Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid has flexed his muscles and made a major change to his lineup in preparation for tonight’s showdown with the Atlanta Falcons.
The Super Bowl winners are 2-0 heading into their Week 3 climax at Mercedes-Benz Stadium, but they haven’t played their best thus far.
To change that, Reid has made a bold decision to give quarterback Patrick Mahomes more protection, signing a new left tackle and blindside protector.
According to NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, second-year offensive lineman Wanya Morris will start the game, taking the place of second-round rookie Kingsley Suamataia — who is sitting on the bench.
Suamataia was selected 63rd overall by BYU and impressed enough during training camp to be selected to start in Week 1.
Patrick Mahomes was tackled twice by Trey Hendrickson in the Chiefs’ last game
Coach Andy Reid has decided to rotate his left tackles for tonight’s trip to Atlanta
However, he struggled in Week 2 against the Bengals, allowing Trey Hendrickson to tackle Mahomes twice.
He was ultimately pulled from the game and reportedly will not start Sunday night’s primetime game in Atlanta.
Coach Reid did not announce the decision during his press conference on Friday, telling reporters only that both tackles were fit and available to play.
Kingsley Suamataia started in Weeks 1 and 2 but has been benched for Week 3 in Atlanta
Wanya Morris, who scored a touchdown against the Bengals, is expected to start tonight
He explained why Suamataia was taken out of the competition, saying the newcomer ‘had to take a step back to be able to take a step forward.’
He added: ‘We haven’t lost confidence in him. He played against a good player and he has to learn from it.’