Kansas City Chiefs safety Justin Reid is looking forward to making his season debut — this time in a real NFL game where wins and losses actually count.
Reid and the Chiefs will get that opportunity when they take on the Arizona Cardinals at 3:25 p.m. Sunday in Glendale, Ariz.
“I’m bleeding red and gold,” Reid said Thursday. “I can’t wait to get out on the field. I’ve been building toward this. I think training camp has been tremendous for us to come together as a team, build chemistry, especially with all the new faces, including myself. And now it’s time to write our story.”
Reid, after four seasons with the Texans, signed with the Chiefs in March to replace Tyrann Mathieu and be the leader of the defensive backfield. Reid says he likes how the team has come together quickly despite having several new faces on that side of the ball.
“Now we get to play some real NFL football where everybody’s a starter,” Reid said. “I’m encouraged by what I’ve seen in practice. I’m encouraged by all the work that’s been put in so far. We got everything we need right here on this team to go the distance. So it’s about putting that into effect and not just saying it and going out and doing it.”
Though the Cardinals will be without veteran wide receiver DeAndre Hopkins, who was recently suspended six games for PEDs, they still have quarterback Kyler Murray.
The former Oklahoma standout and No. 1 pick in the draft threw 24 touchdowns with 10 interceptions in 14 games last season. Murray also rushed for 423 yards and scored five touchdowns on the ground.
Reid has played against Murray while with the Texans and has some bad memories facing the two-time Pro-Bowler.
“What I remember most is the unscripted plays,” Reid said. “And what I mean by that is him extending plays, extending drives by just scrambling around. And not only the difficulty of tackling him but also some of the problems we ran into in that game was since he is a little bit shorter, our defensive linemen were tackling high, and they were getting flags all over the place for it.
“So it’s not just getting him down but making sure you get him down in a way that’s legal to the game so you don’t just give up automatic first downs.”
Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo also said getting pursuit to the ball would be key against Murray.
“He makes any one person in space miss,” Spagnuolo said. “So it’s still going to come back to playing relentless football and getting a lot of guys around the football, especially when he decides to tuck it and run.”
Reid also said that while Week 1 is a lot about knowing your assignments and fundamentals, it also presents an opportunity to make a statement to the rest of the league. And he hopes the one the Chiefs make Sunday will be a precursor of things to come this season.
“I want every week when the opposing offense turns on our film, I want them to know they’re going to get punched in the mouth,” Reid said. “I want it to be physical, I want it to be aggressive, I want them to have an attitude, an edge to the way that we play. And I want those plays to be explosive on our side of the ball.”
