Tag: Andy Reid

Andy Reid says Chiefs’ starters scheduled to play first half vs. Vikings

During Friday’s preseason Week 3 matchup with the #Vikings, Andy Reid says the #Chiefs’ starters are scheduled to play the full first half.

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Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid has made a decision on how he’ll handle the starters during the preseason finale.

Earlier in the week, Reid was noncommital talking about snaps for star QB Patrick Mahomes in the preseason finale. Now, it sounds as if the preseason Week 3 tilt against the Minnesota Vikings will look a lot like the previous week in terms of action for the starters.

“What we’ll do with this game is, we’ll play the 1’s for the first half,” Reid told reporters on Wednesday. “And then we’ll see about after that and go from there. And then the other guys will jump in and fill in.”

When asked if he had always envisioned a full half of play for the starters in preseason Week 3 from the get-go, Reid waffled a bit on his comments.

“I’m just going to see,” Reid said. “We’ll see how it goes, but that’s what I’ve got scheduled for them. We’ll play it by ear from there.”

With the final week of the preseason, Reid is looking for a few things from his offensive and defensive starters before the regular season arrives. He’s feeling confident now, but both units can do a lot to reassure the veteran coach prior to Week 1.

“On the offensive side, just getting the No. 1 offensive line a couple of reps is what I’m looking at,” Reid said. “And on the defensive side, just making sure that we’ve got all the kinks knocked out there. Which I’m feeling pretty good about right now.”

One thing that gives Reid some added flexibility is the extended work that Patrick Mahomes and the starting offense had against the Arizona Cardinals last week. Mahomes played 32 snaps and the starting offensive line got 41 snaps in their second week of preseason action.

“The one bonus is that we got a lot of snaps last week,” Reid said. “I can do whatever we need to do for this game because of last week’s game.”

That added flexibility means that if Reid feels like pulling the first team after a single series, he’ll feel comfortable and confident to do so. It seems that Reid’s comments on playing the starters for the first half are written in pencil rather than written in ink.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides injury updates after practice on Wednesday

An injured #Chiefs player returned to practice in a limited capacity on Wednesday, plus updates on Chris Jones from Andy Reid.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided some injury updates following practice on Wednesday.

After not participating for the past two practice sessions, RB Darrel Williams returned to the practice field in a limited capacity. Williams suffered a concussion in preseason Week 2 and is working his way back from the NFL’s concussion protocols. Clyde Edwards-Helaire continued to get limited work in at practice, working his way back from what has been described as a slight ankle sprain.

With limited participation for both Williams and Edwards-Helaire, expect Jerick McKinnon to get the start against the Vikings on Friday. We’ll also likely get a large helping of Darwin Thompson and Derrick Gore during the game.

Tyreek Hill continued to practice in full on Wednesday, pointing to his availability for the final preseason game for Kansas City. They could still hold him out of the game if pregame warmups reveal any sort of hamstring tightness.

Andy Reid did have a positive update on Chiefs DE Chris Jones, confirming his current ailment is a sinus infection.

“Chris Jones didn’t practice today, but he is getting better,” Reid said.

It’s safe to expect he’ll be feeling much better by Week 1.

Austin Blythe (hernia), Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (hand), Frank Clark (hamstring), Rashad Fenton (hamstring) and Yasir Durant (concussion) also continued to be absent from practice on Wednesday. Since Kyle Long is on the active/PUP list, the Chiefs are not required to report his participation status. Don’t expect any of the players listed above to suit up and play on Friday.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid non-committal to Patrick Mahomes’ playtime in preseason finale

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid suggested that QB Patrick Mahomes might not play as much if at all against the #Vikings in preseason Week 3.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid stuck to his guns on his preseason routine during the first two preseason games, but there may be a departure from the norm in preseason Week 3.

The NFL eliminated a preseason game this offseason, but Reid has approached the three preseason games as he did with a four-game preseason. He ramped starters up, giving them a quarter of work in Week 1, a full half in Week 2. If he’s to follow course, the starter would be in line for three full quarters of play during the third preseason game.

Speaking to reporters on Monday, Reid was asked if he intended to play Patrick Mahomes for three quarters on Friday. His answer was about as non-committal as it gets.

“We’ll see, we’ll see how it goes,” Reid said. “He got quite a few snaps, 33 snaps or so the last game.”

