Arrowhead Pride
No longer in the playoff hunt after a frustrating 2025 season, the Kansas City Chiefs appear positioned to use their final three games as an evaluation window for younger players.
Before Thursday’s practice, assistant coaches addressed the status of several younger players, offering limited clarity on which players might see expanded roles down the stretch.
While the team’s fourth-round selection generated early buzz during training camp, he opened the season sidelined with a knee injury. Since starting wide receiver Rashee Rice returned from suspension in Week 7, Royals has rarely dressed on game days. But as he continues to recover from a concussion, Rice will again be unavailable for Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans, giving Royals an improved chance to play.
“You want to see more time from him if possible,” said offensive coordinator Matt Nagy. “We’ve been in a position where we feel very fortunate with the guys that we’ve had from the middle of the season on when Rashee came back. Some of it’s just a numbers thing for him — and it’s almost like a redshirt year in a way. He’s practicing hard in practice. For him, there’s a lot of good stuff there with him. I think for him, I’m excited to see what he’s going to do — whether it’s these next three games or the future.”
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and linebackers coach Brendan Daly said the fifth-round pick’s limited defensive snaps are largely a reflection of depth ahead of him — and his growing value to special teams coordinator Dave Toub.
“He’s been playing special teams, obviously,” Spagnuolo said, “and we haven’t seen any reason to pull the other guys out. Hopefully everybody stays healthy and it doesn’t become an injury thing.
“But I’ve got a lot of confidence in Jeff. I was talking to him the other day. The growth process as a weak-side linebacker is just in walkthroughs now. We haven’t seen him in a game. We haven’t seen him since preseason, but I’m real hopeful for Jeff going forward.”
Daly concurred.
“[Bassa’s] role obviously has been more in the kicking game,” he noted, “but he has stayed very dialed into defensively what we’re doing. He does a really good job in terms of communication — [and] has done a nice job understanding the different roles that he could get put into. It’s been fortunate [that] our health at that linebacker position hasn’t required him to get a bunch of game action, but I’ve been really pleased with his development. He’s in here early every day. He’s working hard. He does a really good job of asking questions and watching the guys in front of him who do a great job.”
While the undrafted rookie has yet to be a factor in the defensive rotation, Daly said the former TCU standout has remained prepared.
“I like Cooper a lot,” he said, “and he’s done...
