Chiefs HC Andy Reid is sticking with his tried and true preseason method for starting players in Week 1 vs. Cardinals
We should see a little work from the starters on Saturday.
It’s finally time to see some Chiefs football on our television screens.
Kansas City will travel to Arizona to take on the Cardinals in Week 1 of the preseason on Saturday. While speaking to the media following Day 14 of training camp practice on Thursday, coach Andy Reid laid out how long the starters will play.
“We situate it off the quarterbacks,” Reid said. “They’ll each get a quarter. So, the first one will be Pat (Patrick Mahomes), second will be (Gardner) Minshew, then (Bailey) Zappe, then Chris (Oladokun) at the end. Each on gets a quarter, and then everyone follows that as we go.”
This is how Reid has handled every preseason opener throughout his tenure in Kansas City. However, when it comes to Mahomes specifically, he doesn’t typically play the entire first quarter. Mahomes is more likely to only play during the first drive, with an outside shot of playing the second drive as well.
Reid was also asked if he’ll consider letting the first-team offensive line play a little longer than usual since there has been so many changes to it during the offseason.
“We’ll see how it goes,” Reid said. “I’ll play that by ear, but probably not more than a quarter.”
It’s probably safe to say that center Creed Humphrey and right guard Trey Smith won’t see a ton of action, but rookie left tackle Josh Simmons and second-year left guard Kingsley Suamataia could be in for a few drives. It will also be interesting to see how much right tackle Jawaan Taylor plays, as his reps have been limited in training camp coming off of offseason knee surgery.
Reid also said he’s looking forward to seeing how the rookies perform in a game situation.
“It’s important that they get it,” Reid said. “They’ll be in front of some bright lights, and it takes it up one more notch. It’s not quite the (regular) season, but you’re still in front of a big crowd and going against another team. You’re adrenaline level gets pushed to another level, and let’s see how we do.”
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