Kansas City Chiefs CB L’Jarius Sneed burst onto the NFL scene as a rookie, filling in for then-suspended CB Bashaud Breeland. Through the first few weeks of the NFL season, he took the league by storm, even leading the NFL in interceptions for a time.
Sneed would be injured in the Chiefs’ Week 3 contest against the Baltimore Ravens, ending up on injured reserve with a collarbone fracture. It was a tough time for the rookie mentally, but he hung in there and has now emerged on the other side of his injury better for it.
“First of all, I started off by praying with God,” Sneed told reporters on Wednesday. “It was hard on my mental, you know, how I started off. Plus, me trying to come back and maintain that same image that I put out. But with God, anything is possible. So I kept my faith in God.”
Sneed has since returned from injured reserve and been activated to the 53-man roster. In his second week back with the team, it has become apparent that he’s taken on a new role. Breeland and Ward are both playing the outside, leaving Sneed to the slot in the Nickel sub-packages. He’s played 33 snaps in the slot over the past two games now and he looks every bit as good as he was through the first three weeks of the season.
“Most definitely, I’m getting better,” Sneed said. “Mental-wise, I’m playing a new position, it’s going to help me expand my mental, make me think a lot. You know [it’ll] make me go home and work harder than when I was working before. So yeah, most definitely make me a great player, the way I was.”
There are some who believe that Nickel is the toughest defensive position in the NFL. To see the Chiefs coaching staff plug Sneed in at this spot, well, it shows the trust they have in Sneed already in his first season in the league.
As for the rookie, he had prepared to play this position well before the coaching staff informed him that he would be playing it. Sneed believes that the experience he’s getting in the slot is only making him sharper mentally and giving him a greater understanding of the defense.
“When I was at corner, I was out there on an island or by myself,” Sneed said. “Nickel is totally different from corner. In Nickel, you’ve got to be in run fits, you know there’s a lot that goes on that you have to be patient. And I think that it’s teaching me patience within myself.”
As for his stellar production on the ball, Sneed says it’s all about mindset.
“It’s just a mindset, man,” Sneed said. “You have to have it in your mind, just like, ‘Go get it.’ If you want something you’ll go get it. That’s what’s in my mindset, if I see the ball — see ball, get ball.”
Sneed hasn’t recorded an interception or pass defended since his return, but given his attitude, it’s only a matter of time before he gets back to picking off opposing quarterbacks.
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