AFC Notes: Sammy Watkins, Steve Spagnuolo, Chiefs

Sammy Watkins

• Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins (calf) feels positive about playing in the Super Bowl this week: “I’m feeling pretty good and I’m very optimistic.” (Matt McMullen)
• Asked about potentially re-signing with the Chiefs this offseason, Watkins responded: “Would I love a third ring? For sure.” (Adam Teicher)
• Chiefs GM Brett Veach said the interest in bringing Watkin back is mutual if they can figure out the finances. Watkins likely will have to take less, potentially a lot less, to stay in Kansas City: “Sammy is a big part of this offense. When he’s healthy, we’re better. If there’s a way we can make it work again, we’ll certainly try to do that. I love having him around.” (Teicher)

Steve Spagnuolo

Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo is one of the more accomplished defensive coordinators in the NFL, with two Super Bowl titles on his resume and potentially a third coming depending on what happens this weekend. If that fourth title leads to a second shot at a head coaching job for Spagnuolo next year, he wouldn’t complain. 

“I’d like to get another crack at a head-coaching job,” Spagnuolo said via Paul Schwartz of the New York Post. “But I will not, listen, I don’t stay up nights thinking about it.”

After one of the best defensive performances ever in a Super Bowl put him on the map as a coaching star, Spagnuolo was named the Rams head coach in St. Louis in 2009. His three seasons there went poorly, with a 10-38 record, but Spagnuolo believes he could do better with a second shot at it.

“I’m a competitor like anybody else,” Spagnuolo said. “It didn’t go as great as we wanted to in St. Louis, except for that one year. It’s a proving ground, the NFL is the greatest proving ground of all sports. So that part of it, I’d like another shot.”

Chiefs

• Per ESPN’s Adam Teicher, Chiefs OC Eric Bieniemy commented on being spurned again for a head coaching job: “I can only be me. Some team has to want that . . . For some reason, that chemistry has not been a fit.”
• The entire situation is less than ideal for Bieniemy, who says he will continue to work as hard as he can to meet his goals: “I did not ask to be the poster boy for this situation….The only thing I know to do is go back to work and continue chopping wood.” (Brooke Pryor)
• Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes says his toe “feels a lot better” and is close to 100 percent. (Dianna Russini)
• Chie RB Le’Veon Bell said his body feels fresher as a result of his season-long holdout in 2018: “Me sitting out, it helped me on the back end of my career. It felt like I was a rookie all over again … It reset my body. It helped me for the end of my career.” (Pryor)
• Chiefs S Juan Thornhill feels fully recovered from his torn ACL last season: “I can definitely say I’m back to 100%. I’m really confident in myself. I feel like I’m back to where I was last year, and I’m ready to go.” (Jesse Newell)
• Chiefs owner Clark Hunt said they would try and keep as much of this team together as possible this offseason but the reported drop in the salary cap will be a challenge: “Certainly we’ll try to keep as many of our guys together as possible. We’ve got a good core of talented young players . . . Like every team we’ll have some challenges if the salary cap ends up being closer to $175 million than not.” (Adam Teicher)