Chiefs not ruling out an early contribution for Sio Moore

Sio Moore listened to his gut — and his mother — when he made the decision to sign with the Chiefs late last week.

“It was a decision that I felt in my heart was right,” Moore said. “I always go through my mom with certain things, and I think her intuition is something I’m not going to go against. ... When I talked about it with her, she was excited as I was.”

Moore, 26, was released by the Indianapolis Colts on Oct. 4 despite racking up a team-high 30 tackles. Sio saw a chance to join the Chiefs, who need pass-rush help, as a “great opportunity,” especially with a fellow University of Connecticut graduate — general manager John Dorsey — at the helm, though Moore wasn’t terribly interested in rehashing what happened with the Colts.

“That’s how it goes, I can’t control how that goes,” Moore said. “I think somebody said one time they can fire you but they can’t eat you. So let’s just leave it there.”

It remains to be seen how Moore will be used for sure in Kansas City. A fourth-year pro, Moore played inside linebacker for the Colts, but he does have a history as an edge rusher, which is where the Chiefs seem intent on trying him out. Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Moore, who had 7  1/2 sacks with the Raiders in 2013-14, even got some first-team reps there earlier in the week.

Chiefs defensive coordinator Bob Sutton said he remembers Moore, who was taken in the third round of the 2013 NFL Draft, back when he was a prospect, and Sutton had plenty of opportunity to scout Moore on film when he was a Raider early in his career.

“He played out wide, walked out over the slot in college and was an edge rusher, and he has some natural rush ability that’s valuable,” Sutton said. “Certainly down the road there’s value that he can play, probably, both in and out, which is really helpful when you’re putting together your 46-man (roster) for the game. If a guy can play two positions, that’s really helpful.”

Sutton said there’s a chance Moore could even play Sunday against his old team, though Sutton left it up in the air. The fact that Moore missed Wednesday’s practice with the flu won’t help his bid for early playing time. But the Chiefs rank second-to-last in the NFL with five sacks and could use more production from their primary edge-rushing trio of Tamba Hali, Dee Ford and Frank Zombo until injured star Justin Houston fully recovers from his torn anterior cruciate ligament.

“He’s got to learn the system, but he’s also played an awful lot of football, and I think his transition is as much termonology as it is knowing how to do the things that we would ask him to do,” Sutton said of Moore. “Everything we’ve done, he’s probably done in his career at some point. We might call it apples and they might call it oranges, but it’s just a matter of him getting comfortable that way and us getting a chance to evaluate him and see what he can do best. ... He’s had enough plays in his life that he could probably get in there.”

Moore, for his part, said he’s prepared for anything.

“I’ve been a football player my whole life,” Moore said. “I kind of pride myself on being able to adjust and play wherever my coach needs me to.”

This story was originally published October 13, 2016 at 2:44 PM with the headline "Chiefs not ruling out an early contribution for Sio Moore."