Andy Reid Sends Message to Chiefs Player Who Was Benched vs. Bills
Right tackle has been a revolving door for the Kansas City Chiefs this season. In Week 1 and Week 2, rookie Kingsley Suamataia got the start. Unfortunately, Suamataia struggled mightily in those starts and was benched.
Since then, Wanya Morris has been the Chiefs' starting right tackle. However, Suamataia was forced to step in for Morris when he exited early in the Chiefs' Week 10 game with a knee injury.
Luckily, Morris ended up returning in the fourth quarter because Suamataia was struggling yet again. It seems that those struggles were enough for head coach Andy Reid to reevaluate Suamataia's availability for the next game.
This week, Suamataia was a healthy scratch against the Buffalo Bills. Benching Suamataia meant that Morris's backup was Ethan Driskel, a six-foot-eight undrafted rookie out of Marshall. That's a risky move even though Suamataia has struggled.
Reid spoke on the decision to have Suamataia as a healthy scratch during his Monday press conference. According to Cody Tapp, Reid said, "Sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward."
Andy Reid on Kinglsey being a healthy inactive "sometimes you have to take a step back to take a step forward"
— Cody Tapp (@codybtapp) November 18, 2024
While Reid and the coaching staff's choice to inactivate Suamataia was risky, it's not wrong. Given all of his issues, if Morris was to have gone down against the Bills, Suamataia would have got Patrick Mahomes killed.
Reid is hoping that this move will help Suamataia elevate his game. After all, Suamataia was a second-round pick, so the Chiefs haven't lost faith in him yet.
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