How Chiefs Are Coaching Butker to Get Back to Butker

On the difference this past week in eliminating penalties:

“Focus. I think Coach put a lot of emphasis on it. I mean, we all emphasized it about being smart at the point of attack, and we just did a better job. And, lucky we didn't get a lot of penalties. Luck as well.”

On whether he still feels good about Harrison Butker’s arrow, despite the missed extra point:

“Yeah, I do. I do. We're gonna keep working. It's just about focus, on the little things. The short field goal has just as much focus as the long field goal. And, you know, he's been solid in practice. And we're just gonna keep grinding on this thing.”

On the focus on short field goals:

“Good. I mean, he's been making his field goals in practice. It's just about focus and really dialing in on the short ones and getting that consistency back, game-in and game-out.”

On Butker's coachability:

“You guys know this, too. I mean, we changed his technique. That leg would break down before, and he's still like, it’s like changing the golf swing. And you kind of reverted back. The leg broke. I mean, it collapsed a little bit, and it makes him spin out a little bit more.

“So, he can't revert back to that anymore. We're trying to keep things more rigid and stiff. So, he's finishing downfield. That's really what it comes down to; that's it in a nutshell. And he keeps working on that. And that's about focus, about focusing every time, with his technique.”

On whether Butker’s issue is more mental:

“Yeah, that's mental. I mean, it's all mental. That's what I'm talking about, focus. I mean, you got the technique. You practice it 1,000 times. It's just about repeating it, not letting that bad, old technique kind of creep in. If anybody played golf, it's the same thing. It happens.”

On whether he takes a step back, rather than overloading Butker with information:

“I lay back. I let him figure it out. And because he knows; he knows, as soon as he missed it, he knew exactly what happened. You don't need to sit there and get over on the net with him, and crankin’ on him. And, he came back and he bounced back, and he made all … his other kicks were great. Every one was right down the middle, so we just got to keep pounding it. And he'll get better and better, and by the time we get to the most important games, he'll be Butker.”

On the rise in blocked kicks across the league, and how the Chiefs have avoided them:

“(knocking on wood) You work on protection. I mean, we've had some issues where, looked like we had some leakage. And we've got lucky a couple times. You just got to, you got to nip it in the bud. When you see a problem happening, you got to correct it.

"And that's what you do. And then, Butker, he does a good job getting that ball up. So, if you do have a leakage, he can clean it up by how high he hits the ball. So, that helps as well. And then, the punter (Matt Araiza), he gets it off quick. So, that helps clean up some things, too. So, all those things help.”

On what Rashee Rice’s return means for Tyquan Thornton on special teams:

“Thornton's gonna, yeah, I can use him a little bit more now, which would be great. He's a threat as a kick returner and punt returner; also in the coverage, kickoff coverage. He's got a lot of speed. So, there's a chance we could have seven wide receivers up. So, six, seven or six and five, six and seven got to help you somewhere on special teams. Otherwise. you're just wasting spots. So that puts Thornton back into that.”

On whether he’s tried a mental coach for Butker:

“I never have. I've called people before. I said, ‘Hey, take a look at this guy's technique and tell me if you see something.’ I'm not afraid to check my ego at the door at all, if I'm having issues. But I don't think we're there, honestly.”

On whether he’d be more concerned if he saw the same issues in practice:

“Yeah. I mean, yep, that's my answer.”