Chiefs' Patrick Mahomes Details Triumph Over Ravens

Q: On what he saw from Xavier Worthy.

MAHOMES: “Yeah, he’s just so explosive. You just see it when you get the football in his hands, the defenses have to adjust and when they adjust, he gets so much attention…Just having him out there, not only for his physical ability but just the morale of the room, I thought it was huge.”

Q: On Xavier Worthy’s versatility.

MAHOMES: “I think you saw at the end of last year, he’s not just this fast receiver that can run down the field. He’s gained weight and he’s kept his speed, and he showed that he can be a guy that can do everything. I think last year was so pivotal of having him be in a bigger role – obviously with injuries and stuff like that. He had the injury at the beginning of the year, but this was the role that we expected him to be in, and he showcased it today.”

Q: On hitting four different players on touchdown passes:

MAHOMES: “I think guys just executed well and the offensive line blocked extremely well. When that happens, you can get the football out and let guys make plays and we did a good job as far as scheme. We knew where to throw the ball on time, and other than the few plays at the beginning of the game, I thought we did a great job at executing the whole day.”

Q: On the offensive groove.

MAHOMES: “Obviously, when you have success, it’s just we’ve been working extremely hard and we want to have success. And we’ve just been making little mistakes here and there and that causes frustration, but at the same time, we’ve been learning from them. We’ll learn from this game.

“I think early in the game you saw the one to JuJu (Smith-Schuster) that got tipped at the line of scrimmage, and then the other field goal that we had. There’s stuff that you can learn from every game, win or loss. I’m proud of the guys at how they’ve responded and want to be even better every single week.”

Q: What did you think of the offensive line today?

MAHOMES: “Yeah, they did a great job, on run and pass. When they play like that, it makes my job a lot easier. They’re starting to gel and build that chemistry that every offensive line has to do. Those young guys are getting more and more experience and they’ve played against some great defensive lines, and they’ll continue to get better and better as the year goes on, but they had a great day today and let’s build on it.”

Q: On his comfortability in the pocket.

MAHOMES: “I think the weeks prior has been something that’s been important to me – seeing that I can sit in these pockets and make these throws and get to my third progression, fourth progression and stuff like that. Even the play to JuJu (Smith-Schuster) that gets tipped, that’s third progression and you see the pocket; it’s clean. Having that and having that confidence in them, it’s pushing me to be better and I thought we did that today, and let’s continue to do it.”

Q: What is it like to have Chris Jones back in the locker room after those 24 hours?

MAHOMES: “Obviously, we were praying for Chris and we love him and we’re just happy to have him here. And we can be his brothers and support him. I think it made guys step up and want to play even harder for him. For him to want to be back here with us in times that he is in right now, it speaks to the brotherhood that we have in the locker room.”

Q: On Hollywood Brown’s fourth-down touchdown catch.

MAHOMES: “We wanted to go for it. We wanted to put that final ending on the game and we were talking in the huddle. And I can see that 14 (Ravens safety Kyle Hamilton) was going to be on that side, so I wanted JuJu (Smith-Schuster) to give me a pick. We knew there was going to be a cover-zero type of look, and he (Brown) was the last read. I told Hollywood in the huddle, ‘Man, if it’s cover zero, you gotta win. You gotta win across the field.’ And he did that. He beat a good corner and won, and was able to get a touchdown.”

Q: On the two deep completions to Xavier Worthy and Travis Kelce.

MAHOMES: “The deep one on the sideline, it was just Worthy just beating his guy. It was man coverage he won, and then giving him the throw down the field and letting him go up there and make a play. I think people – they think he’s just speed but he can really do it all. He can go catch those footballs over the top and he can be physical and use his body as well. Good to get him going early in the game and kind of have that threat the rest of the game.

“I missed him like right after that. I think he was a little tired there (laughter), but with him not playing a few games. You showcase the deep stop route that he does; he has a wide variety of routes that he can run. And then the one to Trav (Kelce) was cover zero and then it’s just about your guy winning a one-on-one and I will give my guys chances down the field. And Trav has shown for years that he can win those matchups.”

Q: On points off turnovers.

MAHOMES: “At the end of the day, that’s a great offense. That’s a great football team. That’s a great offense with two guys that are the top of the league. Top guy at quarterback and running back, and then with tight ends. And then the way our defense played today, I know they got the late touchdown, but they played lockdown defense and they put pressure on the quarterback; they got interceptions, they got turnovers and that sparked us offensively.

“Giving us those short fields, we have to execute and score off those and it was a good team football game. It wasn’t just offense, it wasn’t just defense or special teams, it was everybody came together and that’s what we need the rest of the year.”

Q: On how they felt this past week.

MAHOMES: “When you’re playing one of the better teams in the NFL, you know you’re going to have to be a little bit more aggressive and I know their record doesn’t show, but everybody knows that’s the Baltimore Ravens, they’ve had so much success these last few years. We had a good gameplan going in. We knew we had to raise our game and I think that we finished the game the right way.

“But it was a close game throughout until the very end there and I thought we executed at a high level in crucial situations and that’s what changes the tide of the game.”

Q: On how much Worthy’s return helped him with better answers for the blitz:

MAHOMES: “Obviously, the offensive line – we just have better communication and we have better stuff that we talked about through previous games. And then with Xavier being back, it’s just that threat of being able to win over the top. It’s scary for defenses when they’re gonna bring pressure and you know you can get it to that guy short or deep.

“He can make plays happen. We had good answers. There was a couple here and there that I think I could’ve been better on as far as my answers, but overall I thought we had a good gameplan and we executed it well.”

Q: On Worthy’s 35-yard run:

MAHOMES: “I was thinking about how fast Josh (Simmons) was running on that one, too. Left tackle was rolling, too (laughter). So to me, it’s just execution. We got into a big set, extra o-linemen coming on the field. We had run the ball well also, than we’ve been running the ball … they got downhill and we gave the ball to Xavier and the offensive line going in front of him. They should be glad his arm got banged up because I think he might’ve had a chance to take it all the way there but he played it smart to go out of bounds after the run.”