Kansas City Chiefs head coach Todd Haley met with the media this afternoon following Sunday's 24-21 loss to the Jacksonville Jaguars. One of the things that was discussed was Larry Johnson the running game and specifically Kolby Smith, who played his first regular season game in over a year after coming off the PUP list on Saturday.
Haley hinted at what I've thought could happen for a while.
"He’s worked really hard so I wouldn’t put it past him," Haley said when asked if Smith could become the starter. "I’m still trying to keep it within reason and not have the expectations too high and understand what the situation is."
He noted that he's been practicing for about four weeks at this point, which is the equivalent time of a training camp.
Of the Chiefs three running backs, Smith has the most experience carrying a full load.
Haley said Smith is the type of guy that could surprise you, which is promising for him.
While we're on the running game, for the first time this season I think some of us thought the Chiefs should have run the ball more against the Jacksonville Jaguars. Haley echoed those sentiments after the game and commented on it again today.
"As I said after the game, the defense dictated a more pass-[oriented] thought process," Haley said. "As we went through the game again and again, which we do, I felt really comfortable with the way the game started last week. I think we kind of had an identity how we wanted to play."
Haley continued to say that there was a spot where he wished he had run the ball in the second half but the flow of the game brought out the passing game more than maybe he wanted to.