Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo and LB Nick Bolton Share Expectations for Defense
Steve Spagnuolo and Nick Bolton spoke after practice August 8
Craig McMullen
Sunday Aug. 13 in New Orleans will be the first time fans get to see the Kansas City Chiefs in a game since Super Bowl 57.
Third year linebacker Nick Bolton said that the team is ready to go out and hit somebody for the first time since February. He said that there are four things he is looking for in the first preseason game.
“See how we compare against the run, get defensive lineman inside blocks, linebackers shake off the blocks, and tackling on the perimeter,” Bolton said. “I feel like those are the big things going into week one as a defense.”
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said that tackling is the first thing he is going to pay close attention to in the first preseason game.
“The first thing about Sunday is tackling, Spagnuolo said. “I am going to spend the whole 30-minute meeting on it. I feel like if we don’t do that or come away thinking that we’re a decent tackling team, we’re going to get back to training camp going back to ground zero. I just want to see if they can go play.”
The Chiefs have many defensive rookies going into the 2023 season with five of their seven draft picks being defense. One player who the Chiefs picked up as an undrafted free agent is cornerback Ekow Boye-Boe from Kansas State.
Spagnuolo talked about what he has seen from rookie cornerback Boye-Doe throughout the first two weeks of training camp.
“One thing I like about Echo is that he responds to aggressive coaching,” Spagnuolo said. “I love working with him. He’s so receptive to everything and he’s given everything he’s got. He just needs to learn how to be a pro playing in the secondary.”
Bolton said that he has seen growth in the second year players and the rookies throughout training camp. He said that he has used his two years of experience in the league in helping the rookies better understand the defensive scheme.
“To all the rookies, the goal is to try to mentally get to the part where you can feel like you’re back in college again and just go out there and line up,” Bolton said. “If we can get those guys to that point, we will be good and set up for the rest of the season.”
Spagnuolo said that second year safety Bryan Cook has taken a large step in the leadership role on the defense.
“Brian is really going to be the quarterback of the defense,” Him and Nick will be especially the quarterbacks on the back end. One thing about Bryan is that he is always looking for feedback. He came the other day wanting to do some more drills. That was one thing we were looking at when he was playing in college. He loves football and is passionate about football and we are banking on him in that regard.”
