Chiefs say they need to get two offensive players more involved

Two Kansas City Chiefs rookies (and if you’re a fan of the Chiefs, you know them well) combined for 11 offensive snaps against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday.

And the fact that they made their presence known with such little opportunity may say something about how much Kansas City ought to be using them.

WR Mecole Hardman (9 snaps vs. GB)

In nine snaps against the Packers, Hardman accumulated two catches for 55 yards, including a 30-yard score on a jet sweep.

Hardman’s flash of speed in the league’s national spotlight has fans this week talking about the nickname “Jet” for the rookie. Hardman likes it so much, he even hinted at a potential new touchdown dance.

When asked if the Chiefs need to get Hardman some more plays on Thursday, offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy did not shy away.

“Well, I’ll say this — yes,” said Bieniemy. “When a player can come in and not play as many snaps, you always feel that yes, you need to get them going in some type of way. But we have a unique skill set of players, so it’s hard trying to say, ‘Hey. Let’s get them all out here. We’re going to get everybody 1,000 plays and everybody’s going to be successful.’ One thing we do understand is the importance of being a team.

“We do understand the importance of being a band of brothers that are all on the same journey together that’s trying to accomplish a goal. So when your number is called, let’s make sure we maximize that opportunity and make the most of it.”

RB Darwin Thompson (2 snaps vs. GB)

As it turned out, the Chiefs wanted to get Thompson more plays against the Packers. But he has had trouble seeing the field with three backs ahead of him on the depth chart.

“Right now it’s just a numbers game for him,” said Chiefs running backs coach Deland McCullough. “Last week, the plan was to get him more involved. I think with the number of plays we had, we did have some packages for him, but we just didn’t get an opportunity to get to [them]. But if you watch Darwin in practice, we’ve got to get that guy out there. I’m telling you this guy is fast, he’s explosive. He’s racking up some numbers against our defense as far as what he’s doing on scout team and again, he’s keeping a great attitude. We’re going to continue to work on getting him some snaps in the game.”

Of Thompson’s two plays, he had one catch in the flat, but he was quickly tackled. On his other play, he motioned to the left, to the right, then wound up dealing a key pass block in a second-quarter third-down conversion to wide receiver Sammy Watkins.

“That’s just what he does,” added McCullough. “He’s a guy who definitely — you look at his stature and his build and the tone of his body, he’s somebody who was made for contact. He’s also very fast; he’s very smart, too. He’s going to take advantage of the opportunities he had out there, and if his opportunity was to block on that particular play, he wanted to make sure, ‘Hey, when I was out here, I was a productive player.’”