Arrowhead Pride
Kansas City’s third-year wide receiver (and kick returner) spoke following Friday’s practice.
Last week, the Kansas City Chiefs’ assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Dave Toub made no secret of his desire to keep wide receiver Nikko Remigio as his primary return man for the coming season. He praised Remigio for being dependable and mistake-free.
But when Remigio spoke after Friday’s padded practice from the team’s training camp at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, he seemed unaware of Toub’s comments.
“This is my first time hearing that,” said Remigio. “[But] I take it with a grain of salt. I think the thing that I’ve learned with this business is that if you get too comfortable, you’re going to get ‘got’ — and I’ve worked too damn hard to get to this point in my career to get to Year 3 [and] to let it slip through my fingers. So really, I approach every day like I’m an undrafted rookie that barely got a shot to make it to the NFL — and I’m scratching and clawing to just get an opportunity.”
While his short NFL career has been dependent on his services as a returner, Remigio has found himself playing on offense more often during this week’s camp, since wide receivers Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and Skyy Moore have all missed time. But in the often-brutal conditions that can mark head coach Andy Reid’s infamous training camp practices — especially during hot weather — he hasn’t spent a lot of time thinking about the situation.
“To be honest, there’s not a lot going on in my head at that at that point in time,” Remigio said of his additional opportunities. “You’re kind of just flailing around all over the place. You’re drenched in sweat. It’s hot. Your skin is stinging cause it’s hot — and I think on those days, Coach Reid is intentionally trying to see and evaluate if you can still do your job in the most chaotic, frantic of times with the most extreme circumstances.
“So that’s what I know is going on in the back of my mind: ‘Can I still score a touchdown? Can I still catch the ball? Can I still square up a punt in the most extreme conditions?’ Because when we get to the playoffs — when we get to the championship — that pressure is [at] a whole another level.”
When Reid spoke on Tuesday, he acknowledged Remigio’s competitiveness in the fight to make the team’s 53-man roster.
“[The wideouts are] competing like crazy for six or seven spots,” explained Reid. “That’s what you’re looking at. They’re in there battling their tail off to make one of those positions. Remigio’s doing that. You know him, and you know how competitive of a kid he [is]. Everything he does, he’s competitive. He has that punt return thing that goes into his favor, but we’ve got some other guys that are fighting for that, too.”
Given how he entered the...
