What Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo hopes to see (and learn) in KC’s preseason opener
Kansas City Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo — like many fans — will be interested to see how the team’s young players perform during Saturday’s 6 p.m. Central preseason opener at Jacksonville.
That will especially be the case in a full-contact setting.
“The biggest thing is, I want to see guys that are unknown to me, their toughness and tackling,” Spagnuolo said Tuesday. “Those are the two big things.”
Most of the Chiefs’ recent practices at Missouri Western have been fully padded, but that comes with some caveats. Guys aren’t fully tackling each other during team drills, pulling up on most plays to keep everyone healthy for the regular season.
Those safeguards will no longer be in place when the Chiefs face the Jaguars.
Spagnuolo said he’d already spoken with his rookies about how they could stand out Saturday.
“I told them in the meeting: The guys that I’ve been around that are here, I know which guys are tough and which guys are fake tough,’” Spagnuolo said. “I’m trying to find out if guys are tough enough to play in this league and do the things we need to do.”
Spagnuolo will also have specific areas of interest. One is the young players in his secondary who are looking to make a good impression.
That includes fourth-round rookie safety Jaden Hicks but also extends to players like sixth-round cornerback Kamal Hadden and even second-year player Ekow Boye-Doe, who had limited defensive snaps last season.
“We want to see what we’ve got going on there,” Spagnuolo said of the back end of his team’s defense. “And we’ve had some injuries. And then (see) the continuity and the chemistry of those young guys.”
Spagnuolo also wants to get a more extended look at linebacker Swayze Bozeman, who has been a standout on special teams. Spagnuolo described the 25-year-old rookie from Southern Miss as “cerebral” and said he’d spent a lot of time around teammate Jack Cochrane to help learn the playbook.
“He’s been physical out here,” Spagnuolo said of Bozeman. “I’m anxious to see what he does.”
Some secondary players in new roles will have a good opening test as well.
That includes second-year player Chamarri Conner, who has spent much of camp at slot corner after playing both safety and corner for the Chiefs a season ago.
“We think he’s got some talent and can do some things for us, but we have put him in positions that are a little foreign to him. And we’re just going to see where we’re at,” Spagnuolo said. “We need to get out and play some other people to see what happens.”
Part of the reason Spagnuolo has had to shuffle so much is injuries. Throughout camp, the defense has worked around absences from guys like defensive tackle Chris Jones, linebacker Nick Bolton, safety Justin Reid, and cornerbacks Jaylen Watson and Nazeeh Johnson.
“I’m like you guys. I’m in the middle of practice, looking at this (medical) tent, where we’ve got all those white jerseys in there working out with no equipment on,” Spagnuolo said. “But it’s something we got to fight through. We’d like to start to get some of these guys back.”
