The Kansas City Chiefs have emerged from their bye week looking to kickstart their assault on the playoffs, with a clash against the Denver Broncos first up for Andy Reid's team.
But before we can get to that, there was something rather odd that happened in Kansas City's last game against the Buffalo Bills.
With Isiah Pacheco out with injury, the running backs for Reid, we thought, would be Kareem Hunt, Brashard Smith, and offseason signing Elijah Mitchell. But in an odd turn, Mitchell was a healthy scratch, and it was Clyde Edwards-Helaire who got the nod, being called up from the practice squad. A head-scratcher indeed.
So why was Mitchell overlooked in favor of Clyde?
“So, we really like Elijah, obviously, he wouldn't be here,” Reid said. “But Clyde, he knows all the protections. He knows all that. Not only does he know it, he's done it. And so we've seen him do it. So there's a comfort. There was a comfort there. Not that Elijah doesn't. He's very sharp kid. But we've seen our guy do it. So, that was the only reason why.”
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Chiefs' Mitchell decision doesn't make sense
The Chiefs clearly like Mitchell; otherwise, they wouldn't have signed him, but Reid's comments do come off as a little odd.
Yes, Clyde knows all the protections, but surely after a full offseason and now eight weeks into the year, surely Mitchell would now know them too? Although Edwards-Helaire would only play two offensive snaps against the Bills, it does make you wonder what Mitchell's future looks like in Kansas City moving forward.
Being overlooked for a practice squad player isn't ideal, and yes, there is history there between Clyde and the Chiefs, and it appears that it holds a lot of weight for Reid and the coaching staff.
Where Mitchell goes from here is unknown, but one thing we do know is that when push comes to shove, it could be Clyde getting the call-up from now on, not Mitchell.
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