Andy Reid's guide to the preseason | KCSN Daily 8.12
Plus: Which Chiefs players are we most excited to watch vs. Bears?
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The Kansas City Chiefs kick off Week 1 of the preseason with a trip to the windy city to face the Chicago Bears. The game will be played at Noon CT on Saturday, Aug. 13. It’s set to be nationally televised on NFL Network and locally broadcast on KSHB-TV.
KCSN Update:
Andy Reid’s guide to the preseason
Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid is a bit set in his ways about how he handles the preseason. While some coaches across the NFL choose to hold their star players out of what they consider a meaningless game, Andy Reid likes to ramp up the workload of his starters throughout the preseason.
“I think it’s good to get the juices going, get yourself out there even if it’s a limited amount of play, prepare yourself, prepare yourself mentally for real play,” Reid told reporters on Thursday. “I’m not saying that’s wrong what the other people are doing it’s just kind of where my comfort is.”
Reid confirmed that each quarterback and their respective unit will get a quarter of play. He said the same thing ahead of Week 1 last season and pulled Patrick Mahomes after just four plays and the rest of the starters after just 11 plays. That will increase throughout the preseason. For instance, Mahomes had 15 snaps in preseason Week 3 against the Vikings last year.
“As far as the game goes, we’ll go quarters for the quarterbacks, we have four quarterbacks each one will get a quarter,” Reid said. “And then their group will kind of follow along with that. Try to get the young guys a majority of the reps as we go to make sure they get enough work.”
Ultimately, that’s exactly what the preseason is about for Coach Reid — getting his players opportunities to play. It’s especially true for the young players on the team, who have few or no NFL snaps under their belt. Reid, the coaching staff, and the front office all use the preseason to evaluate the young players who are fighting for a chance to make the 53-man roster or even the practice squad. That part of it is what Reid’s most eager to see against the Bears on Saturday.
“I’m curious to see how the young guys do in games,” Reid concluded. “I’ve seen the older guys play before, but I want to see those younger guys (and) see what they can do.”
Who is KCSN most excited to watch in the Chiefs' first preseason game?
Charles Goldman: RB Isiah Pacheco
No player has more buzz coming out of Chiefs training camp right now than seventh-round rookie RB Isiah Pacheco. It’s almost to the point where, no matter what he accomplishes in preseason Week 1, there is probably going to be some level of disappointment. Dave Toub, Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, Mike Burton — anyone who has talked to the media about him has nothing but good things to say. He’s in a similar boat as Skyy Moore, where he’s having so much early success that they’re moving him around to just see what else he can do. That’s definitely exciting to consider now that preseason games have arrived.
BJ Kissel: LB Leo Chenal
“(Isiah) Pacheco would be the answer, but we’ve got to mix it up a little here. Leo Chenal. I mean, he’s my guy on draft night. You know, I said this guy’s going to be a fan favorite. You watch his highlights, you see how he plays, and you know what makes Arrowhead so special. I mean that mystique of Arrowhead was built off of defense and guys making plays on defense. No offense to Patrick Mahomes and the offense — (they’re) amazing. But nothing gets Arrowhead louder than a third-and-long situation and when your defense is out there setting the tone — and Leo Chenal is a tone-setter.” - BJ Kissel on 21 Questions
Tucker Franklin: TE Matt Bushman
“I know that tight end room — I just talked about it — it is crowded. There’s a lot of guys in there. But Matt Bushman could help make himself a team. All 31 teams are watching these games. And now, it’s a tryout for him and he’s made some great catches, some great plays. I think it’s kind of like the running back room. I just think there’s too many cooks in the kitchen for Matt Bushman to make this team. So we’ll see how that goes.” - Tucker Franklin on 21 Questions
Kent Swanson: S Bryan Cook
“I am most curious about Bryan Cook. Bryan Cook has had the quietest preseason of all of the Chiefs’ rookies. . . It has been such a quiet process for him. There’s some stuff— I think (Chiefs DB coach) Dave Merritt kind of mentioned that he was one of, if not the leader of the rookies. He’s kind of been a guy that has been behind the scenes, one of those high-character football players that keeps things together a little bit. There has been high praise for Bryan Cook. But on the field — what we’ve seen of him when Craig and I were out at training camp — It wasn’t the prettiest. I watched him trying to do the slot drop Cover 2 look that the Chiefs are rotating their safeties into a Cover 2 look and the spacing was kind of awkward. Bryan Cook definitely had a very large role in that. But I’m excited to watch that very large man get around and play on the football field, see his instincts and see him hit a little bit.” - Kent Swanson on KC Laboratory Chiefs vs. Bears preview
Craig Stout: WR Skyy Moore
“Skyy Moore is super interesting because we see what he’s doing against good Chiefs corners. He should produce based on what we’re seeing in training camp so far. He should be able to do the things that we’ve seen on the field. Now, he’s probably going to play through the first quarter and maybe a little bit into the second quarter. He’s going to get some reps with Chad Henne here and they’re going to get him a bunch of reps, a bunch of routes, stuff like that. I want to see lots of targets for Skyy Moore because he’s going to be playing against guys that are, honestly, a tier down from what he’s been seeing, especially if we get into that second quarter there. We could see a massive Skyy Moore stat line in the first half if they give him those volume targets.” - Craig Stout on KC Laboratory Chiefs vs. Bears preview
Matt Lane: The Entire Cornerback Room
“Which singular rookie of the entire cornerback group rises to the top? Yeah, whichever one rises to the top. Whichever rookie comes out and plays the best is the one I’m most looking forward to seeing. Which one of Trent McDuffie, Joshua Williams, Nazeeh Johnson — which one of these guys rises to the top and showcases that he deserves to be there? Which one of these cornerbacks shows that they should be a starter? Is it going to be Trent McDuffie, who is coming off a banger of a week at practice? He’s been absolutely phenomenal at training camp from what we’ve seen. Is he going to carry that momentum into the game potentially?” - Matt Lane on KC Laboratory Chiefs vs. Bears preview
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Important dates ahead:
Saturday, Aug. 13 - Preseason Week 1: Chiefs @ Bears - Noon CT - Chicago, Illinois at Soldier Field
Tuesday, Aug. 16 - Roster cuts wave 1 - 90 to 85 players
Saturday, Aug. 20 - Preseason Week 2: Chiefs vs. Commanders - 3:00 p.m. CT - Kansas City, Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium
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