The Kansas City Chiefs — who find themselves in the AFC West’s third spot at 5-4 — now have little margin for error heading into Week 11’s road matchup against the Denver Broncos.
With every moment now so crucial, Kansas City’s special teams unit could easily determine which way the uneven season bounces. So before Thursday’s practice, assistant head coach and special teams coordinator Dave Toub took questions from local reporters — starting with those about his current kick returners.
In Kansas City’s last outing against the Buffalo Bills — a 28-21 loss in Week 9 — wide receiver Tyquan Thornton appeared to take over as the preferred kick returner. Thornton returned four kickoffs, while incumbent return man Nikko Remigio handled only one.
Toub was encouraged by what Thornton did in Buffalo, so we should expect to see kickoff alignments featuring him in Denver on Sunday.
“[In Buffalo,] we wanted certain guys to have the ball at certain times,” explained Toub. “So we tried to put guys in a position where we thought they were going to try to kick to us.
“Thornton was really good when we played last time. Four returns — I think he averaged like 32 yards per return. We had a nice counter where he almost popped the second one. So he was promising back there — and then Nikko did a hell of a job blocking. When he didn’t have the ball, he blocked really well — so it was a good combination.”
Toub clearly wants Thornton to be fielding the kicks, but he’s happy to have both players on the field.
“We wanted [Thornton] to have the ball,” he remarked. “Nikko? I felt good with him having it. too. I liked the tandem that we had back there.”
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Placekicker Harrison Butker’s early performances have been among the season’s most scrutinized situations. But while the league’s highest-paid kicker missed at least one kick in each of the team’s first four games, he’s missed just one extra point in the five games since then. It’s helped that Kansas City has attempted only four field goals during those five matchups, with no attempt longer than 46 yards.
“He had a couple of good games in a row,” noted Toub. “That was great — and he had a really good practice [yesterday]; I thought it was his best Wednesday practice. The ball was flying good.
“I thought the rest might have helped him. We talked about how you’ve got to go back to work and he did a lot. I thought the break was really good for him because he looked good. He had two good games — and hopefully, we have this thing right.”
Toub feels good about Butker’s accuracy right now — and the spin on his kicks.
“The way the ball was rotating, coming off his foot,” said Toub, “he was banging it. It was true and straight — and you could just tell the difference. It was just a different Wednesday than we had seen, so it was good to see.”
When Kansas City’s special teams takes the field on Sunday, Toub sees an opportunity to play a substantial role in turning the season around.
“Our guys are ready,” he declared. “They’ll be ready for this game for sure. You can feel it already in practice, coming off a bye. They know the urgency. We’ve been there before [and] we have enough veterans. We know where we’re at. We know where we stand — and it’s an important game on the road. We’ll be ready.”
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