After the Chiefs’ defense forced three consecutive three-and-outs, Mahomes got a ton of action in the first half of play against the Cardinals. That included a 15-play opening drive that only resulted in three points. Reid didn’t seem to expect that Mahomes would get that many snaps in Arizona. It could ultimately factor into his decision when it comes to how much Mahomes will play against the Vikings.

“That was a long first half now,” Reid continued. “I wasn’t anticipating 45 plays. But that’s OK, we need the work and he got good work in.”

With a lot of coaches around the league resting their starters and star players during the preseason, Reid’s strategy seems a bit old school. He explained his philosophy for playing Mahomes during this preseason.

“Well, I think it’s good for Pat (Mahomes), but I also think it’s good for the offensive line,” Reid reemphasized. “(It’s important for) Pat to see how that’s going to work and get a feel for them and for them to get a feel for him. So, we’ve got some young guys, that’s why I left them in with Chad (Henne) so that they could get a little bit more extended work there.”

Reid’s potential change in heart for Mahomes doesn’t necessarily mean that other starters won’t get work for Kansas City. No matter the decision at quarterback, expect the new starting offensive line to continue to play final week of the preseason.

“Really, all five of them — we’ve got two veterans on the left side — all five of them are new,” Reid said. “So we need to play. This gives us that opportunity.”

Preseason Week 3 marks the Chiefs’ preseason debut at Arrowhead Stadium. After failing to score a touchdown in the first two weeks of the preseason, I’d anticipate Mahomes at least getting some work in against the Vikings on Friday. With that said, these comments from Reid certainly suggest that Mahomes’ playtime against the Vikings is far from decided.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides injury updates ahead of practice on Monday

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid had injury updates on a number of players on Monday, including RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire and WR Tyreek Hill.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided some injury updates after Monday’s walkthrough, but ahead of an afternoon practice.

The injury list has grown considerably since the preseason Week 2 win over the Arizona Cardinals. But the good news is that the top Chiefs players who are injured seem to be trending in the right direction.

“Yeah, he’s doing well,” Reid said of RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire. “He just did the walkthrough. He’s got a sore ankle. We’ll just see how that goes, here.”

Reid wouldn’t commit to Edwards-Helaire practicing this afternoon, but it’s a good sign that he’s at least getting some work in during the walkthrough. That suggests this isn’t an injury that will keep him out of action at all. As for WR Tyreek Hill, who sat out of preseason Week 2 with a hamstring injury, he seems to be full-go for practice.

“He’ll be out there unless there is a setback,” Reid said. “But he feels pretty good right now.”

The Chiefs have a pair of players absent with a non-COVID sickness, including one of their star defensive linemen.

“Chris Jones is sick,” Reid said. “Not COVID, but sick. Dorian O’Daniel is also sick.”

Frank Clark is still working back from his hamstring strain and Laurent Duvernay-Tardif is improving from his hand injury according to Reid. He also confirmed some injury news which was revealed this weekend regarding Austin Blythe.

“Austin Blythe did have surgery on a sports hernia,” Reid confirmed. “He’s doing well.”

Reid also provided some clarity on an injury that happened ahead of the preseason Week 2 contest.

“(Rashad) Fenton has the hamstring strain,” Reid said. “It happened just before the game.”

Finally, Reid confirmed that OG Yasir Durant and RB Darrel Williams are both the concussion protocol.

This team could certainly be healthier heading into preseason Week 3, but the good news is that they’ve still seemingly avoided any major injuries throughout training camp and the preseason.

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Chiefs WR coach Joe Bleymaier settling in new role ahead of regular season

#Chiefs WR coach Joe Bleymaier’s comments last week provided valuable insight into player development and the team’s innovative playcalling | from @TheJohnDillon

After four years spent as an offensive quality control assistant, pass game analyst, and assistant quarterbacks coach, first-year wide receivers coach Joe Bleymaier is still learning the ropes in his new role.

The Kansas City Chiefs shuffled some staff positions in the offseason after the Super Bowl, moving 2020 receivers coach Greg Lewis to work with the running backs, and promoting Bleymaier to fill his absence. The veteran assistant coach has a big chance to make a name for himself on Kansas City’s talented offensive coaching staff.

