Jody Fortson has Patrick Mahomes' trust | KCSN Daily 8.22
Plus practice news, injury updates, transactions and more Chiefs info.
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The Kansas City Chiefs defeated the Washington Commanders 24-14 in preseason Week 2, providing an extended look at their starting offense and defense in the process. The Chiefs’ starting defense held the Commanders’ starting offense scoreless in two drives, totaling 11 plays, 53 total yards and back-to-back punts. The starting offense for Kansas City put up back-to-back 12-play scoring drives, totaling 169 yards of offense. Both drives were capped with touchdowns from TE Jody Fortson in what was his first action of the preseason.
On October, 17 of 2021, Fortson tore his Achilles against Washington in Kansas City’s Week 6 regular season game. 11 months later, Fortson’s first catch in a game since his injury would be a 5-yard touchdown against the Commanders. It was the first of two red zone scores with the first-team offense in preseason Week 2.
“Simple and plain, I just kept working,” Fortson said after the game. “I stayed down and kept working as if I was going to play the following Sunday. Because I know this is what I want to do, I want to be the best I can be. I just kept working and now I’m out here scoring two touchdowns.”
Prior to his injury, Fortson was earning increased repetitions with the starting offense with each passing week. The third-year tight end has clearly picked up where he left off, but he has also become a trusted target for Patrick Mahomes, even more than he was a year ago.
“I think what you’ve seen with Jody (Fortson) is when he’s one on one and he has a guy behind him I can kind of give him that chance and I’ve kind of built that trust with him now,” Mahomes said. “I think you saw two times today where he wasn’t necessarily open, but when you have a big guy that can catch the ball, make those physical-tough catches, you give him a chance. He makes me look good.”
It’s safe to figure that after Saturday’s performance against Washington, Fortson will earn more of those chances to make Mahomes look good during the regular season.
Chiefs vs. Commanders live postgame reaction show
Practice injury/absence updates:
8/22 - WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee), DE Carlos Dunlap (Achilles), CB Rashad Fenton (groin), RB Derrick Gore (thumb), and RT Lucas Niang (knee/PUP list) did not practice.
8/22 - DT Chris Jones and WR Mecole Hardman returned to practice.
Transactions:
8/22 - Waived - CB Brandin Dandridge, S Nasir Greer and OL David Steinmetz
Quotable:
“Yeah, the guys are playing fast. We were short a couple of guys in there too, so we had some younger guys in that got some good experience in there. But listen, I like what I’m seeing. We’ve got to keep getting better – and this is preseason, so we got to keep building on this but I do like the speed. (General Manager) Brett (Veach) made it a priority to go get some guys that run and that’s what you’re seeing. You’re seeing a bit more speed there.” - Chiefs HC Andy Reid on the defensive in preseason Week 2
“Yeah, you can see it across the board. 2-6 Deon (Bush) had a monster hit today. Zayne Anderson on kickoff had another big hit. We want guys to know when you throw the film on that the game starts on Monday when you turn the tape on and you see the DBs (defensive backs) flying around, the linebackers flying around, the D-Line flying around. We are going to be aggressive. We want them to watch film and be like ‘bang guys, we gotta buckle that chin strap today because they’re going to be coming at us’.” - Chiefs S Justin Reid on what it means to be an “attiude defense”
Quick hits:
From the waiver wire: The Chiefs placed a waiver claim on former Los Angeles Rams TE Kendall Blanton, but so did Washington and they had the higher waiver priority. The 26-year-old is a Blue Springs South and Mizzou grad. His father, Jerry Blanton, played seven seasons in Kansas City as a linebacker and special teamer (Read more here).
From Patrick Mahomes: Chiefs QB Patrick Mahomes is coming to the hit video game Fortnite, with several skins and items to be released on their in-game Item Shop on Wednesday, Aug. 24.
Here is what Mahomes had to say about the announcement via his marketing agent: “Getting to be a part of a game that I have played for so long is a dream come true. We incorporated my signature style from head to toe, had some fun with my love for ketchup and you know I had to flex on them with the bionic arm.”
From Twitter: Chiefs rookie RB Isiah Pacheco’s 1st-and-goal run for no gain in preseason Week 2 has been a hot topic on social media. KCSN’s Matt Lane broke the play down in a Twitter thread.
KCSN Foundation:
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Important dates ahead:
Tuesday, Aug. 23 - Roster cuts wave 2 - 85 to 80 players (due 3:00 p.m. CT)
Thursday, Aug. 25 - Preseason Week 3: Chiefs vs. Packers - 7:00 p.m. CT - Kansas City, Missouri at Arrowhead Stadium
Tuesday, Aug. 30 - Final roster cuts - 80 to 53 players (due 3:00 p.m. CT)
Wednesday, Aug. 31 - Waiver claiming period ends (due 11:00 a.m. CT)
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