Top 10 Chiefs quotes heading into the AFC title game

10. Andy Reid on maintaining some normality for the players before a big game:

“You don’t change. It’s not what you do. You just come in and you shoot these guys straight. I think that’s what we all want. If I have education I can share with them, I share with them and then get yourself ready to play. All of this doesn’t necessarily matter on the game. You eliminate those distractions, you get yourself ready to play against a good football team and really it comes down to that when you are out there on the field. All the hype and celebrations, press conferences and all those things, once it is kick off time you want to make sure that you have prepared yourself right.”

9. Dustin Colquitt on getting to this point in his career and the season:

“The Patriots have been the team to beat since 2001. They’ve had a great run, especially in the last eight years. Like I said, we will have our work cut out for us. But we’ve been working hard, a lot has changed in this building since 2013, with Coach (Andy) Reid coming, (special team coordinator) Coach (Dave) Toub, guys that have become great friends but also guys who have mentored you up and told you where you struggle, where you need to get better, and included family in that, which has been a great change to this environment. It’s more of a Midwest environment here now. It’s fun to see. It’s fun to see the success we’ve had and getting into this next game. Can you think of a better town in this country that would love and crave an AFC Championship more than Chiefs Kingdom? I can’t.”

8. Andy Reid on Tom Brady’s consistency throughout his career:

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“I haven’t seen any decline. I haven’t seen him get any slower. That’s not his deal, he’s not going to run a lot unless he has to. He is as accurate, he sees things better even than when he did when he was younger. I’m wearing glasses, he doesn’t (laughter). The aging hasn’t hit him. He’s an amazing guy.”

7. Andy Reid on Mahomes’ impressive leadership abilities:

“Great quarterbacks, they have that ability. He’s young, but he has that ability to influence and make people around him better. He does it with his teammates. He brings a certain energy with him. He’s not trying to do (that), this isn’t something these guys try to do. This is him. You fake it and guys see right through that. That is who he is and what he is. It is the same guy you guys have a chance to meet with. For some of you guys, he’s made a better writer out of you (laughter). I’m not pointing any fingers (laughter).”

6. Steve Nelson, when asked about the Patriots wide receivers:

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“They’re physical. They’re not super fast guys, not super athletic, but they don’t make a lot of mistakes. If you give them any type of room, they could hurt you and, of course, they have Tom Brady, so it’s going to help a ton.”

5. Damien Williams on his ability to catch the ball well:

“Oh no, I definitely for sure had to work on that. If you call a couple of my coaches they’re kind of mad, they’re like, ‘where’d you learn how to catch all of a sudden?’ It’s for sure something you have to work on. That’s just hit the JUGS every day after practice.”

4. Justin Houston on whether or not he laughs at Tom Brady saying critics think the Patriots “suck” now:

“Yes, because I just think he’s just trying to get himself and everybody else over there fired up. Everybody knows the Patriots, this is I think their eighth year making it to the AFC Championship, so I think it’s something for himself and the Patriots.”

3. Eric Fischer on whether or not the offensive line’s mobility and athleticism is underrated:

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“I think in the grand scheme of things, people can see what they want to see. Obviously, I think they all want to see the Cheetah (Hill) running 40 yards downfield rather than me (laughter). If I can make him look good, that is offensive line – I don’t need recognition. We are just looking to get the points up on the board. Anytime that we are breaking off a run for 40 yards, that is what we take pride in and we will let the other guys enjoy it. Sometimes, they let us in on the celebrations and stuff so that is pretty cool (laughter).”

2. Bob Sutton on Eric Berry:

“I think he’s our most physical football player. So, when you have those qualities you have playmaking ability, you have a chance to affect the game. The one thing about speed on defense is that it isn’t always the plays you make it’s sometimes the plays you prevent. He has that ability in him. The other part of it that he brings is the players respond to him. They appreciate all he’s been through and what he’s done here and what kind of player he is. I obviously think it’s a great plus for us if we can have him.”

1. Patrick Mahomes on bringing the Lamar Hunt trophy home:

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“I think one of the awesome things we do with our player development team is that they take us through the whole history. We come over to the museum that we have in the stadium and they take us through how he made the AFL, pretty much from scratch, and had this vision for what is now the AFC and combined it with the NFL and made this beautiful league. It truly is special to have someone like that who has created your franchise. You want to do whatever you can to bring honor to him and that family as they’ve helped make this a place we can play and have fun and play the sport we love to play.”