KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid said newly acquired running back Kareem Hunt will remain on the team’s practice squad as he returns to football shape after signing with the team earlier this week.
The Chiefs (2-0) are hitting the road this weekend for the first time this season to take on the Atlanta Falcons (1-1) on Sunday Night Football at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
The team signed Hunt this week after losing starting running back Isiah Pacheco to a leg injury in their last-second win over the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 2.
On Wednesday, Reid said he’d be watching Hunt get up to speed on conditioning and the team’s playbook during practice this week. At the time, Reid didn’t rule out Hunt seeing action against the Falcons - something he ruled out during his normal Friday news conference with reporters.
“He did good. He looks like he’s in decent shape,” Reid said. “We’ll see how it goes next week and see where he’s at. He got a lot of reps this week with the scout team, so that was good for him to get in there and run around and kind of get back into the football part of it.”
With Pacheco out after having a successful surgery this week and Hunt remaining on the practice squad, the Chiefs offense will rely on a backfield of veteran Samaje Perine, third-year back Keaontay Ingram and rookie Carson Steele.
“Carson doesn’t say much,” Reid said of the rookie. “He just kind of goes in and does his thing and goes 100 miles an hour every play, so that’s what he did this week and he did a nice job with it.”
Status of offensive line
A week after benching rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia late in the win over the Bengals, Reid said he’s likely to go with both Suamataia and Wayna Morris against the Falcons.
“The two tackles will both have an opportunity to get in there this game,” Reid said.
Watch Chiefs at Falcons
Coverage of Sunday’s game starts at 5 p.m. with pregame coverage on KSHB 41, with live reports in Kansas City and from KSHB 41 Sports’ McKenzie Nelson in Atlanta.
“It’s always exciting when you get there and that’s a great venue,” Reid said of playing on Sunday night at Mercedes Benz Stadium.
NBC’s Football Night in America picks up coverage starting at 6 p.m.
Stick around for kickoff at 7:20 p.m. on KSHB 41/NBC.
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