Andy Reid roundup: 4 takeaways from the Chiefs head coach

Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid met with the media over a Zoom conference call on Monday, a little more than 12 hours after the team’s 22-9 victory over the Denver Broncos.

Listen to the full presser above or by clicking here.

In his opening statement, Reid made sure to mention that one of his favorite moments of Sunday was finding out that former Kansas City Monarchs first baseman and Negro Leagues advocate Buck O’Neil was selected to the Baseball Hall of Fame.

Transitioning to the football talk, Reid once again complimented the play of his defense and noted that while the offense has been “sporadic,” there have been some positives mixed in. Reid described his team’s special teams play as “tremendous.”

Reid then took questions, which we have rounded up in four takeaways:

Reid had playing-time notes regarding wide receiver Mecole Hardman and offensive lineman Kyle Long.

Hardman played in the game but only saw a season-low nine snaps, according to the gamebook.

“Sometimes it works out that way,” said Reid. “We still have a lot of trust in Mecole and other weeks, it will be higher. It’s the way it worked out — and sometimes, those things happen.”

Long was inactive after the team added him to the 53-man roster leading into the game.

“He’s getting there,” said Reid of Long. “He’s right on that border of being there. I just think — we’ll see how he does this week. Just for him to be back out doing what he’s doing is a big thing, and I try to keep a close eye on him when he’s working either with the scout team or working in with the offense.”

Reid spoke to the recent trend of the team’s offense seemingly faltering after what is the opening script of plays.

In the last two games, the Chiefs have scored points early in the game before the offense has stalled a bit.

“You’d like to be able to do that, so that’s what we’re working through,” admitted Reid. “It’s one of those things. We’re not perfect, right? So we’re striving for that, and we want to make sure that we work through all that and just keep ourselves a little bit more consistent in that area... [Sunday] night, it was drops and penalties that are drive-stoppers, so we’ve got to make sure that we get rid of those, and that puts you in a better position. Earlier, it was turnovers, so we’ve got to make sure we don’t do that.”

Reid explained how the team begins preparation for the next opponent while addressing some of his own team’s weaknesses. This week, it’s the Las Vegas Raiders.

“You try to coach in fast-forward, I think you’d say, of what you’ve got your team doing — but at the same time, make sure the fundamentals are right going against whatever team that you’re playing,” he said. “We spend a lot of time getting ready for the Raiders this week and so, what you do if you’re going to take your players’ strengths and you’re going to try to utilize those — put them in positions where you can utilize those matchups, all those things that are important, the best you can.”

Reid highlighted the recent impact of defensive linemen Melvin Ingram and Chris Jones.

Ingram had half a sack and two quarterback hits against the Broncos.

“He’s been a positive influence for the defense,” said Reid. “I think probably the thing was getting everybody back healthy — corners, D-line, linebackers. We had pieces missing it seemed like every week, and then some of the younger kids are getting more experience and playing better. I think it’s a culmination of all of that.

“I don’t want to slight Melvin — when you add a Pro Bowl player in there, that’s going to help you. And then he’s got a good attitude. He’s a good leader; he’s very smart. It’s been a welcomed addition. The credit goes to (general manager) Brett Veach on that for sure — the job that he did getting him here.”

Jones batted down two Teddy Bridgewater passes in the game, a continued trend for him as of late.

“First of all, he’s long,” said Reid of Jones. “He’s tall and long, and so, he gets his hands on a lot of balls. The other thing is, he’s got great get-off... we all see this happy, go-lucky kid that is out there, but he does study his tail off to make sure that he knows what the offensive linemen are doing and how they react to certain things. So he’s done a nice job with that.”

Reid was asked if he’s ever seen a 20-play drive result in no points.

The fruitless Denver drive ate up more than 11 minutes.

“No, but I’m glad I saw it,” smiled the head coach. “That was a positive thing from our standpoint. It was a great fouth-down stand by our defense — would have liked to kept them back where they were. That’s the way it rolled, and the guys didn’t hang their heads on it, but I’m glad we were able to keep them out there.”

As it turned out, Reid had seen something like it.

What are the odds?