KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Chiefs prepared for the possibility of long snapper James Winchester missing Sunday’s game against Tampa Bay with fullback Anthony Sherman handling long-snapping duties during the portion of practice open to the media.
Kansas City Chiefs backup long snapper Anthony Sherman worked out with kicker Cairo Santos and punter Dustin Colquitt during practice at the team’s training complex Nov. 16, 2016. (Photo by Matt Derrick, ChiefsDigest.com)
Coach Andy Reid said Sherman and tight end Travis Kelce have practiced as backup long snappers during the season. Reid stressed Winchester must place his family first following the tragic shooting death of his father, Michael Winchester, on Tuesday.
“When he comes back, he comes back, but right now it’s his time to be with his family as I know you would expect,” Reid said.
The team must prepare for any eventuality, Reid explained.
“I’m not saying he’s not here on Sunday,” Reid said. “I’m not saying that. But if he’s not, we got a couple of guys that can do it. We’ll let those guys practice it and go.”
MITCH MORSE SHINES
The Chiefs offensive line turned in another satisfactory performance against Carolina, but center Mitch Morse received the top reviews.
Pro Football Focus (PFF) ranked Morse as the top-graded center in the NFL during week 10. According to PFF, Morse has not allowed a quarterback pressure during team’s last five games.
“I thought we for the most part kept Alex clean,” Morse said. “We can always do better in that regard, but we were able to capitalize on the defense’s takeaways and put points on the board when we could.”
Morse took the high-grades strides, preferring instead to focus on how the offensive line can improved this week against the Buccaneers.
“Just have to work on putting seven instead of three and we’ll be in better shape,” Morse said.
DAVID KING RETURNS
Defensive lineman David King shuffled back to the practice squad this week after seeing his first playing time of season Sunday at Carolina.
“It was good to get my feet wet a little bit,” King said. “It’s been a long time coming. It was good. Hopefully I’ll get more later on down the road. We’ll see. It was fun.”
King found himself in the midst of another great Chiefs comeback, with the team rallying from a 17-point deficit for a 20-17 win.
“Great game to be a part of actually playing,” King said. “That was probably top three most exciting games I’ve ever been a part of.”
The Chiefs waived King on Monday to clear space for the free agent signing of defensive lineman Jarvis Jenkins. The team resigned King to practice after he cleared waivers.
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Matt Derrick is the lead beat writer for ChiefsDigest.com and the Topeka Capital-Journal. Use the contact page to reach him or find him on Twitter: @MattDerrick.
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