KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Carson Steele continued to make his case to easily make the Kansas City Chiefs’ initial 53-man roster Saturday with another versatile and impressive performance.
He only had three carries for 8 yards and two catches for minus-3 yards, but Steele recovered a fumble on special teams, returned a kickoff 36 yards and impressed with his blitz pickup in pass protection in a 24-23 loss against the Detroit Lions at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
"He got a lot of good snaps," Reid said. "... He ran hard and was out most of the special teams in that first half. He's doing well. He's growing, and that's what we wanted to see. We wanted to see him get in there with the ones and see what he could do."
Steele had a breakout performance, introducing himself to Chiefs Kingdom with four carries for 29 yards and a touchdown, in the preseason opener at Jacksonville last week.
He didn’t do anything to hurt his chances to make the roster in his second NFL preseason game.
Steele also endeared himself to Chiefs fans in the final week of training camp in St. Joseph when discussing his pet alligator, “Crocky J,” and revealing that “Crocodile” is the favorite of his nicknames.
IMPROVED KICKOFF RETURNS: Wide receiver Nikko Remigio remains atop the Chiefs’ depth chart at kick returner — and had a decent 31-yard return — but it was his third-quarter punt return that flashed what he can do on special teams.
Remigio brought the sleepy Arrowhead crowd to its feet with a 42-yard return.
He also had two catches for 16 yards in the fourth quarter.
Last week in Jacksonville, Remigio caught three of five targets for 35 yards but failed to impress in the return game, which had a lackluster performance overall.
The Chiefs made several gaffes against the Jags in the team’s first live-action test of the NFL’s new kickoff rules, but things were vastly improved against the Lions.
Skyy Moore, who struggled in a return role as a rookie two seasons ago, also impressed as a kick returner.
He had a 28-yard return on his first then corralled a bounding line-drive kickoff and returned it 42 yards, the longest of the game for Kansas City.
But Steele and Remigio also had 30-plus-yard returns, while Phillip Brooks and Louis Rees-Zammit each had a 27-yard return.
Perhaps as important, Detroit only had one kickoff return longer than 20 yards on four attempts.
INJURY ABSENCES: Veteran backup right tackle Lucas Niang held up well in Jawaan Taylor’s absence.
Taylor, the starter at right tackle, missed time during the last week at training camp with a shoulder injury, so he sat out against Detroit.
But the Chiefs scored on all three drives with the first-string offensive line — two field goals and a touchdown — before the reserves rolled in.
Several veterans who are working through or back from injuries — left guard Joe Thuney (chest), running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (illness), defensive end Chris Jones (shoulder), safety Justin Reid (quad), linebacker Nick Bolton (elbow) and cornerback Jaylen Watson (shoulder).
Backup tackle Wanya Morris (shoulder) also missed a second straight preseason game, but wide receiver Kadarius Toney returned to action.
Defensive end Charles Omenihu (knee) remains on the Physically Unable to Perform List.
Reid is technically on the Non-Football Injury List along with defensive end B.J. Thompson, who went into cardiac arrest and suffered a seizure in June.
Hollywood Brown, a wide receiver signed as the centerpiece of Kansas City’s offseason plan, will be sidelined for four to six weeks after enduring a sternoclavicular joint dislocation last week at the Jags.
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