S Juan Thornhill (8.22.23)
Looking forward to getting back there (Kansas City) this weekend?
“It’s going to be a lot of fun going out there, seeing a lot of familiar faces, like seeing your coaches and your former teammates. It’s going to be pretty fun out there. Like getting out there, talking a little bit of trash, make a couple of plays. Yeah, I’m excited for it.”
You expect to see 15 (Patrick Mahomes) play?
“I do. I think with Coach (Andy) Reid, he has a history of letting guys play that last game. Usually like a half or something, but I don’t think Pat will play that much. He’ll probably play a couple of reps. Hopefully, we get back there to him a little bit and Coach Reid will get a little scared and take him out. So, I think we’ll see him out there, but I don’t know how long.”
What’s behind that? Did Reid explain to you guys why he wanted you to play?
“The more reps you get, the better. The first game, you’re basically just trying to get your feet wet a little bit and then that last game you’re out there a little bit longer because you’re preparing for the regular season. So, if you’re playing a full half, you might get like 20, 25 reps or something like that. So that’s his main reason behind that is getting guys reps.”
Seeing how Kansas City is a team you guys are going to have to go through if you’re going to get where you aspire to. How vanilla is it going to be, though, on Saturday? Even though you maybe want to go out there and have a little fun, talk some trash, whatever, but just how close to the vest do you guys have to kind of keep things?
“I mean, honestly, it’s whatever Coach calls. I think it’s all about the mood. Honestly, if he comes out there and he just wants to see us compete, he might stay real vanilla and not really show anything. If he wants to see if we can understand our coverages, he might call a little bit more. So I really don’t know what he’s going to do, but hopefully, he can call a decent amount of calls just to keep it real competitive.”
So the last two weeks of camp, you will have played Philadelphia and practiced against them and also played against Kansas City, two Super Bowl teams. What is the relevance of that? Does it mean anything?
“Yeah, it’s huge. When you play against one of the top teams, like you said, Philadelphia that made it to the Super Bowl, and in Kansas City that won the Super Bowl, you’re playing against the best two teams technically in the NFL from last season. So, it’s a great view of how we can work and better ourselves as a team. Just being able to see the top competition like that for two weeks in a row.”
How many times would you say you intercepted Mahomes in practice?
“It depends on the year. Some years I’m getting them a lot, and then some years he gets me. There was one year, I know I got him like almost every day, honestly. Yeah, I think it might have been my rookie season. I was hot, like out there in camp probably – I led the team interceptions by far.”
In four years, would you say a dozen times in practice?
“Yeah, I would definitely say so.”
How does he kind of use practice? I mean, if you’re intercepting all those times, is he trying stuff that he would never try in a game? What is he doing?
“Practice, you’ll see some crazy stuff from Pat. When you all see the no-look passes on TV in a game, it’s just like amplified when you’re in practice. It’s like he’s just trying to really test it out to see if he can do it and everything. And there’s like videos of him throwing the behind-the-back passes, that’s like a real thing in practice. So if they were to bring that out, I wouldn’t be surprised at all. He always used practice as a way to better himself and to see if he can do certain things.”
Having had the opportunity to go back and look at the practice tape against the Eagles, just how would you assess how you guys stacked up against them?
“Oh, yeah, I think we held our own, you know. We definitely played very well some days, and some days they got us, you know. But just looking at the film, I would say that we got a great team that can compete with anybody at this level.”
Hey Juan, just seeing what Ronnie Hickman’s done. He’s gone out there, gotten three interceptions in the last two games. As an undrafted guy, just what have you thought of him and what has he brought to the room?
“I mean, the guy is a competitor. He’s very smart and it seems like he takes his game, like this game, very seriously. He’s always in the playbook asking questions and meetings. And then when you put him on the field, it shows because he had three interceptions, two in one game and then one last week. So, when you have a guy that’s always around the football, it just shows how good of a player he really is.”
