Kansas City Chiefs coordinator Steve Spagnuolo is known for running an aggressive defensive system that puts pressure on opposing offenses with its unpredictability and emphasis on physical play.
Cornerback Joshua Williams commented on what his defensive coaches are stressing in practice at Chiefs training camp after Sunday’s workouts, telling reporters that improvement in press coverage is a theme of every workout in St. Joseph.
“Definitely press, we do a lot of press, working on that press technique,” Williams explained. “[Defensive Backs] Coach [Dave] Merritt and coach [Steve] Spags [Spagnuolo] even with them now… we’re still just honing and trying to perfect little techniques, things to expect at the line of scrimmage. So that was an emphasis in the offseason, still an emphasis now and that’s what we’re working on.”
The press coverage that Williams described requires exceptional coordination between cornerbacks and safeties to ensure that receivers don’t slip behind the secondary, so communication between the position groups is likely a top coaching point as well.
Watch for Williams and his fellow cornerbacks in Kansas City’s defense to continue giving the business to their offensive teammates in practice, and for there to be plenty of ball-hawking action at the Chiefs’ second week of training camp workouts.