Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid confirmed on Monday that he plans to rest some players against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 17.
After clinching the No. 1 seed in Week 16, the game against the Chargers has no meaning in terms of the playoffs. It’s essentially a bragging rights game that will only impact the final record of the team. After the Falcons game on Sunday, Reid wasn’t so certain about his stance on resting players when Los Angeles came to town.
“Yeah, well, I’ve got to sit down and think about all of that, where we sit with it,” Reid said after the game on Sunday. “Obviously, if we need to rest a person, it gives us that opportunity, but also I look at it the other way—it gives us an opportunity to get some guys in that haven’t played much to get them some experience, and there’s nothing like that. And you don’t do anything other than try to prepare yourself to win games, so it doesn’t matter who’s in or not, that’s how you go about your business here. So, that’s the way we’ll go about this week. Whoever is playing, that’s how we’re going about it.”
When Reid spoke with the media on Monday, he was quite a bit more confident in his plan when it comes to resting players.
“I’ve been down this road a couple of times before,” Reid told reporters on Monday. “I’ve had the opportunity to rest guys, so we’ll do that. I mean we’ll rest up some guys. I’m sitting right here, Adam (Teicher), kind of waiting on the guys to come in and get their treatment and talk to Rick (Burkholder) and see exactly where we stand with any injuries and that. But there are certain guys that will have an opportunity to rest up. Everyone will be ready to go, as long as they’re physically ready to go, but we’ll make that decision down the road.”
Reid has rested players in the past, both with the Eagles and with the Chiefs. In Week 17 of 2013, with no seeding to gain in the playoff picture, Reid rested key starters like Alex Smith, Jamaal Charles, Dwayne Bowe, Brandon Albert, Derrick Johnson and Tamba Hali. Some players like Eric Berry, Justin Houston and Brandon Flowers were active but didn’t end up playing a snap during the game.
This situation is a bit different in comparison with the first-round bye week also coming into play for the Chiefs as they’ve earned the No. 1 seed in the AFC. It raises the age-old argument of “rest vs. rust.” Do you rest players and risk them showing up rusty in the divisional round of the playoffs? Reid feels confident that he won’t be hurting his players by providing them with some extra rest.
“Listen, in the past, I’ve been OK with it,” Reid said of resting players. “The way we’ve gone about it— the way we’ve practiced in between that dead period there— the bye week period. I feel comfortable if needed here to rest guys; which I’m leaning in that direction. I’m confident that we can do it the right way and I’m not worried about [rust]. Getting guys freshened up, I think can be a positive thing for you. These guys aren’t going to forget the plays, they won’t forget how to play. But I think, in some cases, a little bit of rest helps.”
The questions that remain are which players will receive rest this game and will it be for the entirety of the game? Reid wouldn’t commit to any specific players or plan quite yet, but he did confirm who the starting quarterback would be on Sunday if Patrick Mahomes was one of the players getting some rest.
“I would tell you If Pat (Patrick Mahomes) doesn’t go, Chad (Henne) will be the guy,” Reid concluded.
If Mahomes doesn’t play on Sunday, he’ll have finished the regular season with 390 completions for 4,740 yards and 38 touchdowns to six interceptions. That’s a career-high in passes completed for Mahomes and not a bad stat line for his third year as a starter.
Perhaps the plan will mimic that of Week 17 back in 2013. Chase Daniel had a near-win against the then-San Diego Chargers, falling four points shy of victory. Now, Chad Henne will likely get his shot to lead the team to victory against the same AFC West opponent.
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