After a roller-coaster preseason game for the Chiefs’ pass-catchers against the Cardinals, it seemed fitting to reflect on comments Bleymaier made to the media last week ahead of the matchup in Arizona. He emphasized the importance of having the aforementioned Lewis around for input and said he was settling into his new job well.

“It’s a little unique with Greg (Lewis) still being here,” Bleymaier said of his counterpart. “I go to him daily for questions, advice, our guys go to him. I’m the new receiver coach, but we kind of just gained an extra receiver coach because Greg is still there, and the guys feel free to go talk to him as well. So it’s been seamless at least for me.”

That relationship and sort of mentorship from the newly-minted running backs coach could be a difference-maker for Kansas City, as the team’s receivers flourished under his leadership since 2017. Both coaches are former receivers themselves, and their experience in uniform has paid dividends for the Chiefs in crucial situations in the past.

Bleymaier has become known for what Andy Reid calls the “Joe Files.” A collection of plays from all over the world of football that help the Chiefs adapt and innovate on offense. Bleymaier deflected praise about his creativity to the press but told the media that he and the other coaches are always looking for an extra edge.

“We try to find plays from anywhere in the country,” Bleymaier told reporters. “And when we find something that has been successful, if it’s not something we currently have in, then either we try to copy it straight up and put it in or we see how it can fit. If something is working, we’re all about putting guys in the best position to succeed. If there’s a concept or a way to do that that we don’t currently have in, Coach is not afraid to add it. So that’s the great thing about him, our offensive staff, our offense and the guys we have. They’re eager to get more and more and more and have more on their plate in order to showcase their abilities.”

That commitment to fresh ideas was on full display against the Cardinals on Friday, though the offense struggled through miscommunication issues early. Receivers were getting open, gaining separation on various routes routinely.

Bleymaier is sure to be coming up with solutions ahead of the season to aid in correcting the miscommunications. He told the media last week that the short shelf life of successful schemes and concepts keeps him on his toes, and forces him to keep pushing the envelope.

“With the defenses in this league, anything that’s on film for two, three weeks that’s successful, they’ll have an answer for,” Bleymaier said. “So, we’re looking out constantly, weekly for what just got ran yesterday, what just got ran in college the week before, what’s something maybe the defense hasn’t seen yet or maybe the defense we’re facing that week hasn’t seen yet because part of it is also the element of surprise. I would say it’s a weekly type situation where it’s like we don’t have this, we saw it, let’s get it going before the league has an answer for it.”

Life on the cutting edge of offensive genius is second nature for assistants under Andy Reid, so it is no surprise Bleymaier is settling in and getting comfortable. If he can coax even a little more production out of Chiefs’ receivers than was achieved last season, this offense could be nearly unstoppable through the regular season.

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Andy Reid says Chiefs’ starters will play first half vs. Cardinals

During Friday’s preseason Week 2 matchup with the #Cardinals, Andy Reid expects the #Chiefs’ starters to play roughly the full first half.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid continues to stick to his guns on his preseason routine. He doesn’t intend to change it just because the NFL eliminated a preseason game.

In the first week of the preseason, the Chiefs’ starters played a full quarter, with the exception of star QB Patrick Mahomes. Mahomes played just four snaps in his 2021 preseason debut. This week Reid anticipates a continued ramp-up as he’s done in previous years.

Reid clarified to the media on Wednesday that the starters, including Mahomes, will get closer to a full half of play against the Arizona Cardinals on Friday.

“Yeah, so like I mentioned yesterday, we’ll go a half somewhere thereabout with the starters,” Reid said. “Then the 2’s and 3’s will get the second half, which is the third and fourth quarter. We’ll just split it up there.”

Other teams have been extremely cautious with the star players, especially at the quarterback position. The Chiefs, however, have a different plan in mind for Mahomes. There are obvious concerns with keeping Mahomes healthy, but he also needs to get comfortable with new players.

“I think it’s a mix because health is obviously important, but getting used to those new guys that he’s dealing with, I think, is also important,” Reid explained on Monday. “Them hearing his voice is important in a game situation with fans and so on.”

Reid also wants players to get more opportunities to work with Mahomes’ cadence in a live game. It’s pretty hard to do that with just four snaps. Will Mahomes play the full first half with the rest of the starters? Probably not. Will he play more than four snaps this game? You can bet on it.

“There’s a pretty good chance, yeah,” Reid said of Mahomes’ preseason Week 2 snap count. “More than the four plays.”

