The Kansas City Chiefs made the practice squad signing of WR Josh Gordon official on Tuesday. He had interest from several other teams, but he chose to make his home in Kansas City, citing long-term potential as his primary reason.
Ahead of practice week on Wednesday, Chiefs HC Andy Reid and QB Patrick Mahomes both had a chance to share thoughts on the addition of Gordon. For Reid’s offense, he didn’t feel that Gordon addressed any particular area where the team was lacking. It was a matter of adding another good football player to a group of good football players.
“Yeah, so listen, Brett (Veach) always keeps his eyes open for good players,” Reid told reporters. “Josh (Gordon) is a good player, I think we all know that. And he’s worked hard on his situation and making sure it was right. He has been reinstated by the league, which I felt was an important step. So we welcome him aboard. He’ll be working on the practice squad, seeing where he’s at football-wise. Nothing immediate, we’ll just see where he’s at and what he can do and go from there.”
Mahomes echoed similar sentiments to his head coach.
“We like bringing in good football players,” Mahomes said of Gordon. “Guys that work hard, and come here and want to win football games. I thought that it was a heck of an opportunity to bring him in here and involve him in that receiver room. He’ll have his role, he’s a great football player, but I think you know in this offense, everybody gets a chance to make plays. The guys love getting out there and competing and doing whatever we can to win.”
Right now, the Chiefs aren’t giving Gordon any sort of timeline in terms of when he’ll make his debut for Kansas City. While Gordon is in football shape and learning the playbook, Reid hasn’t had a chance to see him perform out on the field. By any measure, it’ll be a stretch to see him suit up and play in Week 4, but it’s possible that he could see some action as early as Week 5.
“We’ll see,” Reid said. “He’s an honest guy, easy to talk to. I asked him about that part and you know it’s going to take a few– it’s going to take a while. He’s probably not going to play this week if that’s what you want to know. But we’ll just see how it goes over the next week or two and see where he’s at.”
As for Gordon’s fit with team culture, the Chiefs aren’t concerned about his ability to mesh with the locker room and stay out of trouble.
“We’ve got a great receiving room and this is just another addition to it,” Reid said. “He’s been such a good player, anytime you can add somebody like that of that quality, you try to do it within reason and that’s where we’re at with it and we’ll just see how it goes. I’m sure it raises everybody’s awareness that he’s there, they all know that he’s a good player. It’s just a matter of getting back in the swing of things. He seems like a good guy, so I don’t think the chemistry will be disrupted at all.”
Listed at 6-3 and 225 pounds, Gordon brings a different type of skill set to the team compared to all the other players they have at the receiver position. Mahomes estimates he’ll have a specific role and be able to do some things that some of the other guys on the team can’t do.
“Like you said, he’s a big receiver — even when he’s covered he’s not covered,” Mahomes said. “You can kind of throw it up there, and he can make plays. But I’m excited to get to work with him. I’ve talked to him a bit here and now and he seems like a great dude that wants to come in and work. We’ll see as we get on the practice field how he can help us as an offense.”
There’s no doubt in Mahomes’ mind that Gordon can help make this offense better. Gordon has demonstrated every stop of the way that he has the tools, it has just been a matter of staying out of trouble. The Chiefs are banking on him keeping his nose clean and contributing in Kansas City.
“Everywhere he’s been he’s kind of dominated,” Mahomes said of Gordon. “It’s definitely exciting. He’s someone that, like I said, he’s not covered when he’s covered. He can make plays in 1-on-1 coverage. I’m excited to have him here with us.”
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