A midseason addition for the Kansas City Chiefs in 2021, Josh Gordon is looking to put his best foot forward in 2022.
A week after Gordon’s position coach expressed lofty goals for the veteran wide receiver, Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided an update on the progress that he’s seen from the one-time NFL receiving yards leader. Last season didn’t end as Gordon or the team probably would have liked, but he’s looking much more at home in Kansas City this offseason.
“You guys were out there, you could see that he’s running better, catching better,” Reid told reporters on Thursday. “He’s working hard at all of this. He’s a good kid and he’s smart, so that helps. That’s the way he’s approached this whole thing and he’s getting reps, so he can get himself back where he wants to be.”
What has changed to help get Gordon back to the type of player he once was? Reid echoed what Chiefs WR Joe Bleymaier mentioned a week ago, explaining that he was really getting a feel for himself and playing the game of football after having not played since 2019.
“It was kind of getting back in the flow of playing the game, and then you’re throwing a whole new offense in the middle of it all, and he has to pick that up,” Reid said. “And (he) probably has to work himself into playing shape, just get himself back. It seemed like it was moving fast for him but now it’s kind of slowed down.
“It looks like he’s doing better after the catch. When he catches the ball, he’s able to maneuver around in space. I think he’s lost a little bit of weight. He was pretty big when he got here – he’s a big guy anyways – but I think he dropped a little bit of weight there too.”
Gordon has made a few key plays during recent OTA practices, including a long touchdown pass thrown by Patrick Mahomes during Thursday’s practice. If Gordon can emerge as a playmaker and recapture some of what made him so great early on in his career, it would be a big development for the Kansas City offense in the post-Tyreek Hill era.
For now, it’s just a matter of Gordon carrying this positive progress over into training camp later this Summer.
