Reinforcements could soon be on the way for the Chiefs, ‘a pretty good football team’

Consecutive losses to Pittsburgh and Oakland have caused some consternation among Chiefs fans, but Andy Reid has been doing this head coaching thing long enough — 19 years now — to know this:

In the NFL, things are never as good — or bad — as you think they are. And thus, it’s easy for the Chiefs coach to turn his attention toward their next game, a prime-time date with the archrival Denver Broncos on Oct. 30.

Reinforcements could soon be on the way for the Monday Night Football showdown at Arrowhead Stadium.

“You have some guys coming back that haven’t been a part of it that have been hurt,” Reid said. “You have an opportunity to play against another AFC West opponent. Those are the positive things.”

When asked specifically if center Mitch Morse — who has missed the Chiefs’ last five games with a foot injury — and guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif — who has missed the last three because of a knee injury — could be ready for the game, Reid answered in the affirmative.

“Yeah, there is a chance — there is a chance we get some guys back,” Reid said. “Not only those two, but a couple of the other guys back, too. It will be good to get them back in the mix.”

Another player who missed the Chiefs’ loss at Oakland with an injury was running back Charcandrick West, who has been sidelined with a concussion. And offensive lineman Parker Ehinger, a starter last year until a season-ending knee injury, is also working his way back into form.

In West’s stead, the Chiefs used Akeem Hunt and C.J. Spiller to spell starter Kareem Hunt. Each had two touches against the Raiders. Bryan Witzmann has been the starter all season in Ehinger’s place at left guard, while Zach Fulton and Cameron Erving have replaced Morse and Duvernay-Tardif, respectively.

The Chiefs are also eligible now to bring Tamba Hali off the physically unable to perform list, though Reid gave no timeline for that possibility. Hali, the veteran outside linebacker, has not played yet this season.

“He’s feeling OK,” Reid said. “We’ll address all of that as we go.”

What’s more, cornerback Steven Nelson — who opened camp on injured reserve — is eligible to return to practice, though he couldn’t see the field before Week 10 due to NFL rules.

“You have a chance of him getting back, potentially now,” Reid said. “You can’t have enough of those secondary guys.”

The injured Chiefs will have more time to recuperate before their next game. Reid is giving them Friday through Sunday off, and after a short practice on Monday, they’ll have another off-day Tuesday before entering a normal week.

After a brutal five-day stretch that included two tough, physical games, Reid is confident his players will be ready to go.

“They will have plenty of time here to get themselves back and going,” Reid said. “It’s good depending on how you handle it.

“When you have an opportunity to rest up a little bit, you have to do that, which I think the guys will do. They understand and have been told that. Then coaches have a chance to go back and evaluate ... You go back and you look at everything. It’s a mini-bye week; you go back and you evaluate things you can do better, put the guys in better positions. All of those things.”

Reid also tried to stress that at 5-2, the season is hardly in a death spiral despite two consecutive losses.

“It’s hard right now because you went 5-0 and then you have two losses; it seems like the whole world is falling apart,” Reid said. “But in reality, that’s not the case. We do have to fix a couple of things.

“A lot of fingers can be pointed and all of that, but the reality is you’re 5-2 and a pretty good football team.”

This story was originally published October 20, 2017 at 5:03 PM with the headline "Reinforcements could soon be on the way for the Chiefs, ‘a pretty good football team’."