Josh Gordon appears ahead of schedule. Could he make his KC Chiefs debut this week?
The Chiefs’ publicly stated plan with their newest weapon, wide receiver Josh Gordon, is to wait until he’s acclimated to the offense before adding him to their 53-man roster.
That might be sooner than even they expected.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid on Monday wouldn’t rule out activating Gordon from the practice squad as early as this week, when the team plays host to the Bills on Sunday Night Football.
“I’m just gonna play it by ear and see how he feels,” Reid said. “Really, it’s more of a comfort thing with the offense. I don’t want to put him in a bad situation out there.”
The Chiefs signed the 30-year-old Gordon to their practice squad on Sept. 27, and they had initially envisioned him spending at least two or three weeks there. After all, he has not played an NFL game since 2019, when he was suspended for a sixth time.
But he arrived in top shape after his suspension was lifted last week, and that changed the calculus. The hurdle now is his ability to grasp pieces of the playbook and form a connection with quarterback Patrick Mahomes.
The Chiefs have attempted to expedite that process by having Gordon travel with the team to Philadelphia and run routes during pregame warmups.
After Gordon’s first week of practice, Reid remarked, “You can tell he’s very talented. You guys have all seen him play before. I’m not telling you something you don’t know. But he is a very talented football player.”
Ideally, Gordon could offer a complementary option to Tyreek Hill and Travis Kelce. The production behind the Chiefs’ top options has been lacking. In Sunday’s 42-30 win against the Eagles, Hill caught 11 passes for 186 yards and three touchdowns.
The remainder of the team’s wide receivers — Mecole Hardman, Demarcus Robinson, Byron Pringle and Marcus Kemp — were targeted a combined five times. They caught four passes for 39 yards.