The Kansas City Chiefs are 5-2, fresh off the bye week and they’re preparing to face the Tennessee Titans in Week 9. Andy Reid addressed media members on Monday, providing some context on a key personnel decision made during Week 7’s win over the San Francisco 49ers. He also provided an outlook on the team’s receiver group, provided insight into his post-bye week success and spoke on the Halloween holiday.
Here are some quick takeaways from what Reid had to say:
Reid's pleased with the receiver group
Back in Week 7, the Chiefs had two receivers record 100+ receiving yards for the first time in over 20 years. Another receiver had three touchdowns and Travis Kelce was two yards shy of recording his 32nd 100-yard receiving game. During the bye week, Kansas City went out and got Kadarius Toney from the New York Giants. So what exactly does Andy Reid think about the current status of their receiving group?
“The part that I’ve liked the best is, they’ve made improvements every week,” Reid said. “They’re getting on the same page with the quarterback every week. They’re getting a little bit better every week. I think that I like what I’m seeing there. I like the strength of which JuJu (Smith-Schuster) is playing. I like the speed with which Marquez (Valdes-Scantling) is playing. And then, obviously, with Mecole (Hardman), he’s been doing a lot of different things for us and doing them well.”
No mention of Skyy Moore and Justin Watson, but the question was specifically framed on the big days by Smith-Schuster, Valdes-Scantling and Hardman in Week 7. It’s safe to say that Reid is pretty pleased with the growth he’s seen and he’s optimistic that it will continue moving forward.
Decision to start Pacheco was a big-picture moment
Chiefs rookie RB Isiah Pacheco earned his first career start in Week 7. Reid was asked about that decision, which was predicated on finding a way to get Pacheco more snaps on offense.
“Yeah so, we had plays in for all three guys. It’s kind of what number is up first as far as that goes,” Reid said. “Listen Herbie (Teope), I thought that was a way of getting him more than 10 reps that we got him the last time. And the way that it worked out I knew that 25 (Clyde Edwards-Helaire) would get enough reps, I knew 1 (Jerick McKinnon) would get enough reps. I was trying to figure out a way, EB (Offensive Coordinator Eric Bieniemy) and I sat down and hammered this out, and (Running Backs Coach) Greg (Lewis), ‘How can we get him more than 10 reps in a game?’ and feel good about it. I think the way it worked out, it worked out well for all three of them. Going forward here, we’ll just see though. But they all had certain plays that they were running.”
It sounds like the team will continue to experiment with the running back room on a game-to-game basis, but expect that each will continue to have defined roles. McKinnon will be in the game on passing downs and third down. Pacheco will get some work on early-down carries. Edwards-Helaire will get work as a change-of-pace back and in the passing game.
No secret to his post-bye week success
Andy Reid has an incredible record of success after the bye week, but what does he attribute that success to? He doesn’t think there’s a big secret to their method. They have their bye week self-scout and they take the proper amount of time off to rest and recharge.
“I think Fraz (Statistical Analysis Coordinator Mike Frazier) does a nice job with the self-scout (and) keeping us up to date,” Reid said. “The thing you get on this Nate (Taylor) is you get a little bit (of) extra time to dig in and make sure that you’re not missing something, right? So, Fraz has it up and then he gives it to us to go back through and kind of evaluate. Then if we have any questions as a staff on what the staff might think we need to get better at, we look at those.
“All in all, I try to get the guys healthy and rest up is really what we try to do with the players. And then the coaches, we work a few days and then we take a couple of days off. I think that helps recharge you just a little bit. Who knows? I have no answer. People ask me about the wins after (the bye) – there’s no secret to it. I don’t know what the answer is. I’ve been blessed to be on good football teams, I think, is probably the best (answer) – blessed with that. So, that’s probably the truth of it.”
Hopefully, this particular good football team will be able to help Reid extend his record of post-bye week success to 21-3 during the NFL’s regular season.
Reid's favorite Halloween costume and candy
There was plenty of football talk on Monday, but one reporter opted to break up the monotony with a question about Halloween. Reid was asked if he had a favorite candy and whether he recalled any favorite Halloween costumes that he wore growing up.
“Yeah so listen, I’ve got two favorite candies for sure, peanut-covered M&M’S, I love those. Peanut M&M’s, actually. And then Mr. Goodbar. It seems like every time I walk by Mr. Goodbar he calls me and says, ‘Andy, come eat me.’ So, I very seldom pass those up. The costume I remember most is probably (the) Batman costume, which as a portly kid that was probably not a good look, but I felt like it was. I felt like I could fly.”
It’s too bad the Chiefs aren’t playing on Monday night. If they were, perhaps he’d show up to his postgame presser wearing a Batman costume.
