't want that many. But it's the times at which they're coming are just poor times and that is very much on me to be able to not put him in those positions to help. Hey, let's just hand it off for him one more time here and then maybe, okay if we get to third down and we've got to have it and we've got to throw it then we have to make a play."

(On the decision to go for the fake punt)

"We did feel like we needed to do something. Hindsight, we probably didn't, you know, and that's bad—that's poor coaching on my part. You think you need something, you like it, you love the call because you're running it, they kind of know you're running it…It's the right thought process, [but] the wrong time in a lot of ways. And I have to learn from that moment just as these guys have to learn from their mistakes. So there was part of that…I told the guys, I feel like I took it away from them – their ability to just go run it one more time and that's what I felt pretty crummy about."

(On how play-calling is affected by how the defense is playing)

"Of course, and that's where you look at that one particular call, and you're like, 'Man, it played out like a punt and ended up pinning them deep, but it also took away a possession.' In a game like that, you have to be on the screws – you've got to end every single possession with a kick. A little bit, that factors into it, especially with our conversations as a staff and with Baker. Whether I'm calling plays, he's throwing, or you're a ball-carrier or a catcher, you have the organization in your hands – the organization is in your hands – in terms of, we've got to protect everybody. We can't put our defense or special teams unit in poor positions with either a play call, a decision, or execution. We've got to have a little bit more of a mindset as a unit that, 'Man, this ball is pretty special. We cannot be reckless with it. Myself included.'"

(On the 'players over plays' philosophy and its adjustment when missing top players)

"You know, just look for your continuous next best players and continue to try to get them more touches and more opportunities. I feel like for the most part we did that. I think we could have done a better job with some other guys and getting them involved and getting them some more touches that have been productive for us in weeks past, but I think at the end of the day we've got to continue to put our guys in the best position to be successful, and they've got to go play. They have to go play and go let it rip. There's going to be mistakes, but we have to minimize how critical those mistakes are. Are we going to drop a pass? Are we going to miss a block? That stuff is going to happen, but we cannot make them critical mistakes."

(On wanting RB Sean Tucker more involved)

"Yeah, I mean, I think in general, just getting guys touches that that have made plays for you. The game kind of got a little funky in ways, and we had to throw it, and I was ticked at myself for some of those decisions that forced us out of maybe being able to get somebody else get some more runs, get some more runs off, whether that's Sean, Bucky [Irving], or Rachaad [White] in that moment. It's more just: let our line set their pads, block them one more time, continue to eat clock and see what happens. You look at our first touchdown drive, we get down there second-and-5, call kind of crummy call versus [Cover-]Zero, he throws it away, now we're at third-and-5 and we throw the touchdown to Cade [Otton]. From a coaching staff and a player standpoint, let's snap it one more time, let's just snap it one more time. Be careful with this ball, but hey, we've got to continue to stay aggressive as well."

(On TE Cade Otton's production and resilience)

"When you look at him, you see just this model of a kid, you know, All-American Boy, one of the best guys I've been around, but he's tough. He's a tough football player. Hs risen to the challenge. He's made the plays when they've been able to present themselves. He's had a little bit of YAC and run after catch, and there's a trust factor there, there's chemistry there, I've been really proud of him."

(On leading the league in third-down conversion rate and if being in manageable down-and-distance pairings is key to succeeding in that category)

"That's accurate. I mean, if you look at this group that we're going up against this week, there's been seven third-and-two-to-threes on the year – seven. Twenty third-and-seven-to-nine, 25 third-and-ten-plus. So that is a huge factor in what we're trying to obviously get accomplished and trying to be more efficient on your first and second downs, not living in those negative-yard runs, which we were living in a little bit more early in the year, which were putting us behind the chains and creating harder third down distances to go. This week more than ever, it's going to have to be a huge factor of trying to stay ahead of the chains and stay in manageable third-down situations, because they've been pretty salty so far."

(On the ideal third-down distance)

"I mean, I'd love to be able to stay under seven, eight [yards] or in that world if you can. You don't want to be in too many ten-pluses, but as much as you can stay in that third-and-one to about seven to eight [yards], you feel a little bit better about your percentages of being able to throw and catch, giving them a couple different options to throw to. Then, obviously, being able to use his legs when he needs to."

(On facing the Kansas City Chiefs' defense)

"So, [I have] a ton of respect obviously for them and what they've done and been able to accomplish. Coach 'Spags' (Steve Spagnuolo) being a Northeast guy – I went to Springfield College; I went to UMass, so that's not so far away…They've got a lot of guys, veterans, and have been in this system for a long time, you can tell it's organized chaos at times, in terms of they know exactly what's going on, but it looks a little bit chaotic to the offense in some ways. They've done a phenomenal job pattern matching and reading. They don't give you a single snap of free access – there's not one snap. They reroute, they just do a great job getting hands on people, and oh, by the way, one of the best pass rushers and defensive football players in the NFL. So, it's definitely a challenge for us. [I have] a ton of respect for them, but that's ultimately why we do this, is to go try to rise to that occasion."

