Can you describe the scope of the difficulty of being on that spot?
Yeah, first off, praying for not only Pat (Patrick Mahomes) and what happened last week, but also Gardner (Minshew). We don't know the severity of the injury yet, but our QB room is so close. And so, when you see good friends go down like that, it's really tough. And then for me, being here for four years, you always walk through when your first moment is going to be and when you're going to sort of get an opportunity. I've really just attacked these last four years like you never know. Today just happened to be an opportunity for me and I wanted to take full advantage of it.
Players always say to stay ready. That's our job is to stay ready. I would imagine this is a great example of why you do that.
100 percent. Like I just said, you never know when your number is going to be called, whether it's a freak injury or you just never know when you're going to go in. So we do a really good job of making sure everyone's prepared. And being with Pat (Patrick Mahomes) and seeing him go through his routine the last four years and Gardner (Minshew) he's been awesome in the room and really helping me come along and develop as well. So, all the credit to those guys and our coaching staff. They made it pretty easy for me out there today.
Can you bring us in the moment when you knew you were going in and how you prepared yourself?
Obviously, you see Gardner go down and I hate it for him. And then the next thing my mind went to is, alright, well I got to rally the troops now and go win a football game. Those guys out there, man, they battle their asses off and I can't say enough good things about—you're out there and my first completion is to Travis Kelce. Built a great relationship with him over the last couple of years but if you would have told me my first completion was going to be to him, I probably would have laughed at you. So those guys were awesome and now we have a short week and we got to move forward.
What did you learn about yourself in this moment?
That the moment wasn't too big for me. I felt really calm out there. Felt like I was seeing things pretty good, game didn't seem too fast for me. And you just never know how you're going to react in those situations until you're in it. I'm never too high, never too low in those moments. So, it was good to go out there and get some live regular season snaps because that's just something that I haven't really had these past four years.
Obviously, you guys miss Patrick Mahomes on the field, but just his presence around on a game day. What do you miss about that?
Pat is the first dude, I checked my phone, he was the first dude that texted me. He's the first dude to help someone out, lend a helping hand. Just in past pre-seasons, stuff like that, he's always in the QB's ear, whether it's me and Gardner, whoever's been here, everyone misses his presence. Not only me and the QB room, but the whole team, everyone in the building in Kansas City, we go off 15. So, he's doing his best right now, he's going to come back 100 percent next year.
Just to confirm Patrick texted you right after the game?
Yeah. I opened my phone, he was the first text I saw. That's the type of guy he is. We've gotten pretty close over the last four years and I don't have a big brother. So in a way he's been taking over like a big-brother role for me. Not only on the field with my development but also off the field, just sort of always being there for me. And so he's a great friend and he's like that with everyone. There's not a bad thing I could say about him.
This is a short week, how are you looking at this challenge of being ready by Thursday to play at home?
I'm ready for the opportunity. It's a great opportunity. It's not only a great opportunity for me, but a great opportunity for our team. Go out there and battle, man. That's all I can ask of these guys. Go out there and battle. Obviously, we have a lot of young guys playing, but it's great experience. Not only for me but for all of our young guys playing, it's going to be real valuable for us. Moving forward for years to come here in Kansas City and it's Christmas Day. The possibility of me making a first start on Christmas Day is pretty special. I'll have family in town and stuff like that, so I'm looking forward to it.
From practice squad to press conference podium, right? I mean, are you able to appreciate or at least be mindful of the moment or is it just business for now?
I think you always got to appreciate the moment. I think Trav (Travis Kelce) said earlier in the week, anytime you get to strap on the pads and playing in an NFL game, that's special. Something I've been looking forward to and wanted to do since I was four years old. So, to have this opportunity, you always watch postgame conferences and being here in front of you guys now, it's surreal. But also, it's business as usual, time to go to work and get ready for Denver.
How much are you drawing from what you've learned from Patrick Mahomes so far?
Oh, a bunch, just certain situations and play calls he likes. I think the biggest thing is the energy that he gives to the team. Those guys feeling that energy, feeling like no matter who goes down, next man up and it's time to step up and play and battle with your guys. And that's when I first came in, I wanted the guys to know, 'Hey, I'm here. We're going to win this football game. We're going to go in there. I'm going to give you everything I got and I expect the same from them.' And so that's probably what I learned from them the most.
You had that scramble earlier and you threw right at the line of scrimmage similar to what Patrick Mahomes does.
I think I sort of got it, because as soon as I threw it, I looked right at the line of scrimmage and I've seen him do that a couple of times. I sort had to make sure. I've just seen it so many times. It's where I naturally went to, but I've learned a lot from him.
Right before halftime, you led the team to points. I can't imagine you've had a lot of practice reps running the two-minute drill. When was the last time you've done that?
Oh man, great question. Probably training camp, got a couple reps at it. But also, I've been here for two years and I've seen enough reps. I know our two-minute calls, I know what we're looking to do. Obviously in that situation, just trying to get points out of it. And to be honest, I feel like that's when I'm playing my best. I'm just playing free, no huddle, we're sort of just on the ball and just let me go rip it. So those situations, even Coach Gari (David Girardi), our quarterback coach, told me, 'This is when you're best. So go out there and do your thing.' And I was really happy that we're able to go get some points right there.