Does that kind of player, especially a guy who’s undrafted and I know Rodney’s (McLeod) history with that too, does that up the energy in the room for everybody? When you have a guy coming in there and making the most of every opportunity like that?
“It’s great to see undrafted guys do that, but once you get in the room, we don’t really think about if you’re a drafted guy or undrafted. I mean, it was just if a team won you had a certain place they’ll get you, but you have great guys that go undrafted each and every year, so we really don’t look into that undrafted and drafted situation.”
Are you a believer, though, that somebody has a knack for that, takeaways?
“Oh, yeah. Some people just have a knack for the ball. The ball just finds them. And I think Ronnie is one of those. Like, even if he’s not looking to make the play, the ball somehow falls in his arms. So I think he’s one of those guys, for sure.”
Aside from his talent, what makes Mahomes what he is?
“I mean, he’s a competitor. If y’all haven’t watched that Quarterback show on Netflix, I didn’t even know that he was that competitive. I thought Pat was just going out there, just playing football, not really talking, but it really showed in that show. That’s what I think makes him different from a lot of other quarterbacks because they see it as a job, and he goes out there and just wants to have fun with the game.”
Who are you still closest to on that Chiefs team?
“That’s hard. That’s hard to just pick one person because I was close with a lot of those guys out there, so I try to stay in contact with them as much as possible. So I really can’t pick one individual player.”
When last season ended, did you know you were probably moving on from there? Or did you have to see it play out?
“I kind of had a sense that it was a chance that I would be moving on because they drafted a guy, Bryan Cook, in the second round. And as the year went on, I just saw him getting better and better each and every week, and I just saw him keep on just steadily making plays. So, I knew that this guy’s not going to stay here and play behind me for another three years if I sign back, because this guy’s ready to play right now. I kind of figured it was probably my time to move on.”
Juan, they’ve been in, what, three Super Bowls in the last four years? How long is it going to last?
“I never wish anything bad on them, but hopefully this was their last year because I’m hoping that we can get there each and every year now.”
It’s practice and it’s preseason, but when you’re seeing the defense kind of come out there and have those explosive plays, how does that feel to see what Jim Schwartz is trying to do on a small scale already?
“I mean, it’s crazy. Like I was telling some of the cornerbacks that didn’t even play, y’all really don’t understand how fast that D line is getting back there. I don’t really feel like I’m covering a lot. I feel like I’m taking two pedal steps and the ball’s coming out. So, it’s an amazing feeling when guys are getting out there making a lot of plays, and it just shows how good this team really could be.”
What’s it like out there playing defense against Deshaun Watson?
“I mean, it’s great. Like I said, I see a lot of things in him that I saw in Pat. They compete at a high level. Like, we talk trash each and every day. I’m going to tell him I’m going to pick him off a couple of times, and his goal is obviously to not throw interceptions to me. But Deshaun, he has all the traits of a great quarterback, and I’m excited to see him play this year.”
Do you expect as long as Reid and Mahomes are together, that they’ll at least be there every year competing for Super Bowl?
“Yeah, definitely. I mean, just the culture over there is amazing. Honestly, I don’t think they’ll ever fall off. Those guys, they take everything very seriously over there and I think that they’ll be competing each and every year for sure.”
Juan, you talk a lot of trash on the sidelines when we’re in practice. How do you think that’s helped the identity of this defense? And is that something you brought over from Kansas City?
“I really didn’t talk too much in Kansas City. I mean, I’ll talk sometimes, but here I just want to have a lot of fun. When you’re out there talking trash each and every day, it just brings energy. If the offense is down and I’m talking trash to you, you have no reason but to respond back and to compete each and every day. So that’s what I’m here for, is to bring that energy each and every single day in practice.”
Given the end of the last two seasons, can you bring a lot to this defense about the (Cincinnati) Bengals, given how much you played them and how big those games were?
“Yeah, I definitely could bring a lot to it because I played them at the top level when they wanted to be at their best. So, I’m not going to really give out too much right now, but I definitely feel like I can help with them.”
But it’s a real thing?
“It’s a real thing.”
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