The Kansas City Chiefs will take on the Atlanta Falcons on Sunday Night Football in Week 3 of the NFL season, but who will be the Chiefs' starting left tackle? On Friday, head coach Andy Reid updated the status of the position without naming a starter.
The uncertainty at left tackle follows a tough game in Week 2 for rookie Kingsley Suamataia, who was replaced by second-year lineman Wanya Morris late in the fourth quarter against the Cincinnati Bengals.
"The two tackles will both have an opportunity to get in there this game, the left tackles," Reid said.
Asked for more details about what the left tackle uncertainty could entail on Sunday night, Reid didn't reveal much to the media.
"We'll see," Reid said. "We'll see how it goes just as we roll."
After reiterating that Suamataia and Morris are "both ready to go," Reid was later asked if he was implying that the two tackles would rotate, which would be an uncommon strategy for Reid's teams.
"Just like a lawyer, that was good," Reid said with a smile. "That was a good try. Listen, there's always something new for you."
With the benefit of re-listening to Reid's comments, it's not clear enough to confidently indicate whether the Chiefs are planning on rotating both players on Sunday night. The alternative option, that Reid may have simply been playing coy with the details of Kansas City's starting lineup, seems more likely at this point. After making it all the way to Friday without revealing the starter, it should be no surprise that Reid wouldn't flatly name a player when he could, for what it's worth, keep Atlanta guessing. Regardless of who gets the start, the other young tackle could be brought back into the game if the starter struggles.
Kareem Hunt won't play vs. Falcons
Reid also shortened KC's list of potential running backs to take on a larger workload in Atlanta, announcing that newly re-signed back Kareem Hunt will be inactive.
"We'll keep Kareem down this game," Reid said.
Asked how Hunt looked in his first few practices back in Kansas City, Reid said Hunt showed positive signs while still having some ground to cover as he returns to football shape.
"He did good," Reid said. "He's in decent shape, now, listen, he's got to have an opportunity to play, to play a football game somewhere to tell you the rest, but he came in in good shape, so that's a plus there."
Reid noted that Hunt got quality reps while running with the scout team as KC prepared for Atlanta.
"We'll see how it goes next week and see where he's at," Reid said. "He got a lot of reps this week with the scout team, so that was good for him to get in there and run around and kind of get back into the football part of it."
