Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo Details the Art of Defending Lamar Jackson

KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo spoke to reporters prior to Thursday’s practice. The Chiefs (1-2) are hosting the Baltimore Ravens (1-2) on Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium (3:25 p.m. CT, CBS/KCTV Channel 5, 96.5 The Fan).

To view his comments, watch below.

Opening statement:

“I don't have much. I mean, it's good to visit after a win but we kind of put that one to bed real quick, and moving on to a pretty good challenge here. This is a good football team. We’ll have to play better than we did last week.”

On playing more split-safety looks at New York:

“There was a guy we were concerned about. Listen, the week prior that offense (N.Y. Giants) had put up some numbers, and they had really done it with some deep shots, some really good throws, and the receivers made some really good catches. So, we didn't want that to happen again.

Jaden Hicks, Cam Skatteb — Sep 21, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; New York Giants running back Cam Skattebo (44) runs against Kansas City Chiefs safety Jaden Hicks (21) in the first quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images | Robert Deutsch-Imagn Images

“We felt like, if we let that happen, then we didn't want it to go that way, like it did against Dallas. So, we decided to take that away first, and then as the game went, you're just trying to decide whether, do you stay in it? Do you get out of it? You know, for whatever reason we decided to go that route. That won't be like that every week. But when it was all said and done, we looked up there and there was nine points. Felt good about that.”

On Chris Jones getting lower-than-normal grades from Pro Football Focus:

“What grades are you using? (PFF). That's what everybody uses. … The only thing, you know Cris Collinsworth, I think he's a good dude, and he's involved in that company. I just, I don't know how you grade, put a grade on somebody when you don't know actually what their assignment was, or what they were being told. So, I don't know. It's like from our standpoint, I thought Chris (Jones) in this particular game had a real big effect on the game.

“They obviously found ways to double him, whether it was two linemen, the running back at times was chipping inside, which you don't see a lot, but that was the Chris Jones Effect. A number of times that he didn't get there, but I think he forced a quick throw, or a step up. So, you know, I don't remember what Chris' actual grade was, but I know that at the end of the game, I thought the guys up front, Chris included, had a big effect on the way things went.”

On the play of rookie defensive linemen Ashton Gillotte and Omarr Norman-Lott:

“I mean, I think Ashton continues to get better and better. I mean, Omarr, this was his second game now, and you know, after missing all that time, you could start to see him kind of climbing the ladder and getting better. He missed that one sack that I know he wants back badly. You know, we talked extensively, and Coach Reid mentioned it the night before the game, when you play a quarterback who’s not quite as big, you know, expect that. … And all those guys, they don't want to, they don't want to leave sacks on the field, but I thought both those guys really stepped up to help us.”

Omarr Norman-Lott, Jaxson Dart — Sep 21, 2025; East Rutherford, New Jersey, USA; Kansas City Chiefs defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott (55) tackles New York Giants quarterback Jaxson Dart (6) in the third quarter at MetLife Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images | Vincent Carchietta-Imagn Images

On Pro Football Focus:

“Well, I will say this: There's a lot of stuff that PFF puts out that's valuable and useful. My only thing, I think a lot of coaches feel the same way, Cris (Collinsworth) and I have talked about it, we've laughed about it, and I think their guys do a really good job. … But I just think there's a margin of error when you don't know exactly what the player was told. It may look like he's made a mistake, or a mental error, but it might’ve been exactly what they told him.

“So, I think -- I took a stat class a long time ago, and there's a name for that, you know, there's a margin of error -- that's the only thing I can think of right now. But, listen, we get paid to grade our guys and coach our guys and evaluate them, so we're not using (PFF) for that. And we're going to, as far as other players and whether we use the grades on other players, that has to come from our eye and watching the tape. So, I don't think we would rely on grades. But there's a lot of other valuable information that PFF has.”

Dec 23, 2023; Inglewood, California, USA; NBC Sports Sunday Night Football analyst Cris Collinsworth during the game between the Los Angeles Chargers and the Buffalo Bills at SoFi Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images | Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

On what he’s seen in the Baltimore offense to make it the league’s highest-scoring unit:

“Yeah, the same thing that we always see, a dynamic quarterback with a lot of talent around him, and a team that can run the football. When they're really good, and they have been all year long, they can dictate the game by being two-dimensional the whole game, and you have to worry about it on every snap. It doesn't matter what the down and distance is. They'll run it when you're supposed to throw it, and throw it when you're supposed to run it. And they got guys that can do it.”

On what stood out about Detroit’s defense, which posted seven sacks, on Monday:

“What just stood out to me just watching the game on TV, was how relentless Detroit was; the effort of their pass rushers, I thought, was really, really good. And they found ways to eventually get him on the ground, which is not easy to do.”

aidan hutchinson, lamar jackso — Sep 22, 2025; Baltimore, Maryland, USA; Detroit Lions defensive end Aidan Hutchinson (97) sacks Baltimore Ravens quarterback Lamar Jackson (8) during the second half at M&T Bank Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Peter Casey-Imagn Images | Peter Casey-Imagn Images

On the disadvantages of employing a spy assigned to Lamar Jackson:

“Well, he's probably gonna have the ball a little bit longer, you know, because you're not, you don't get four guys on him, you know. You gotta mix and match that. I mean, sometimes when we do too much of that, I feel like we handcuff the pass rushers a little bit, you know? Because, yeah, in essence, you only have two or three guys rushing; they get doubled. And so, we pick our spots. I mean, obviously, every team that plays Baltimore is going to have some version of it, and you just got to decide when you're going to use it.”

On Derrick Henry’s fumbles this season:

“I don't know. I mean, maybe it's the same on offense; we always talk about getting turnovers in bunches, right? Maybe that happens to the offense, too, the same way. I've never looked at him as a fumbler. I know he's had a couple in these past two games, but we try to attack the football and get them on the ground. Yeah, and anybody that touches it for them, we’d like to do it. We haven't had that. I think we might have forced one or two out and haven't gotten them. I mean, it was nice to get to two interceptions last week.

“Really to slow this crew down, somehow, some way, we got to find a turnover or two in there and give the offense some field position.”

On coaching his defense the unique ways to tackle and sack a player like Lamar Jackson:

“Yeah, so it's a little bit more of a controlled rush, but we don't want to slow guys down by saying ‘controlled.’ I mean, there is a certain way to try to tackle and sack these quarterbacks, because he's so elusive. If you’re out of control trying to tackle a guy like this, you're not going to get him because he knows how to side step. He's got a great stiff arm. He's long, you know. So those are all things that we've talked about. And we’ve got a bunch of guys that have played them before, so hopefully that experience against them will help us in this game.”

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