Adam Teicher (ESPN): With Jamaal Charles coming back and Spencer Ware being around, what do you see your role being?

WEST: "Man, I'm just happy to be here first of all. I want to give thanks to Clark Hunt, Coach Reid, the Chiefs organization first off for having me here and then, I'm just going to go out and do whatever the coaches ask me to do. We'll see how that plays out. I'm just happy to be with my guys here."

Teicher: Are there going to be enough footballs to go around?

WEST: "Oh yeah, there are always enough footballs to go around. With a room like we have and a team like we have, there's no 'I' in team for real, and we look at it that way. That's what we live by and that's what we are going to go by. And that's what makes the Chiefs a great team."

Teicher: What have you been doing since the end of the season?

WEST: "Just training, trying to get ready so we can have a better season than we had this year."

Teicher: Have you been in Kansas City?

WEST: "I've been around, just see the world a little bit. I've been in Kansas City, was there for a couple weeks. I've been in Dallas. I've been home visiting family and friends, just trying to enjoy my time away before we have to get back to work."

Terez Paylor (Kansas City Star): How motivated were you to get something done here and have a little bit of security?

WEST: "My answer would be that I'm just blessed to be playing this game first of all, and for them to give me that fair chance is like a blessing. It feels pretty good to know that they believe in me to give me a chance like that."

Paylor: As far as you know, how long has this thing been in the works?

WEST: "I don't know. I just told them I want to play football. I'm not a person out looking for money. That's not what this thing is about. I'm just happy to still be in that same room and the same team with my brothers, man, and that's all I've really been worried about. Just focusing on being a better football player. One thing the coaches tell us is that you can only control what you can control. I really can't control the money situation. All I can control is the effort I put in to become a better football player and just focus on letting my agent and the Chiefs handle the rest."

Paylor: Is some of the attraction of staying here that you know the coaches like you and know how to use you? Was there any thought to going somewhere else in 2017 to test your worth on the market?

WEST: "Nah, man. Like I said, I have always told myself that I am not going to—the day that I start playing this game for money is the day that I need to go home. You all see me out there having fun. I still see the game as a game, and I like to have fun. I like to have fun. It's not about money. When it starts to become a business like that, that's when stuff starts to go wrong in my eyes. I really don't focus on that. I want to be a Chief; I want to stay a Chief for life. That's where my focus is to become a better football player."

Teicher: Do you feel like the Chiefs have gone a little bit above and beyond with you?

WEST: "What they did is a true blessing. They didn't have to do that. That's why I'm so honored. I want to give so much thanks to the Chiefs organization, the Hunt family, Coach Reid and their staffs. They didn't have to do what they did, so to me, it's a big blessing to me and my family."

Teicher: Do you talk to Jamaal Charles much?

WEST: "Oh yeah. I talk to Jamaal almost every day. He's one of the first people that called me and congratulated me. He told me to keep doing what you're doing and there's better things to come for all of us."

Teicher: Have you been able to help him in any way to get through this difficult time for him?

WEST: "Yeah. That's the thing about that team and especially our running backs room. We all help each other. It's not just about football. There's not a time when we are all together and we're talking about football. We're talking about life situations. If I have a problem, I can go to Jamaal. If Jamaal has a problem, he can call me. One, two, three o'clock in the morning, we are going to all sit down and have that situation. I feel like we all help each other; we all complement each other."

Herbie Teope (Topeka Capital-Journal): What was your reaction to Spencer Ware signing a contract, too?

WEST: "Oh it was a blessing. When I saw Spencer, to see one of my brothers succeed, I'm sure it's the same when he sees me succeed. To see a family member, a brother do well, it's a blessing to know that we're going to still be together. I almost cried tears of joy."

Teicher: Did you know until today that he was going to sign too?

WEST: "Oh, not at all. Like I said, we don't worry about those types of things. We can only control what we can control. That's how we are in that room, so we just go focus on what we can do and let everything else handle itself."

BJ Kissel (Chiefs.com): How do you compare how you've approached this offseason?

WEST: "Last year I was fresh coming out of the season. This year I played not a full season, but I played a lot more than I played the first season. So I had to give myself some time to rest first. That was a big thing. Even Coach Reid said 'Make sure you rest first.' Guys like us, we don't want to rest, we want to go right to work, don't want to feel like we've got someone outworking us. So this offseason, (I had to) get more rest, prepare smarter but still work hard."

Kissel: What does it mean to you when you look back to when you were on a practice squad to where you are now? WEST:"It's a crazy blessing. I want to thank everybody that's been on this crazy ride and believed in me and stuck with me the last 16 months and knew what I was capable of doing."