Andy Reid's plan for DeAndre Hopkins after successful Chiefs start
10/27/2024 11:00 PM
The Kansas City Chiefs continue rolling, taking down the lowly Las Vegas Raiders in Week 8 to continue their undefeated streak to 7-0. Despite injuries to key players like Rashee Rice and more recently JuJu Smith-Schuster, the Chiefs stayed perfect this season due to timely trades, such as acquiring DeAndre Hopkins from the Tennessee Titans for a fifth-round pick, who impressed coach Andy Reid in his solid debut performance of two receptions for 29 yards.
“He’ll get more chances the next game,” the coach said via Charles Goldman on X, formerly Twitter.
Week 8: Chiefs def. Raiders
Following the Chiefs’ Week 8 win over the Raiders, Andy Reid said DeAndre Hopkins played just about the number of snaps he had in mind for the All-Pro wideout’s debut with the reigning Super Bowl champions.
“Yeah, listen, I thought it was good. [Hopkins] wanted to be in there, which is a positive and I understand,” Reid added via Jordan Foote for Sports Illustrated.
Moreover, Chiefs star quarterback Patrick Mahomes also broke an NFL record against the Raiders, reaching 30,000 passing yards while taking only 103 games, the fewest number, to do so. He also shared a glowing review of their new receiver.
“I thought he did a great job. Obviously [on] third down, he had the big catch early in the game and then he had a couple of other big plays,” Mahomes said. “I missed him on the corner route early, but [he] still got open. And then as I looked back on the tablet, there were a couple of times where in man coverage, he was just really working and winning.”
Mahomes also shared his perspective on the additional offensive options available to him with the addition of Hopkins.
“I know the type of player he is–but you see that on the field, it shows that if they’re going to play man coverage against him, he’s going to get open. I have to give him chances to go out there and make plays.”
Looking ahead
Additionally, the Chiefs QB made a quick comparison between Hopkins and his weapons like Travis Kelce and JuJu Smith-Schuster, officially ruled out for Week 8.
“Honestly, it’s high-level stuff,” the quarterback said. “Just because it was zone coverage, they kind of were in the right spot, he pulled up in the right window, stuff you see Trav do a lot [and] you see JuJu do a lot. I was able to throw the ball and I’ve kind of talked about it a little bit, he has good body language when he runs routes so you can kind of tell what he’s going to do before he does it.”
The Chiefs look to stay perfect in Week 9 against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, who have had an uneven season so far that has landed them with a 4-4 record.
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