Why Chiefs' Dave Toub Loves His Return Tandem

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City assistant head coach/special teams coordinator Dave Toub spoke from the podium before practice Thursday. The Chiefs (5-4) will visit the Broncos (8-2) on Sunday (3:25 p.m. CT, CBS/KCTV, Channel 5, 96.5 The Fan).

To view his comments, watch and read below:

On what he did on the bye week:

“I stayed around, hunted. My brother came in from New York, and we hunt deer and play golf a little bit.”

On whether he had any success:

“No, but it was nice to get out.”

jeremy crawsha — Nov 6, 2025; Denver, Colorado, USA; Denver Broncos punter Jeremy Crawshaw (16) punts the ball in the second quarter against the Las Vegas Raiders at Empower Field at Mile High. Mandatory Credit: Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images | Isaiah J. Downing-Imagn Images

On the altitude and weather in Denver:

“Every time it seems like we have weather. It seems like we're going to be good this year; right now it looks promising. So that's always a positive. Looked like last week, on Thursday it was cold and windy, and both punters struggled, it looked like. But hopefully we get some good weather.

“The altitude is always the altitude. It affects the ball, flight, it hangs a little longer, pick up an extra few yards there. But as far as the conditioning goes, I think the guys feel it early in the game, and then it kind of goes away. They get used to it. That's what it seems like to me over the years.”

On Leo Chenal’s game-winning blocked field goal last year and whether the bye week allowed time to gameplan:

“I mean, every week, we're hoping to make those type of plays. I mean, we're going as hard as we can every time on field-goal block, it just happened that we made a big play at a crucial time. And we're gonna come and we're gonna bring it just as like we always do, on every down. Doesn't really change.”

On whether he’s seeing teams go away from Nikko Remigio on kickoffs, and Tyquan Thornton in that role:

“No, no, not at all. I don't. I think it matters how we line up. And then the wind, those things. And that we kind of move guys; we want certain guys to have the ball certain times. So, we try to put guys in a position where we think they're going to try to kick it to us and certain things. But Thornton was really good last week, or when we played last. Four returns. I think he averaged like 32 yards per return. We had a nice counter where he almost popped it, the second one. So, he's promising back there.

“And Nikko does a hell of a job blocking when he doesn't have the ball, he blocks really well. So, it's good combination.”

tyquan thornto — Nov 2, 2025; Orchard Park, New York, USA; Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Tyquan Thornton (80) runs with the ball in the second quarter against the Buffalo Bills at Highmark Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

On whether they’re trying to get Thornton more involved:

“Yeah, oh yeah. We want him to have the ball. Nikko, I feel good with him having it, too. I mean, I like the tandem that we have back there, kick returns.”

On the threat presented by return man Marvin Mims:

“He's great. I mean, I think one of the biggest returns that we gave up last year was against him. He's dangerous. And we know he's going to be back. I mean, he's going to be out there for our game. And, he's tough to handle. We have to be on our game.”

On Harrison Butker:

“He's had a couple good games in a row. I mean, that's great. And he's had really good practice. I thought it was his best Wednesday practice yesterday. So, the ball is flying good right now. I think the rest might have helped him, like we talked about, you got to go back to work. And, he does a lot. And I think this break was really good for him, because he looked good yesterday. So, I mean, he had two good games, and hopefully get this thing righted.”

On the play of rookie Kevin Knowles:

“Yeah, excellent. I mean, he's been making tackles on kickoff, and he's playing gunner. And he's fast and he's a real instinctive player. The future is real bright for him, I think, for sure.”

On how he gets his players to lock in for a game of this magnitude:

“It's easy. Yeah, it's easy. Our guys are ready. They'll be ready for this game for sure. You can feel it already in practice, coming off a bye. They know the urgency. We've been there before. We have enough veterans. We know where we're at. We know where we stand. And, it's an important game on the road, so we'll be ready.”

On why Butker had his best practice Wednesday:

“The ball, the way the ball was rotating coming off his foot. He was banging it, and it was true and straight. And, you could just tell the difference. It just was a different Wednesday than we've seen. So, it was good to see.”

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