(On RB Bucky Irving's toe injury and how it impacts practice)

"It's challenging, for sure. Do I trust him? He's in here at 5 o'clock every day doing what he needs to get done, but he's still a rookie that needs reps, that needs the muscle memory, the way we do things, your track, your read, your everything goes into that. So that's definitely been a little bit of a challenge, not being able to have him, and it's not necessarily just for some of the '21' [personnel] stuff; it's more just the regular offense. He's not getting those reps, so [it is] definitely a challenge. He's been trying to take the necessary steps to make sure he's ahead of the game plan, but I wouldn't say that it's easy."

(On ways to compensate for missed practice time)

"That's what we did last week before our Saturday practice in there. We had another walkthrough prior to that as a unit, and it was really a Bucky walkthrough. So, we're going to continue to have to do that and catch him up to speed."

(On if there was miscommunication between QB Baker Mayfield and wide receivers a few times during the game against Baltimore)

"Yeah, there was. On a third down they busted the coverage, 'JMac' (Jalen McMillan) got an in-breaking route there and he got bumped initially by the nickel and then the nickel came off and covered Cade. 'JMac' just needs to cut that off a little bit shorter, get to about eight yards, 10 yards right there, and speed cut it, and then we were on the same page. Those things are probably going to occur at times, it's just that we've got to limit when they happen. That's what was so critical about Sunday – when our mistakes happened, they happened at really poor times."

(On WR Rakim Jarrett's performance in the second half against Baltimore)

"Yeah, I mean, 'Rock' has been, been working his tail off to get himself into shape and get himself back feeling better. It was great to see him out there and, to produce and make some plays and be in the right spot at the right time. We've got to continue to get that from him – we've got to continue to get the most out of all these guys because we're going to be able to rely on them and have to rely on them for the rest of the season."

(On relying on young players stepping up in a hostile environment like Arrowhead Stadium)

"We've got to have a plan but not overwhelm—we cannot overwhelm, especially in critical moments, third downs…Maybe not having maybe as much on their plate from a mindset. We've got to do what we have to do in order to go win the game, but we've got to try to limit maybe some of the short-circuiting if we can, as a staff, because you just know it's going to happen at some point. But I think that the way they came out today with the mindset and mentality of, 'Go get better. Have a better day practice than we did yesterday, be a little bit more intentional about what we're doing.' I think that'll help out."

(On the offensive line's improvement in recent weeks)

"I think the cohesiveness and chemistry, obviously, playing with the similar group for the last few weeks. Getting Luke [Goedeke] back into the fold has obviously been helpful for us from a moving-people standpoint. I just think that they're probably getting some chemistry, cohesiveness. They're always going to be a little banged up at this point in the year, but I've got to trust them and continue to run the football in moments where maybe I need to relieve these wideouts, relieve Baker [Mayfield] in moments to not put it on him."

(On WR Rakim Jarrett's versatility)

"He's more of a probably a 'Z' [or] 'X' type body. I mean, these guys kind of interchange in terms of like formally moving them to different places, right? They're all kind of able to move outside, inside, left, right, 'Z,' 'X,' 'F.' I could see that 'Rock' could definitely be body-type-wise a 'Z' and a little bit of an 'X' for us down the line. I could see him being able to go inside some if he needed to. So it's more just like getting him and just like playing him at one position, because he hasn't played, right? Like, we cannot give him an information overload. He's done a phenomenal job of being on the screws and listening, paying attention. We've just got to keep him in one position just for time on task."

(On if QB Baker Mayfield spends more time coaching up the younger wide receivers than he did with Mike Evans or Chris Godwin)

"For sure. I didn't have to tell Mike or Chris, usually. When something like that would occur, they would know it, look at Baker, they'd [gesture to their chest] and it was over. We'd move on pretty quick. I do think Baker has done a really nice job during the walk-through settings, practice, whatever it is – really trying to be as diligent and detailed as he can without overloading their minds of where to be, where he needs them, and what he's looking for on a particular play."

PASS GAME COORDINATOR/LINEBACKERS COACH LARRY FOOTE

(On what isn't connecting for the defense on the missed plays)

"First of all, we have to tackle. [On] some of them – the explosive plays, there was a missed tackle so we have to correct that. That's not easy, you know what I'm saying. We can easily say that, but tackling is hard, getting guys on the ground. So the vice tackle, especially in zone defense, we have to stress, 'Aye, we have to vice tackle this guy.' It's hard to get guys down in this league and it's starting to hurt us a little bit so guys are locked in this week, focused, and trying to limit those big plays."

(On if it is frustrating to see the middle of the field get exploited repeatedly)

"Well you're starting to see that throughout the league. It's a trend. San Francisco, what those guys are doing – Detroit Lions. It's a challenge. We have to try to stop what they're trying to do, especially in my room with linebackers and we just have to do a better job defending that."

