The Kansas City Chiefs now have confirmation that a four-game suspension is happening for starting cornerback Bashaud Breeland. He’ll miss one of the toughest stretches of the Chiefs’ schedule, leaving the team with the dilemma of figuring out how to replace him.
During Monday’s media availability, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo addressed Breeland’s four-game absence for the first time and he has some inclination of how K.C. might handle it.
“Well I think we’ve got to attack it for the first game,” Spagnuolo said. “We take one at a time like we always talk about. So, eventually, pretty quickly here it’s going to be all Houston Texans and we’ll have to find the person that’s going to get in there and replace Breezy [Bashaud Breeland]. We’ve had it in the back of our minds, just in case. So, there will be some guys who hopefully will step up and we’re going to try some combinations of guys too. I wouldn’t be surprised when it’s all said and done if there’s more than one person that will fill that hole.”
It’s a little unorthodox, the idea that Spagnuolo could use a rotation of players at the position. Without preseason games, it’s difficult to evaluate how these players are going to handle live action against an opponent. It seems that some of the evaluation process may now bleed over into the regular season. The benefit is that they have time to get guys prepared for the opportunity now so they’ll be ready to step in if their number is called come Week 1.
“There are two ways to look at it, alright,” Spagnuolo said. “I could say to you that it’s just like somebody getting hurt and you’ve got to put the next guy in there. Part of that’s true. The advantage we have is we know about that that person’s not going to be there, so we have some time to get ready. So, I’m glad that we at least know what we’re faced with and we can get some guys mentally ready. Again, we’ll figure out who that’s going to be. We haven’t got that figured out now and we’ll try to shuffle things around. My guess is it may not just be one person, but we’ll see.”
While no decisions have been made on replacements for Breeland yet, the Chiefs have a lot of options to choose from. Recently two players at the cornerback spot have been standing out in practice. Second-year CB Rashad Fenton and rookie CB L’Jarius Sneed both had interceptions during Sunday’s practice. Sneed in particular is a player that has been coming on strong recently, but in the eyes of Spagnuolo, he’s go a long ways to go.
“L’Jarius, listen he’s made some plays for us,” Spagnuolo said. “I think he’s got a long way to go. I really do. As with most corners in this league, that’s a tough position to step in and play. It’s funny, Nate (Taylor), that you brought it up. I just leaned over to him in the stretch line at the end of practice here and told him that he needs to do everything faster. I’m talking about, from when the play ends, to get back to the huddle. These guys know how I am and part of this whole practice — and Coach Reid wants it the same way — part of it is conditioning. Not having the offseason and all of that. I’m trying to force that into them. Then I’m kind of just letting them play.”
Even though Sneed has made some positive strides in practice, he’s still learning what it takes to be a professional. It doesn’t seem likely that Spagnuolo would throw him into the starting lineup untested in Week 1. However, Sneed could see repetitions in a rotation, perhaps as a way to get his feet wet. It could also give an edge to a player like Fenton or even free agent acquisition Antonio Hamilton to become the starter early in the season.
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