KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs first preseason game in Chicago, Illinois, will give the coaching staff a firsthand look at the newly revived offense.
With so many new faces on the offense, it's impossible for it to look the same, but change can be good.
“Well, we’ve done that before, so I don’t want to tell you we haven’t. We’ve moved people in and out just to see what we’ve got," Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said. "One of the tricks is to come out of this thing, especially with the three games, come out of this thing knowing who you’ve got and so we’ve tried to mix them in and some of that chemistry stuff is important."
The departures of key players like Tyreek Hill, Darrel Williams and Byron Pringle have created a lot of turnover in the skill positions.
New players like Juju Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Ronald Jones are looking to help smooth that transition.
“To be honest, the story that I’m trying to write is, I would say I was hurt last year. Didn’t play a lot of ball. And coming to this team, I’m just going to let my play write the story," Smith-Schuster said. "Me making plays on the field, do what I’m told. I came here to win. And this is a team that wins, so this shall prove."
The wideout room is deep. Mecole Hardman is now the longest tenured Chiefs wide receiver entering his fourth season and final season of his rookie deal.
“I think he’s doing a good job. You know Pat (Patrick Mahomes) is that leader, he’s going to lead us and we’re going to look to him to lead," Hardman said. "I think he does a good job of that — of putting a lot of pressure on his shoulders. He’s getting us all together and doing everything he needs to do being a leader, you can’t ask anything more out of him for sure.”
This off-season and all training camp long, Mahomes and Reid have been focused on building the chemistry of the offense.
“I mean I think we’ve done a great job of that these last few years, except for the last year. And you can say that — especially with this new energy — that we have with a new group that guys are going to be ready to go and you’re going to have to be," Mahomes said. "We have a very tough beginning of our schedule and really the whole schedule, so you’re going to have to bring it every single week. I think coach Reid runs his training camp the way that he does in order for us to be prepared for the start of the season.”
With fans anticipating how the offense will look this season, the coaching staff will get a good look and then it's back to work at Missouri Western State University in St. Joseph, Missouri.
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