(On LB J.J. Russell's performance on Sunday and if he is confident he can step in again)

"I'm comfortable with him. He's been here three years, he knows the defense. We don't have time to say, 'Hey, last time you played was preseason.' I expect him to come in there and play at a high level. He knows that he has to relax and just has to make plays, has to trust himself."

(On teams having their running backs and tight ends chip Tampa Bay's edge rushers)

"Well, you have to mix up the coverages. Three or four teams typically get that, our bigger guys are not known for pass rushing. It's typically the outside guys so we've been attacked like that before. We know how to adjust but those guys can't get frustrated. You have to just keep working and it works – the back end and front end – they work together, so we have to cover better so it'll give [Yaya Diaby] the extra time to rush the passer, but he just has to stay at it. As a staff, we'll fix those things and get those guys open to get the quarterback."

(On why there was not any backup player prepared to step in for LB SirVocea Dennis)

"Well, the other guys in the room with J.J. [Russell] and those guys – they have to show us that they're capable of doing those packages and they have to compete for that time. It's always game plan, matchups and what we're calling and what we're trying to take away. Each week it can change. Obviously, starting the season, those three guys – [based] off their play in preseason, those were the guys we were going with and [if] guys want more reps they have to show us that we're comfortable with it and we have to put the game plan [together] and it has to make sense."

(On if LB Vi Jones or anyone else in the linebacker room is prepared to step in for Sunday)

"Well, he's young, he's only been with us a half a year, he's still technically on practice squad, he's not up on the 53 [man roster], but just to answer that, in athleticism they kind of match – him and [SirVocea] Dennis, but it depends on what the game plan is, see what we're comfortable with, if we can move DBs – there's all types of stuff we can do to take it away. You guys will see Monday what we have planned or what not."

(On what he sees in Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes' evolution and offense)

"Well I don't use that term 'Game manager,' because people will [laughs]… That's a bad word. They're running the ball more. They're running the ball more and going way back in my playing days – that west coast offense with Andy Reid in Philadelphia – it's more underneath. That's what it looks like when I watch it. It looks like back in his Philadelphia days and just throwing it underneath [with] three tight ends on the field and Patrick Mahomes is just growing. He's seeing it, he's still moving around with his legs and he's making it tough on the defense."

(On Kansas City QB Patrick Mahomes' willingness to change his style of offense)

"If you watch, if you look at the numbers it's just – I think, in the Super Bowl, I was watching the game earlier, we probably only got 10 runs. They are just running the ball more. They're running the ball, playing complementary football, if you want to say that, but they're running the ball but he's still – in third down, he puts that cape on."

(On what has to change on those few plays that the defense makes mistakes on)

"A lot of times [it's] just frustrating, you see 10 guys doing it perfect and one guy [not] and that happens throughout the course of the year. We just have to lock in. Our message this week [is], 'Just focus on your assignment, the details, just focus. Stick with that, don't look at the schedule, what happened last week – just focus on your assignments each play and we'll see what happens.'"

LEFT TACKLE TRISTAN WIRFS

(On how QB Baker Mayfield has handled the offense and getting the younger guys up to speed without wide receivers Chris Godwin and Mike Evans)

"I think he's been great. Those are two big guys to lose. It can't be easy but he's leaned on us, he's leaned on the young guys – the young receivers stepping up, [he's] leaned on our [running] backs, we have three pretty damn good [running] backs and it's up to us up front as well to give him time and be able to make his reads and do what he needs to do back there to give us some success."

(On how important it is to have pride in being tone setters as an offensive line)

"I think it's big. Having Luke [Goedeke] back, he's the big tone setter here, any first play you always hear him chirping somebody. But you know, it's great, that's our job, we take a lot of pride in it, doing our best to keep [Baker Mayfield] upright and clean and we have another big test in front of us."

(On how important it will be to have a strong run game on Monday and why the run game has improved so much)

"Obviously, the run game is going to be huge, because it's going to be a loud environment, we're not going to want to be in third-and-long in Arrowhead [Stadium] with them screaming. [We're] doing our best to stay in front of the chain, staying out of third-and-long is going to be big so being efficient on first and second down, I think that's going to be huge for us. I think just starting fast, just doing our best to come out ready to play, doing our best to come out and put a drive together, get the first first down, that's usually what I say when we come out for the first drive of the game, 'First first down.' Get it out of the way, get the nerves out of the way and then we're rolling."

(On if he feels at home at left tackle now the more he's gotten used to it)

"[I'm] just trying to get as comfortable as I can. [I] come out every day with something to work on – my hands, my eyes, my feet, my set, redirection, blocking at the second level – I always have to get better at that. [I'm] just doing my best to come out and get better and be the best I can for my teammates. If I can do my job well, then it'll help the team. If Graham [Barton] can do his job well, it'll help the team, so [we're] just trying to be the best we can be."

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