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What Patrick Mahomes, Andy Reid want to see from Chiefs’ offensive line in preseason

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid and QB Patrick Mahomes detailed their expectations for the offensive line in the upcoming preseason game against the #49ers

At the apex of the Kansas City Chiefs’ offseason storylines is the rebuilt offensive line — a unit that will see their first snaps together in Saturday’s game against the San Francisco 49ers.

The coaching staff and star players on the team have many things they’re looking to get out of the preseason as it relates to the offensive line. Patrick Mahomes wants to get out there and fire on all cylinders right away, knowing that he’ll have just one quarter to play in the inaugural preseason game.

“I think just going out there and executing, in and out of the huddle, making the right calls, getting the ball out of my hands, making some plays happen,” Mahomes told reporters of preseason Week 1 on Thursday. “You always like to score, but at the end of the day I think if the communication, the procedures in and out of the huddle with so many new guys especially on that offensive line, I think that would be a win for me just throughout this first game.”

Communication wasn’t just a big point of emphasis for Mahomes. It was also mentioned by Chiefs HC Andy Reid as it relates to the offensive line. He wants to see the offensive line group take what they’ve built together at training camp into the upcoming game.

“That continuity, communication,” Reid explained. “Working together through different looks, you know, functioning.”

Reid wants to see the unit continue to jell and communicate at a high level against a dominant defensive front.

Mahomes is still getting a feel for his new offensive line. He’s playing behind five new starting linemen and they all have different nuances in the ways they like to protect the quarterback.

“Just communicating with the offensive line on like how they protect,” Mahomes said. “Orlando (Brown) is great about it and talking about different things that he is trying and seeing how I like them. Trying to build that relationship, build that kind of comfort with them.”

Brown and the other offensive linemen are also trying to get a feel for Mahomes and how he likes to be protected. After playing with quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson and Baker Mayfield, Brown has to retool his strategies a bit for protecting Mahomes as best he can.

“He’s played with great quarterbacks in his lifetime and we’re all a little bit different,” Mahomes said of Brown. “He’s trying to get a good feel. He’ll try something one day and ask if I liked it, and I’ll tell him the truth and he wants to hear that so he can know how I’m feeling throughout the game.”

Mahomes has also challenged himself this offseason after Super Bowl LV, placing an emphasis on working in the pocket and not scrambling as frequently. Building trust with the offensive line throughout the preseason will be key to that goal.

“For me, I’ll always try to stay within the pocket especially during training camp,” Mahomes said. “I always feel like I can scramble, and that stuff can happen. We work on it, what can happen throughout a game, but working within the pocket, going through the reads and seeing how the play is working.”

At the end of the day, Mahomes hopes the 49ers will prove to be a good test for his offense and his new offensive line. It’ll let them know how far they’ve come and how far they still need to go in order to compete at the highest level next season.

“Yeah, for sure, especially going against a defense like the one we’re going to be going up against,” Mahomes said. “The 49ers have a great defense. A lot of great pass rushers, a lot of great guys that are still from that Super Bowl team. So, it will be a great challenge for us, and we’re excited to go out there and play against a defense of that caliber.”

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Shortened preseason won’t change Chiefs HC Andy Reid’s strategy on playing starters

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid still plans to ramp his starters up through three games as he has in the past despite the NFL’s shortened preseason.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid is a creature of habit, and despite the NFL making changes to the preseason, he intends to stick to his habits.

Typically, through the first three preseason games, Reid puts his starters through a bit of a ramp-up period. During the first preseason game, starters will get roughly a quarter of playing time. In the second preseason game, they’ll get a full half. By the third preseason game, he’ll have his starters playing through nearly three-quarters of the game. This way, the starters in Kansas City are best prepared to play a full game come Week 1 of the NFL season.

This year, the NFL has shortened the preseason down from four games to just three games with expansion to a 17-game regular-season schedule. Despite the change to the preseason schedule, Reid doesn’t expect that his strategy for these preseason games will change all that much.

“I’ll keep it relatively the same, that we went through three games,” Reid told reporters on Sunday. “Again, we want to try to get evaluations of the guys here.”

In previous years, Reid devoted the fourth and final preseason game only to players who were battling to make an NFL roster. That obviously won’t happen this year, but that doesn’t mean that Reid won’t get these players the snaps they need to properly evaluate them.

