KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs took another hit at the cornerback position Wednesday, when L'Jarius Sneed was placed on the injury reserve list after breaking his collarbone.
Today Chiefs Defensive Coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo spoke about the loss of the rookie and how the team plans to fill the loss of Sneed.
"Bumped and Bruised" is how #Chiefs DC Steve Spags refers to the Cornerback position right now...but he's got no doubt in his players ability to step up and fill in where needed...#ChiefsKingdom pic.twitter.com/i5gDVzHjsi
— Hayley Lewis 👑 (@HayleyLewisKSHB) October 1, 2020
“Listen we have been bumped and bruised out there at the corner" Coach Spagnuolo said when asked about the health of the secondary.
"You know certainly losing Breezy kinda hurt right from the beginning," he said.
Bashaud Breeland is still serving a four game suspension and won't be able to return for the Chiefs until after their match up against the Patriots this coming Sunday.
Rashad Fenton, the Chiefs 6th round draft pick in the 2019 draft, has impressed during the interim.
"Listen Rashad Fenton has stepped up and done a great job," Spagnuolo said.
The Chiefs are also waiting to get cornerback Charvarius Ward back fully healthy. Ward, who suffered a fractured hand in Week one, is still nursing the injury but has been able to play with a cast on.
"Hopefully we can get CW back, you know I know he is going to deal with that hand a little bit," Spagnuolo said.
Currently the Chiefs have 2-3 healthy cornerbacks available to play. Antonio Hamilton, who dealt with a groin injury after the Chargers game, is not on the injury report for Kansas City as of week 4.
They also have Rookie BoPete Keyes and Fenton.
Coach Spagnuolo says against the run heavy Patriots, the defense will have to lean on the younger players in hopes they can rise to the challenge.
"You know they’ve got to step up because our corners are really needed in the packages that we play, fortunately for us our D-line had done a good job to make it a little easier on the corners from the outside," he said.
When facing Cam Newton, another mobile quarterback, Spags says the defense will focus on trying to keep the game one dimensional and force Newton to throw as much as possible.
