Arrowhead Pride
After Kansas City’s sixth training camp practice, Nagy made his initial media appearance of the summer.
On Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs’ offensive coordinator Matt Nagy held his first press conference of training camp. Throughout the media session, Nagy shared notes on several different Chiefs players, including quarterback Patrick Mahomes and rookie offensive lineman Josh Simmons.
Nagy explained that part of the staff’s role this year is making sure that the harsh feelings that came with the blowout Super Bowl loss don’t bleed into the team’s work this season. Nagy said that hasn’t happened with Mahomes.
“We’ve gone back to a lot of the foundational stuff — whether it’s mechanics, footwork, timing [or] progression — almost to like when he was a rookie again — and he embraces that,” said Nagy. “He wants that. So it’s important for us to stick to that, but then also continue to never take away what he does so great, and I think you see it out here and what he’s doing in camp so far. It’s been really good.”
Simmons seems to be settling in more and more every day of training camp, and Monday’s practice was highlighted by his manhandling of fellow rookie Ashton Gillotte during a one-on-one rep.
Nagy described Simmons’ pure athleticism as “rare.”
“It’s special,” said Nagy of Simmons. “I like his ‘mental’ right now — where he’s at mentally. We all see what goes on out here in practice, but then we take it to walkthroughs inside. He’s so laser-focused and understanding from (offensive line) coach [Andy] Heck on maybe there’s a mistake or a mental [error] where his assignment [isn’t in] the right spot, so we repeat it and go through it. He cannot have enough of those. Physically, he’s super talented. It’s the mental side and it’s the communication part with the left guard and the rest of the O-line, but I really like where he’s at. He’s a true pro right now, and this is just the beginning.”
Simmons has not missed a play at starting left tackle since camp commenced a week ago.
On Sunday, Worthy spoke about his growth and comfort now that he is a second-year player, explaining that the game slowed down for him toward the end of last season. Nagy agreed with Worthy’s self-evaluation.
“When he showed up in OTAs this year, he would come over to me a lot and just kind of talk through what he’s seeing on the second level with defense, not what we’re doing,” began Nagy. “You know what I mean?
“If we break the huddle, these guys right now, like [Jalen] Royals right now, he’s trying to think, where do I line up? He’s not seeing the defense right now. That’s OK. That’s normal. Xavier was there. Rashee [Rice] was there before. Now they’re level 101, 202, 303....
