Arrowhead Pride
Reid and tight end Noah Gray comment on the All-Pro left guard moving to left tackle.
While the biggest question mark heading into the Kansas City Chiefs’ upcoming Week 16 matchup against the Houston Texans will be the availability of Patrick Mahomes, their second biggest concern may be the state of their offensive line.
Former starting left tackles Wanya Morris and Kingsley Suamataia have struggled throughout the season, prompting the Chiefs to sign veteran free agent D.J. Humphries. While Humphries initially looked like an improvement, a hamstring injury in his debut forced him to miss last week’s game against the Cleveland Browns.
Fortunately, the Chiefs have found some stability in Humphries’ absence, shifting All-Pro left guard Joe Thuney to left tackle and slotting backup lineman Mike Caliendo into his guard position. With Humphries sitting out Tuesday and Wednesday practice and potentially missing Saturday’s game, head coach Andy Reid has considered sticking with this alignment for the matchup against Houston.
“Yeah, I’m weighing that,” Reid told reporters when asked about keeping Thuney at left tackle.
Thuney held his own at the spot on Sunday, even while facing last year’s Defensive Player of the Year Myles Garrett. He played all 75 offensive snaps and contributed to the team, allowing zero sacks on the day. It wasn’t a perfect day, however, as both Chiefs’ quarterbacks were pressured a total of 12 times — eight of which came courtesy of Garrett. Despite this, Reid was satisfied with Thuney’s performance at left tackle.
“I thought he did a nice job,” Reid noted. “The guy (Browns defensive end Myles Garrett) he was going against is one of the best in the league, and he held his own. He had a few where he got caught off balance, but I thought he battled his tail off and – for really just throwing him out there, did a nice job. When you think about this now, he’s played every position and done well. (He’s a) pretty amazing guy that way.”
Chiefs’ tight end Noah Gray emphasized his head coach’s praise. He lauded Thuney’s leadership and explained how it makes it easier for everyone else on the team to follow his lead.
“Joe is the best,” Thuney said. “I think he’s the greatest ever. I’ve never seen a guy work that hard and then just go out there and execute regardless of the circumstance that he’s put in. I can’t say enough great things about him. I’m just super grateful for his leadership [and] what he brings every single day to meetings, to practice, to game day.
“I think it elevates everybody’s level of play when you got a guy like that, who really just takes a lot of pride in his work. The fact that he was able to go out there, play out of position, and just be successful is super awesome. It’s a testament to the work that he puts in every single day.”
