Will new Chiefs CB Steven Nelson play in Week 15 vs. Browns? Andy Reid, Steve Spagnuolo provide latest updates
The Kansas City Chiefs brought back former 2015 NFL draft pick Steven Nelson, luring him back to the NFL from retirement and signing him to the practice squad on Monday. Nelson retired following the 2023 NFL season, briefly stepping away from football to focus on his growing family. He finished his tenure with the Houston Texans as one […]
The Kansas City Chiefs brought back former 2015 NFL draft pick Steven Nelson, luring him back to the NFL from retirement and signing him to the practice squad on Monday.
Nelson retired following the 2023 NFL season, briefly stepping away from football to focus on his growing family. He finished his tenure with the Houston Texans as one of the premier press-man cornerbacks in football and the Chiefs are hopeful they can get him performing at that level.
Will the team be able to get Nelson up to speed in time for Week 15 against the Cleveland Browns? Chiefs HC Andy Reid spoke about it on Wednesday, explaining that's not exactly the plan they have in place for Nelson.
"Let him (Steven Nelson) get himself in shape (and) move around a little bit," Reid said. "You won’t see him this week, that’s not what we’re going to do. It’ll be like the other guys that came in – give them a chance to kind of get their feet under them, for sure. He hasn’t done anything up to this point, so let him get moving around.”
Nelson spent four years in Kansas City from 2015 through 2018, leaving the organization just before Steve Spagnuolo arrived to replace Bob Sutton as defensive coordinator. There will be a learning curve as Nelson adjusts to Spagnuolo's system.
"Just take it one day at a time and see what we got," Spagnuolo said on Thursday. "It's been a while. It's gonna take, take a while to figure out for him. I mean, I sat down to talk with him, he hadn't been doing a lot, so we had him out there for one day. Take it day by day."
Ultimately, Nelson's preparations are in their infant stages. The goal is to get him in football shape, and they're not putting a timeline on how quickly he'll be able to help the team.
"I talked to him about it," Spagnuolo said. "I mean, I don't know how it all transpired. I didn't ask all those questions. I'm assuming Brett [Veach] just kind of researched it, and it developed, and he made a decision to give it a shot. So we'll see where it goes. It's so ground-level right now that I don't really have too much insight, to be honest with you."
It's a bit of a unique situation to have Nelson coming back after not having played or attended a training camp. It is, however, one that the Chiefs are uniquely suited to handle. They just went through the same situation with LT D.J. Humphries, who hadn't played since the 2023 NFL season due to injury.
"You have to listen to everybody and see – in particular the kid – and see where he’s at," Reid said. "You kind of get to know him in that period of time and make a judgment on it and go with it. It’s a sport where even the healthy guys and guys that have been with us from the beginning, they have a chance of getting hurt, I mean that’s all part of this. To answer your question, we just make an evaluation on it, with the different information from different people but in particular the kid.”
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