Notes

• Head coach Kliff Kingsbury was asked by Don Williams about some 30 for 30 from ESPN, but I couldn’t tell what Don was talking about and couldn’t catch enough context clues to figure out what Kingsbury was talking about. I expect you all to solve this by lunch.
• Kingsbury said that the scrimmage in Midland will be a controlled scrimmage and very scripted, placing the ball to account for different situations, from red zone, to the open field as well as have a a special teams period where they’ll also kick. Kingsbury wants to have as much live-action as possible. Who doesn’t love them some live-action.
• Kingsbury said that QB Nik Shimonek will be kept out of the scrimmage as a precaution, but he’ll be throwing full-go on Thursday. Kingsbury also said that WR Derrick Willies will be full go for the scrimmage on Saturday.
• Someone asked Kingsbury about if he had seen the Derrick Willies 60-inch box jump and said that Willies is an explosive player who has been very driven thus far. Kingsbury also said that Willies expects to be a 100 catch receiver, he’s worked hard and come in very determined. Kingsbury said that he’s excited to see how good he can be and that he thinks he has a bright future.
• Kingsbury said that WR Dylan Cantrell is great when the ball is in the air and has great ball skills. He likes the Mahomes and Cantrell connection.
• Kingsbury said that Reginald Davis is getting a bunch of reps and thinks that they will each play half a game. He mentioned that they are both mature and they’ve been through a lot. Kingsbury has always been a fan of Davis, last year Kingsbury said that Davis was his guy to make a huge impact and that didn’t really pan out all that much. Davis was okay, but inconsistent.
• Kingsbury was asked about the defensive line again, and said that he’s still excited about the defensive line as he mentioned Ondre Pipkins, Kolin Hill, Broderick Washington on the line with Gary Moore and Zach Barnes at the rush end. It’s interesting that these are the guys that he’s mentioning (I think he’s excluding Breiden Fehoko because he’s a known commodity) because I think this is it. It seems most likely that Hill is going to be your defensive end with Pipkins, Fehoko and Washington on the inside. This also means that Moore is moving away from the strongside defensive end spot and playing the rush end, which makes a ton of sense and I absolutely love. Kingsbury thinks that this is a more explosive group, just younger.
• In terms of the scrimmage on Saturday, Kingsbury wants to see clean play and doesn’t want to see a bunch of flags.
• Kingsbury said that he likes that the team overall is a younger group and there really isn’t a position, other than quarterback, where people aren’t fighting and battling for a position. I think that’s a good thing as well, this team probably needed some competition as certain positions. Of course, on the other side of things, it would be nice to have 21 more Patrick Mahomes who absolutely dominate at their positions.
• Kingsbury really wants to see Mahomes (and believes he will) cut his interceptions in half. Really wants to see Mahomes with 7 to 8 or cut it to 12. I’ll have to remind myself about how this will be a good topic of conversation for a later date, but I think this is absolutely key. I also wonder if it was or wasn’t coincidental that Kingsbury mentioned Oklahoma, which was Mahomes’ worst day in terms of interceptions.
• Don Williams asked Kingsbury specifically about LB Malik Jenkins and Kingsbury said that he’s been very impressed with Jenkins, who is learning all three linebacker positions. Made mention of the fact that the mere fact that he’s in year two of the David Gibbs system has helped a ton and that Jenkins has transitioned very easily between all three positions has been good. This is really a terrific development for Jenkins and the linebacker corps overall.
• Williams had the last question of the day and asked if linebacker has the best chance to best position group of the defense and Kingsbury doubled-down on the defensive line. Kingsbury didn’t dismiss the linebackers, but repeated the idea that the defensive line is very young and athletic.

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