KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Losing your starting quarterback is pretty much the last thing any team wants, but the Chiefs are expecting the Commanders to rally around backup Marcus Mariota with Jayden Daniels out with a hamstring injury when the two teams play Monday night at Arrowhead.
“They do a great job of keeping the offense similar in what they do,” Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton said Thursday. “Mariota runs the ball a little bit more, but overall they come in with their offensive scheme and the things they want to attack us with.
“Obviously, Jayden Daniels is a great player and great at down-the-field throws, but they do similar things with the both of those.”
Mariota has appeared in three games and started two while filling in for Daniels this year. He’s completed 60% of his passes, thrown three touchdowns and two interceptions and led the Commanders (3-4) to a win against the Raiders.
Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs defense did the same thing last week against the Raiders but did so in blowout fashion as they didn’t allow a point and only gave up three first downs. The Chiefs (4-3) are not expecting the same type of performance from the Commanders, who went 12-5 last year and made it to the NFC championship game.
“Offensively, defensively, special teams, they’ve got explosive players and good guys up front on both sides of the ball,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said. “And Mariota we know has come in here and won a game. So we get it that’s he’s a good football player.”
Bolton and many Chiefs players will be coming off a week off of sorts, as the lopsided score against the Raiders allowed the Chiefs to get their backups some extra work and their starters some rest.
Bolton played just 25 snaps against the Raiders and enjoyed an extra day off this week since the Chiefs don’t play until Monday night.
“I definitely took advantage of that,” Bolton said. “I tried to get off my legs a bit. I got a little rest and some downtime. I did some things outside of football, family and friends and played with my dog a little bit. So just refreshing the mind a little bit.
“We obviously have a lot of football left to play and a lot of things to improve on. Even with putting up zero points there’s things you can improve on.”
SIMMONS UPDATE
Reid gave a little update on the continued absence of rookie left tackle Josh Simmons.
“My update for you with Josh is there’s been communication,” Reid said. “I’m not going to get into all of it, but everything’s positive. It’s not a negative situation. He’s taking care of family.”
Don’t expect Simmons to play this week but given that the Chiefs have a bye in a couple weeks and the fact that they have not made a non-injury roster move with him could mean his return is sooner rather than later.