“Now there are cuts that take place every Tuesday after the games,” Reid explained. “So, you want to make sure that you’re not letting guys go that you think can help you.”

On August 17, the Chiefs will cut their 90-man roster down to 85 players. On August 24, they’ll cut the roster down to 80 players. Finally, on August 31st, they’ll trim the roster down until there are just 53 players remaining. At the end of the day, the team wants to ensure that they’re keeping the right 53 players at the end of these gradual cuts. Expect there to be some minor changes to Reid’s strategy to ensure that those players get a chance to showcase their talents and make the most of the work they’ve put in during training camp.

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Katie Sowers emphatically tweets that Chiefs HC Andy Reid is ‘the best to ever do it’

After learning from him at training camp, Katie Sowers has some high praise for #Chiefs HC Andy Reid.

The Kansas City Chiefs have some guest coaches at training camp through the Bill Walsh Diversity Coaching Fellowship.

Former San Francisco 49ers assistant Katie Sowers is among the coaches in attendance at training camp via the fellowship. Sowers began her NFL career as a coaching intern with the Atlanta Falcons in 2016. When the 49ers faced the Chiefs in Super Bowl LIV, Sowers was on San Francisco’s staff and became the first woman to coach in a Super Bowl.

After just a few weeks of learning under Chiefs HC Andy Reid, Sowers has some strong opinions about Reid and his reputation.

“Learning from the best to ever do it,” Sowers wrote on Twitter, sharing a photo of the two together, adding a goat emoji.

She wasn’t just saying that either, she meant it very literally.

“And yes, I do mean the best,” Sowers wrote in a follow-up tweet. “I’ve been around a lot of good coaches.. but when it comes to not only the scheme but also creating a positive culture for everyone in the organization.. this man knows how to be a true leader of people..he knows how to bring the best out of everyone”

It sounds like Reid has made quite the impression on the young coach at training camp. It’s not just the way he runs things at camp, but Sowers was also impressed by the team culture, his football mind and his overall leadership.

Whether Sowers joins the staff in Kansas City in a more permanent role after training camp or goes on to another coaching opportunity, it’s already clear that her experience at Chiefs training camp has been a transformative one. She’ll be a better coach for what she’s learned from Reid.

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Steve Spagnuolo, Andy Reid praise Brett Veach for finding Chiefs DB Devon Key

Steve Spagnuolo and Andy Reid gave props to #Chiefs GM Brett Veach for his latest undrafted free agent find in DB Devon Key.

The Kansas City Chiefs don’t tend to put a whole lot of stock into draft status — if you can play, you can play.

It’s why so many undrafted free agents have made this team during seven seasons. Guys like Daniel Sorensen, Darrel Williams, Tershawn Wharton, and Tommy Townsend all began their careers as undrafted free agents and all had an opportunity to impress the coaching staff in Kansas City.

The latest undrafted free agent making an impression is defensive back Devon Key. The former Western Kentucky Hilltopper has picked up the defensive scheme quickly. As a result, the coaching staff has thrown him to the wolves, allowing him repetitions with the first-team defense in their dime sub-package.

When asked about Key, Steve Spagnuolo gave props to general manager Brett Veach, who has a recent knack for finding undrafted talent who are ready to contribute.

“I’ll tell you what, Devon Key, I think Brett Veach and his guys did an excellent job identifying him—he’s an undrafted free agent,” Spags told reporters on Wednesday. “I think he’s an instinctive guy. He’s in tune to everything. We’ve got him playing a couple spots just to find out what he’s all about, and I’m really impressed right now. ”

Andy Reid echoed similar sentiments about the rookie, while also giving Veach credit for finding the talented young player.

“[Key is] real smart,” Reid said. “He’s done a nice job on the back end there kind of controlling things and making sure everybody is doing the right things. Then, he has enough skill there where he can go make some plays. Again, a good young player. A nice job by (Brett) Veach, make sure he gets the credit on that because he’s done a nice job.”

So what’s next for the undrafted rookie? Key has already done a lot to prove himself in practice, but the coaching staff wants to see it all come together in the preseason. If he can continue to impress against opponents who are also competing for a job, he’ll certainly have done enough to cement his position in Kansas City.

“We’ll see what he does in a game,” Spags said. “We preface all of these comments by the fact that we can’t do anything live really and it’s not a game, but right now I think he’s doing a nice job.”

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