Chiefs call, Matt Moore exits retirement, replaces Henne for second time in career
Matt Moore wasn’t expecting the phone call.
With NFL training camps kicking up, he felt the itch to get back on the field, but he wasn’t sure the opportunity to be a professional quarterback would come around for him again.
Then Chad Henne fractured his right ankle, and less than 24 hours later, Moore’s phone buzzed.
The 11-season NFL veteran was serving as a quarterbacks coach at Hart High, his alma mater, in Santa Clarita, California, when the Chiefs contacted him about becoming Patrick Mahomes’ backup.
The decision was fairly automatic, and by Monday morning, he was on a flight to Kansas City.
“I knew after sitting out last year, it was great, but this training camp kind of rolled around and the juices started flowing a little bit,” he said after Tuesday’s practice. “I really didn’t expect a call. Sure, there’s some thoughts that this may never happen. And then when it happens, you’re like, ‘Hey, let’s go.’ It’s kind of that simple.”
Moore nearly landed with the Chiefs last offseason when the team evaluated him and Henne for the backup position. Ultimately, the team went with Henne.
“To me it was a toss-up,” Reid said. “I liked both the guys. ... I would’ve taken either guy. It’s just how it worked out.”
Though Henne beat him out for the job, Moore watched the Chiefs closely throughout the season.
“How could you not pay attention to it?” he said with a chuckle. “It was incredible. Obviously Coach Reid has an unbelievable history with teams, offenses, players.”
Moore has replaced Chad Henne once before. In October 2011, Henne’s season in Miami ended with shoulder surgery to his non-throwing arm, and Moore took over for him as the team’s starter for the final 12 games of the year.
A couple weeks later, Moore led an 0-7 Dolphins team into Arrowhead and thumped the Chiefs 31-3 for their first win of the season.
“It was a different Chiefs team back then,” Moore said. “We came up here and had a pretty good day.”
Even though he stayed in shape during his year retirement thanks to chasing high schoolers around the practice field, Moore still had to knock some rust off in his first practice in over a year.
He threw an interception on his first play of practice and later had a botched handoff to rookie Darwin Thompson. Moore primarily worked with the first-string offense, which was serving as the scout team for the backup defense in preparation for the fourth preseason game.
In between reps, Moore stood with Patrick Mahomes and quarterback coach Mike Kafka, talking things over with both. He also practiced receiving snaps from center Austin Reiter.
“The learning curve, it’s going to be fast,” he said. “Shoot, the regular season is right around the corner, so it’s got to be pretty firm, and I’ve got to get with it pretty quick.”
Moore won’t play in the fourth preseason game in Green Bay, giving him more time to learn the playbook before he could potentially see playing time.
Instead, Kyle Shurmur and Chase Litton will each play a half against the Packers. The two will essentially be vying for a practice squad position. Reid said Tuesday neither was seriously considered for Mahomes’ primary backup.
“I think they just need to keep developing,” Reid said. “I like to have that veteran guy in there. I’ve always kind of done that. Either a veteran starting and then a young guy or a young guy and then a veteran guy backing him up.
“This was an easy one.”