Arrowhead Pride
On Friday night, the Kansas City Chiefs will finish their preseason schedule with a matchup against the Chicago Bears on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. When head coach Andy Reid spoke to reporters on Monday, he explained that going into this game, the team would simulate its normal routine during the regular season, in which Wednesday, Thursday and Friday practices lead into a Sunday matchup.
That’s fine by offensive coordinator Matt Nagy.
“I think what’s great about this is it really allows us, as coaches and players, to really focus and prepare,” he said on Tuesday, “[to] get back to the building [and] get into a mindset of what we do during the season.”
With training camp now behind them, the coaches and players are now stepping into the hyperbaric chamber that is an NFL facility from early September into January — and hopefully, February.
“I don’t know what day it is in the real world, but for us it’s a Thursday,” added Nagy, smiling. “Today is a Thursday, so we’re doing a Thursday practice. For us as coaches, we have some new guys on staff — offense, defense [and] special teams — so it allows us to get through that. And then, for instance, the quarterbacks — the process they go through, it’s different (and easier) when you’re here than it is when you’re at camp. It’s a little bit different setting.”
Still, this won’t be exactly like a week of the regular season. The focus will be less on the upcoming opponent than it will be on determining the precise proportions of the 53-man roster the team must set by 3 p.m. (Arrowhead Time) on Tuesday. To a large extent, that is about Reid, his assistant head coach (and special teams coordinator) Dave Toub and general manager Brett Veach finding ideal roles for every player.
“[They] do a great job of trying to figure out, ‘OK, if this guy is on the roster, how can we maximize what he does best?’” observed Nagy, who was right in the middle of that process during his four years as head coach of the Bears. “And then vice versa: if there’s a guy that’s a special teams guy — and we need him in a certain role — how do we get him in the offense and use him? Because you want to maximize those guys that are up for game day. You want to try to stay away from having a guy that’s playing [only] four, five or six plays a game. You’d like to use those guys as much as possible.”
As for the most scrutinized positions in his own unit, Nagy is at peace with the job offensive line coach Andy Heck (and his assistant Corey Matthaei) have done in getting rookie tackle Josh Simmons and second-year guard Kingsley Suamataia ready for Week 1.
“I feel really good right now where it’s at,” he said of the left side of his offensive line. “I think that’s a credit...
