On his expectations entering his third season with the Chiefs:
"I think a lot has been talked about that with the third season and certainly we have a lot of high expectations for ourselves. But I think with that, it's a chance to take it to the next level. Really a kind of advanced offense, really a chance to capitalize on some situations out there; really kind of reduce mistakes, reduce turnovers. Be an efficient offense. I think that's kind of the goal of every offense but certainly for us it's go out there and score points and eliminate mistakes, eliminate turnovers, put ourselves in a good chance to win ballgames. Certainly with that, we had a great offseason, had a lot of great work in OTAs and kind of carried that into camp now. A chance to kind of start it up with some preseason games next week."
On how versatile the Chiefs can be on offense with the players they have:
"That's what you're going for again is to have a bunch of tools, a bunch of weapons and they can't double everybody, right? Somebody is one-on-one and really my job as a quarterback is to go out there and kind of facilitate that; a little bit like a point guard and run the offense and deliver the ball where it is supposed to go and do it accurately and on time and let those guys go make plays. Really kind of the definition of West Coast offense and let the system work for you. Go out there and run it. We have a bunch of guys, we feel good about all of them. Go out there, stay healthy and let's go out there and make plays."
On his connection with wide receiver Jeremy Maclin:
"I think a couple things. One, his history in the offense. He really kind of came in day one and didn't skip a beat. There was literally no catch up; he came in and it was fluid, like he had never left. And the type of receiver he is. He's the type of receiver that has great body language, he sees things so well, he's smart and he can really go. When you get open like that, it's easy to throw to."
On how much they want to push the ball down the field this season:
"We're always trying to stretch the field; trying to stretch it horizontally, trying to stretch it vertically and certainly play-by-play it's a little different. But when we get those opportunities, we need to make that happen and it's on all 11 of us. When we get them, we have to hit them. That's part of the deal. But certainly with the West Coast offense once again, you're trying to spread the field all of the time and when we do get those shots we have to be opportunistic, we have to be able to hit them."
On how the Chiefs defense makes their offense better in practice:
"They give us such good looks. They do so much, first of all, especially up front protection-wise. When you have the front that they do and they're moving around, we get every look imaginable. It really makes us be on our P's and Q's and we have to know all of the little details up front with protections; who's hot, what are we doing. We have to be on it and it's good work for us, especially heading into preseason and come season time because like I said, there's not much that they don't do. Really we kind of get all of the looks."
On what he has seen from the offensive line so far:
"A couple of new faces from last year. Like you said with [Eric Fisher] and some of the guys that have been here for a little while, anytime I think you get the turnover at the center position – he is the guy usually up front, certainly was for us, that kind of makes everything together. He's the guy communicating all of that stuff, making sure all five guys are on the same page. When Rodney [Hudson] left, obviously there was some turnover there but really feel like we have some guys that have stepped up, really worked hard to step in and be ready to go. Obviously then you have a veteran presence, bring Ben [Grubbs] in and he kind of speaks for himself; just has that veteran aura about him when he steps in the huddle and certainly on the field kind of plays with an edge which you like. You like those guys up there that have that to them. So I feel good. Those guys worked hard all offseason. We get to put the pads on now and it's kind of a continuation of that."
On running back Jamaal Charles:
"Jamaal is special. I don't want to get into comparing against guys and this and that, but the thing I think I recognized right away coming in is Jamaal never leaves the field. People see the speed and the big play and I think they kind of think of him as that, and maybe some of the pass-catching out of the backfield. But if we're in short yardage, Jamaal is in there. If we're in goaline personnel, Jamaal is in there. If we're in third down and he's protecting, Jamaal is in there. The guy does it all and I think he takes pride in doing it all. We throw it at him; coach loads him up. That's a lot to put on a guy, not just physically but mentally, and I think he takes a lot of pride in being able to handle all of that. Guy takes great pride in all of the little things; like I said, protection, to see how much he does back there with protection and he doesn't have to. Certainly I think guys see that and appreciate that. Like I said, the guy is never off the field and there are very few matchups that aren't favorable. I don't care who you guard him with, I'm trying to get him the ball."
On if there is more urgency this year with the team:
"Yeah certainly. I think two years ago we really felt good with what we did and had a chance and let an opportunity get away in the playoffs. And then last year, we ended up finished tied for the Wild Card with three other teams and the tiebreakers and all of that, we didn't get in. You're stuck thinking about those couple of games that you let get away. You have those handful of games that you come down, you think that we had an opportunity to win it and we didn't get it done. Whether it was through the week of preparation or whether it was on Sunday, we didn't get it done and you're just stuck kicking yourself all offseason and you have a horrible taste in your mouth all offseason because you let that opportunity slip away. Certainly for us, I think that's been the mindset: you can't let it happen. That's the name of the game. You can be as good as you want – we beat both Super Bowl teams last year – but if you don't get in the dance, if we don't take care of business every single week, you're not going to get in. For us, I think that's kind of the mindset, that every single week we have to be on it. And when we are, we're tough to beat."
