Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid spoke to the media Monday following the team’s first loss of the season on Sunday — a 40-32 loss to the Las Vegas Raiders.
Here are four takeaways from the Chiefs head coach:
The Chiefs will take the loss in stride and move forward to the matchup against the Buffalo Bills.
“We all could’ve done a better job, starting with me, and I take full responsibility for it being the head football coach,” Reid said in his opening statement. “There are things we can learn from this, particularly in the penalty area, things we can control. The big plays that were made, we can learn from those. And I’ve got a locker room that does that, we have coaches who will do that. Obviously, every game, whether you win or lose you can learn things from it. Every game is different. This wasn’t a lead-up thing or anything else, this was a team that played better than we did yesterday, and coached better, and came out with a win.”
The Chiefs will now go through the film of the game and see what they can correct with their position coaches.
“They’ll digest it is what they’ll do,” said Reid. “They’ll do that aggressively, and I don’t have guys that lie to themselves. They get in and they’re real with themselves, and they’ll figure out their part. I have coaches that are the same way, they’ll figure out their part, and we’ll get back at it. That’s how we roll. That part’s not going to change, and we go from there.”
With left guard Kelechi Osemele done for the year, Reid shared what he foresees along the team’s offensive line.
Osemele tore tendons in both of his knees, leaving a vacancy at a starting position. Since utility offensive lineman Martinas Rankin is still on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list, he is not an option at the moment.
“Rank has done a good job of working to get back,” said Reid. “He’s not quite there yet, but he’s working at it. Then, (Nick) Allegretti, he’s been in kind of that swing position and kind of covering the bases of both the guards and at center, so he’ll still be in that position. (Mike) Remmers would be the one who steps in right now.”
Remmers stepped in at left guard against the Raiders after Osemele had to leave he game.
Reid had no injury update to share on wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who hurt his hamstring.
The Chiefs will need to replace Watkins if he has to miss time due to the injury.
“He plays a little bit of the low post for you and does a good job with that — he’s strong,” noted Reid. “But again, we can work around that and we’ve got other guys that can step in and fill those types of roles.”
A potential depth replacement — if Watkins is to miss time — is second-year player Mecole Hardman. Hardman had two catches for 50 yards against the Raiders.
“Mecole just needs to keep growing and keep working. He got a few reps yesterday, and so that’s a step forward for him. But we’ll see how he does when we go forward here.”
Reid complimented the play of wide receiver Henry Ruggs and right tackle Trent Brown, who were back in the lineup for Las Vegas in its win.
The Raiders had two players back from injury against the Chiefs in Ruggs and Brown.
“Ruggs had a couple big plays, the first big catch was to him,” said Reid. “(Rashad) Fenton was right there in position, and I think he actually made a one arm grab there, so heck of a catch, good throw. And then he had another one where he had a long ball for a touchdown, so I mean that obviously made a difference for them having him in there. But that wasn’t the reason for not winning the football game. We can do better all the way around whether it was assignment or putting the guys in the right position.
“Then Brown, he’s a good football player so having him back, they brought in two good football players back in there, healthy and I thought that helped them.”
After meetings on Monday, the Chiefs will be back into the facility on Wednesday and resume official practice Thursday in preparation for the Buffalo Bills next Monday.