Who starts at quarterback for the Chiefs this week against the Vikings? Stay tuned
There were no hints from Andy Reid Wednesday about the identity of the Chiefs’ starting quarterback for this week’s game against the Minnesota Vikings.
But it was Matt Moore who met the media Wednesday, not Patrick Mahomes.
“We’ll see how it goes; we’re taking it day-by-day,” Andy Reid said.
Mahomes, who officially put in a limited practice Wednesday, missed his first starting assignment since become a starter last season in the Chiefs’ 31-24 loss to the Green Bay Packers on Sunday Night Football. He had suffered a dislocated right kneecap in the Chiefs’ previous game, at Denver.
Moore took every snap against the Packers. Mahomes was on the field before the game throwing passes and had been a limited participant in practices last week. He also has been nursing a left ankle injury originally suffered in the season opener and aggravated twice in later games.
Against the Packers, Moore completed 24 of 36 passes for 267 yards with two touchdowns and no interceptions in his first start since 2017.
“It was nothing new,” Moore said. “I’ve been in this situation before.”
While the Chiefs aren’t ready to name a starter for this weekend’s game, Vikings coach Mike Zimmer said Wednesday during a teleconference that he is getting his team ready to face both signal-callers.
“We have obviously different calls for both quarterbacks,” Zimmer said, “and then you have your basic things that you try to do to stop the offense. But you have to prepare for both.”
Reid said earlier Wednesday that six players were expected to miss afternoon practice: cornerback Bashaud Breeland (shoudler), defensive ends Frank Clark (neck) and Alex Okafor (ankle), offensive linemen Laurent Duvernay-Tardif (ankle) and Eric Fisher (core muscle), and punter Dustin Colquitt (quad strain). Colquitt ended up practicing, though according to the official late-afternoon injury report he was limited in what he was able to do.
Reid said Clark is “day to day” in his recovery process from the neck injury that popped up last week and forced the defensive end to miss the Packers game.
Defensive tackle Chris Jones (groin), cornerback Kendall Fuller (thumb) and left guard Andrew Wylie (ankle) returned to practice after not playing in Week 8. Jones and Fuller were officially listed as limited participants, while Wylie put in a full practice and should be on track to return to the starting lineup barring a setback.
Jones hasn’t seen action since suffering the groin injury in Week 5, while Fuller has missed the past two games.
“We ease the guys back in and see what they can do,” Reid said.
With Colquitt dealing with the quad injury, the Chiefs have signed punter Jack Fox, who had been with the team through training camp, and released wide receiver Cody Thompson.
This story was originally published October 30, 2019 at 12:21 PM.