Chiefs Player Quotes
May 4, 2024
WR XAVIER WORTHY
Q: What’s the past week been like for you? And what has stood out about what you’ve seen in the playbook so far?
WORTHY: “It’s been fun, learning the new offense and seeing how they run stuff, and just getting the flow of things. It reminds me a lot of Sark’s (Texas Head Coach Steve Sarkisian) playbook, a lot of similarities, just a lot of different names to it. It’s going to be fun to play in this offense.”
Q: What do you think the Chiefs expect of you and what are your expectations of yourself?
WORTHY: “The expectation of me was to come in willing to work. Whatever they need me to do – whatever I have to do – I’m going to do it to get on the field. For me, always to play and be the best me, that’s my expectation.”
Q: Did you scout the Chiefs at all before you were drafted here?
WORTHY: “Yeah. Anywhere with a quarterback, I feel like that was my main spot. Pat (Mahomes) – I feel like everybody would want to play for Pat with how amazing of a quarterback he is and how versatile he is.”
Q: What do you want to accomplish in the camp this weekend?
WORTHY: “Just establishing the playbook. Getting a firm understanding of the playbook so I know where to line up come training camp, so I’m already affiliated, know what I’m doing, know where I’m lining up and know the plays I’m running.”
OL HUNTER NOURZAD
Q: What have you heard about Head Coach Andy Reid’s practices?
NOURZAD: “I haven’t really been told anything about it. I was told to be ready to come work. That’s the main thing, be ready to come work hard, make sure I was in shape, make sure I was running and stuff. That’s really the only thing.”
Q: What has the whole process of getting drafted and getting here been like for you?
NOURZAD: “It’s pretty surreal. You try to prepare yourself as best as possible during the process, but you really have no idea where you’re going to go. Once the bus rolled up the road and we saw the stadium and the facility – it’s really breathtaking, it’s really an incredible experience that I feel truly blessed to be able to experience. It’s unbelievable.”
Q: When was it that you realized the dream of playing in the NFL was realistic?
NOURZAD: “It was my junior year at Cornell when scouts started showing up to practice. Like I said in a couple of interviews, I wasn’t highly recruited out of high school, no one really said this was a possibility for me. That was kind of the first moment where I thought, ‘If I put enough work into this, I could make it come true.’”
Q: Is there a sense of freedom after the draft process doing workouts and interviews to be back to doing more football-focused activities?
NOURZAD: “I think it’s more a sense of excitement rather than freedom because football is the only thing I really love. Being able to just go back to that, being completely focused on, like you said, learning my playbook, getting to meet my teammates, getting out and doing drills and getting better. It’s really relieving.”
TE JARED WILEY
Q: What were the expectations for yourself and from the Chiefs coaching staff when you got drafted?
WILEY: “As far as the coaches, just get in here and learn the offense as fast as possible and be a key contributor on the team however that looks, whether it’s special teams, offense, whatever they ask me to do, I’ll do it. My expectations of myself are basically that, I want to come in here, I want to get comfortable, I want to learn the brand and style of football that they play here in Kansas City. I want to be able to do that to the best of my ability.”
Q: You moved from quarterback to tight end, can you explain what that process was like and what do you love most about playing the tight end position?
WILEY: “First off, that transition was a little bit tougher. I played quarterback in high school so I never really never experienced college football and then they were like, ‘Hey you’re going to go play tight end.’ So that was a little different. A lot of run blocking drills, a lot of practicing went into it. My favorite thing about tight end is I feel like it’s – aside from the quarterback – I feel like it’s the most essential part of your offense, we’re asked to do everything whether it’s in the pass game or in the run game or pass protection. I kind of like having that pressure or weight on my shoulders a little bit, and I like being able to prove to myself and to everybody else that I’m completely capable of doing it.”
Q: You mentioned that you’ve been under a few different offensive coordinators, head coaches and schools, do you think that will help you adapt and learn as you get into the NFL?
WILEY: “Yeah. I’ve had to learn five different offenses while I was in college so this is my sixth one in six years. It’s part of my normal routine now I guess so I don’t think I’ll have much trouble with it.”
Q: When did you guys get the playbook and what are your study habits to learn offenses?
WILEY: “I got to talk to some of the coaches a little bit yesterday about it. As far as my study habits and stuff go, just draw whatever the play is. Normally teams will give you drawings or whatever, you draw those on a sheet of paper and then if I can, I try to get a script or whatever for practice and then I go in and write whatever I have on it; stuff like walk throughs and everything like that, that helps a ton too.”