Willie Gay reflects on Chiefs’ strong defensive effort in Week 8

aThe Kansas City Chiefs came into this season counting on Willie Gay Jr. to be the heart of the defense. It’s taken some time, but he’s finally blossoming into the talent the team envisioned from the start.

The Chiefs haven’t seen a well-rounded talent in the second level of the defense since Derrick Johnson roamed the middle, but they drafted Gay at the bottom of the second round in 2020 with exactly that in mind. As a dynamic yet raw talent out of Mississippi State, general manager Brett Veach turned in the selection with the hopes of drastically lifting the ceiling at a position of need.

Last year, Gay required nearly a full season to acclimate to the pro level, and it wasn’t until later in the season that the Chiefs were seeing some consistent production from him. Unfortunately, a couple of injuries kept him from making the further leap in the postseason, and Gay was also required to sit for another four games to start the season—this time due to a toe injury.

Since returning to the lineup, the Chiefs eased him in with rotational reps in both Week 5 and Week 6. Yet in the past two weeks, he’s finally playing over 50 percent of the snaps (68 and 63 percent, respectively, in Weeks 7-8) and the results speak for themselves. Gay has an interception in each of the last two games, and he’s proving to be an instinctual playmaker with a knack for coming up in big moments.

With Anthony Hitchens on the mend, the Chiefs have leaned on Gay and rookie Nick Bolton as their primary duo in DB-heavy subpackages and the rhythm is beginning to form. In fact, Hitchens might have a difficult time reclaiming at least some of those reps when he’s healthy enough to return from a triceps injury.

Willie Gay discusses the Chiefs’ strong defensive showing in Week 8.

When Gay was asked about his strong defensive effort after the game against the New York Giants in Week 8, a game in which the Chiefs held them to 17 points and came up with a big stop on the last drive, Gay mentioned that the team’s defense hasn’t gotten a lot of credit this season.

“As a defense, we don’t get a lot of respect. I feel like in this game, we played pretty good. If you take away two big plays, we shut the offense down. I feel like with this game we did a really great job on defense. Scheme-wise, we did our job. Nothing crazy. We just handled business.”

As for his part, he said it was all part of the “job,” even when he intercepted Daniel Jones on a short pass in the first quarter that gave the ball back to the Chiefs after having turned it over themselves.

“I was just doing my job. Nothing spectacular. If you do your job, spectacular plays happen,” said Gay. “That’s all I did. I was reading his eyes the whole time and he stared down the right. He threw it right to me.

“That’s always big to give the ball back to them. The offense, once they get going, we’re pretty good, so as many opportunities we can give them is best, so that’s what we try to do each and every time we’re out there.”

As for the Derrick Johnson comparisons, Gay said it’s meaningful to hear but that he’s just hoping to live up to such lofty expectations.

“I just want to be the best I can be,” said Gay. “When you see a guy like that, you want to get to his level and that’s what I’m trying to do. But all I want to do is be the best man I can be for the team outside of here and on the field.”