HC ANDY REID
OPENING STATEMENT:"Alright. We finished up minicamp. Things went well. We saw some improvement from all of the guys. I know the question is going to be about the quarterback [Patrick Mahomes ]. We saw him come in and improve every day that he was here with his verbiage and his footwork. Does he have a ways to go? Absolutely. But the nice thing about him is that we found out that he likes to work and that's the big thing. With that, the time is yours."
Q:How inquisitive was he on the field asking questions between plays?
REID:"He had great questions. He studies hard. If he doesn't know it, he's going to ask you and then he's going to go do it. He doesn't make the same mistake over and over. That's a plus."
Q:Do you look at how well he handles his teammates? How does he do it?
REID:"Absolutely. Great quarterbacks make everyone around them better. They take charge of that huddle and if an alignment is not right, which you saw him out there moving guys around, you've got to be able to do that. You've got to make all the guys in that huddle better."
Q:What did you see from his footwork?
REID:"He's getting his drop down. That's a tough deal even if you've done it in college. That's not part of that offense. To get the drop down, according to the play, which each play has a couple different options where you can go with the football, you have to read the coverage on top of it and the last part of it is that you have to know the guy that you're throwing to."
Q:Did you like how much he tried to test the intermediate part of the field?
REID:"I thought he did a nice job with it. He spread the ball around a little bit. He's not afraid to throw the ball downfield."
Q:Do you put a timetable on how long it should take a guy to learn the playbook?
REID:"You give a quarterback three to four years and they start really having a grasp on it -- I'm talking about even veteran guys that come in with you. We throw a lot at them. You've got to get to know your receivers, you need to know all those routes and how they operate against all the coverages and then any adjustments we put in. It takes a little bit of time to do that."
Q:What's an acceptable percentage to know in order for you to feel comfortable that someone can operate it?
REID:"Approximately 34.2 percent [laughing]. I don't know what it is. I'm not sure. You got me on that one. I'm not sure but I'm going to look that up. Good question."
Q:Are there any other guys or numbers that stood out to you this weekend?
REID:"I thought the draft picks did a nice job. [Damien] Mama, the big kid that played guard. Like you and me, he's going to drop a few. We've got to kick it down a notch so he can move a little better. I liked some of the things I saw from him though. There were a couple of secondary guys I thought did a nice job too. We'll see. [John] Dorsey is meeting with guys so we'll see who sticks and who doesn't."
Q:Should it be part of Alex Smith's job to help Patrick Mahomes out or should he focus on himself?
REID:"The thing you know about our team, and it really doesn't matter what the position is, guys are willing to help. That's a 'catch 22' by he knows I'm going to be right behind him. If he's not ready, he's not a coach yet. He sure can help and he will. That's how he's wired. But he's also going to get himself ready to roll."
Q:How are you involved with the decisions John Dorsey and his staff will make about this weekend's tryouts with regards to who will make the roster?
REID:"He went around and talked to the assistant coaches to get their feel on it. He talks to his guys and then they make a decision on it."
Q:What do you think of Jehu Chesson up to this point?
REID:"I like him. He's got a big upside to him. He's strong for that position. I like him. I've got to see more. It takes a little bit of time to get it but he seemed to handle things well."
Q:What do you tell Patrick Mahomes moving forward over the coming weeks before he returns to Kansas City?
REID:"Right now they leave. They're all leaving for a week. His graduation takes place next Monday or Tuesday. So he won't be back here until next Tuesday or Wednesday in that area and then we're going to be in phase II. In the meantime, he can go back and he can study the things that he learned here. He can work on his footwork, he can throw and he can make sure he's conditioned himself. Those guys are like pitchers. They need to make sure the legs are strong. All those things he can work on."
QB PATRICK MAHOMES
Q:What was it like out there the last couple of days?
MAHOMES:"It was good, it was awesome. Guys were competing, it was a lot of fun. We got out there and worked hard every single day and practice got better and better as we went."
Q:What has been the hardest thing for you in the last three days?
MAHOMES:"I mean you just have to stay on it. I don't know if anything is necessarily hard, but the speed is fast, you have to get adjusted to it. I feel like I've done well and I've gotten better every single rep."
Q:How comfortable are you to go up to Coach Reid and ask him about a play or rep after you're done?
MAHOMES:"I'm pretty comfortable. Coach talks to me a lot, he's trying to push me every single day. With Coach Reid, Coach Nagy and all of the offensive coaches they've all stayed on me to be in every single rep, do my own reps in the back by myself and everything like that."
Q:Out of the things you've had a chance to learn here, what is one of the things that you'll really focus on over the next week or so?
MAHOMES:"Definitely just little things with my mechanics to help get the ball out faster. Those windows close a little bit tighter now, so you've got to really be tight with your mechanics, get the ball out and hit him."
Q:Do you have a hard time thinking about the mechanics while you're trying to think about the read as well?
MAHOMES:"I'm trying to think about it all, I'm just trying to be as perfect as I can be every single rep. You want to have every rep great, no rep lost. I just try to be as good as I can be every single rep and if something is wrong, coach will tell me and I can fix it for the next one."
Q:Do you think focusing on those mechanics could hurt where you throw the ball or the read?
MAHOMES:"Not necessarily, you just really have to try and work on mechanics as much as you can with individual drills and it comes a little bit more natural as you go. Then coach can just give you subtle reminders that you need to do this right this time and you can fix it there."
Q:How much different do you feel after this minicamp, is it more or less comfortable than you'd thought you'd be after a couple days?
MAHOMES:"It's definitely gotten a lot more comfortable getting through the process, seeing how to operate at the line of scrimmage. I feel like with me and the other quarterbacks getting after each other, staying on top of each other, helping each other out, I felt like that has really helped me and improved me to being better every single day."
Q:Were you at all nervous about this?
MAHOMES:"Not necessarily. I was more excited. I was excited to get out here and play. It was an awesome three days, we really got after it and it was a lot of fun."
Q:What's your plans for the next week?
MAHOMES:"I'm going home, I'm going to go workout and study as much as I can, try to stay on top of things. The older guys, the veterans are still practicing, still doing their stuff. I've got to make sure I'm up to speed when I get here next week."
Q:Are you going to take part in graduation?
MAHOMES:"No sir, I'm not. I think I still have 18 hours left."
Q:What was the process like as far as getting the play in, making the call and running the play?
MAHOMES:"I actually liked it with the helmet. It was kind of different at first, but right when I got used to it, it really helped me get through the process a lot better. Like I said, it was just a matter of getting comfortable with it every single time so I could operate at a high level."
Q:Has Alex Smith reached out to you at all? If so, what have you talked about?
MAHOMES:"Yeah. He's reached out and we've talked a little bit. He's told me to be 'all-in', take in every single rep and be the best you can be at it. He's a guy whose mind is always going, he's always thinking about football, he's a guy that I can really learn behind and he said he would teach me as we go."
Q:How does No. 15 feel? MAHOMES:"I like it a lot actually. It looks pretty good. I've seen some pictures of it and I liked it."
