The Kansas City Chiefs are heading to Glendale, Arizona to face the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LVII.
Andy Reid addressed media members on Monday, providing some updates after the AFC Championship Game win. He discussed a key injury in Sunday’s game, facing his former team, game-planning and the team’s tremendous rookie secondary.
Here are some quick takeaways from what Reid had to say:
Injury situation still fluid
Chiefs HC Andy Reid didn’t have any injury updates on Monday morning after a game filled with attrition. He said that he was proud of the guys who pushed themselves through bruises, sprains and all of that jazz.
He was asked about CB L’Jarius Sneed, who suffered a concussion in the opening minutes of the game.
“Yeah, we’ll just see how he does here today,” Reid said. “We’ll see where he’s at. I don’t want to make any predictions either way. But listen, that kid has done a great job for us. He was obviously going to cover No. 1 (Ja’Marr Chase) most of the day as he’s done the last few games, the primary receiver. If he can be back, he’ll be back. If not, then we’ll have to go a different direction.”
That last bit feels like it could be applied to any of the several players who suffered injuries during the course of Sunday’s game.
Work on the Super Bowl LVII game plan begins now
The Chiefs have already started formulating their game plan for the Philadelphia Eagles. Andy Reid confirmed that he will spend the majority of this week working on installing the foundational pieces of the game plan. The reason they’re getting a headstart? All of the distractions that take place during the week leading up to the Super Bowl.
“We will,” Reid said. “I think it’s important you get down to Arizona with the distractions and the different events going on. You at least want to get the base part in, where you have a foundation of the game plan. If you have to tweak it here or there, you can do that. But really while it’s relatively calm here and normal, then let’s get it done and it’s really that simple.”
Given this is the third Super Bowl appearance in the last four seasons for Kansas City, rest assured that Andy Reid has this down to a science.
Rookie perserverance
I wrote a bit about the rookie contributions to the AFC Championship Game, but Chiefs HC Andy Reid spoke about this group again on Monday. He was asked whether they performed better than expected. Reid said he was always optimistic, especially about the kids in the secondary, but the onus was on them to make things happen.
“I remember talking to the guys about (San Francisco 49ers head coach) Bill Walsh when he had that group of rookies in the secondary — the Ronnie Lott group,” Reid said. “They were all rookies and they ended up going to the Super Bowl. It seems like a long time ago that I mentioned that to the guys and I mean, here we sit. Obviously, there was a concern, but there was an optimism too that it could be done. Then, the kids, their work ethic, they showed it to us in training camp, they showed it to us all the way through the season. If they got beat, they fought back. If you look at (Joshua) Williams, the (pass interference penalties) put us in a bad position and all of a sudden he comes up with an interception in the championship game with a deflection from (Bryan) Cook. It’s crazy how those things work, but the kids stepped up. They didn’t lose their confidence. I was optimistic, but you don’t know how the journey is going to go. Here we sit and they did a good job.”
The Chiefs will certainly need this group of rookies to continue to rise to the occasion during the Super Bowl.
No bad blood with Eagles
Andy Reid will be facing his former team in Super Bowl LVII. While it’s sure to be a topic of discussion moving forward, he harbors no hard feelings toward the organization that once fired him.
“When you really cut to the chase on it, they’re a really good football team,” Reid said. “I think that’s where the energy goes. When it’s kickoff, you’re playing that team. It’s the players and the coaches you’re going against. The uniform and all that, that’s not where your mind is at. You’re mind’s at making sure you have a solid game plan and that you can perform to the best of our ability. That’s I think where the major focus goes. It doesn’t matter who you’re playing, you try to blank out all the hype of the game. It’s a pretty big game for everybody, you guys included. It’s a big deal, man. It’s the Super Bowl. You just try to blank that out and make sure you’re working on the game plan, which really matters.”
Right now, Reid is more concerned about the players and coaches on the opposing sideline and not the logo he used to wear on his hat and shirt. He knows that the only thing that matters is getting back in the Super Bowl win column after the team lost to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in Super Bowl LV. Pouring himself into the game plan is how he accomplishes that goal.
