The Kansas City Chiefs are winless through two preseason games, largely due to their reserves having difficulties late in games.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke with reporters on Monday, indicating his focus for Thursday’s preseason finale vs. the Chicago Bears. He explained his line-up rotation decisions and desired more from his reserves ahead of final cuts.
“As far as the rotation goes for the Bears, I’ll probably sit the starters, the way it looks right now,” said Reid. “We’ll have the other guys get out there and play. We’ll just see how that goes, rep-wise.”
Reid hasn’t officially ruled out his starters, but he described his process for Thursday’s game potentially featuring veterans based on their practice reps.
“I look at (the) number of plays between camp and preseason games, and we were up some 50 plays from the year before in camp,” said Reid. “So I was able to monitor that and work it in with the preseason game.”
Reid didn’t have a specific position group he was focused on heading into the game, and he made his message clear that he wants everyone to take advantage of their opportunity. The younger players and those trying to make the team should see extended time on the field.
“Really, all of them. When you look at it, we’re playing so many young guys,” said Reid. “I want to see where we’re at there. We didn’t block and tackle very well with that second and third group – both sides of the ball. I really want to give them more of an opportunity—sometimes, the ones – they get a lot of reps during camp practices. Let’s get these guys (the backups) some more reps here. Then, especially when we’re getting ready to cut down, (we) get a little better feel on those guys in a game situation. I think this will be valuable for a lot of them. I can’t tell you one position (that I’m watching). I try to look at all of them and just see where we’re at.”
The Chiefs will try to end the preseason with a win and potentially solidify their depth chart with emerging talent ahead of the regular season.