Andy Reid says new Chiefs DE Melvin Ingram could play in Week 9
The Kansas City Chiefs were the NFL’s most active team at the trade deadline on Tuesday. Their big move was to acquire Pittsburgh Steelers DE Melvin Ingram, a player they’d had their eye on since he was a free agent this past offseason.
Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Chiefs HC Andy Reid explained the team’s thinking behind the decision to go out and get Ingram at the deadline.
“We felt like it was an addition of another good football player – a very smart kid,” Reid said. “We’ve competed against him a number of times and you guys have seen him play. He’s getting older and he moved around just here a bit. We had brought him up in the offseason and felt like he’d be a nice addition to the room. So we were able to get him this time and made the move. But he gives another guy who can rush the passer but also play the run.”
Despite just arriving in Kansas City hours earlier, Reid wasn’t willing to rule out Ingram participating in the upcoming Week 9 game against the Green Bay Packers.
“Yeah, we’ll see how it goes,” Reid said. “We’re not going to put him in a bad situation. He just got here and he was able to sit in on the meetings, but he got here late last night and kind of got cranking this morning. So we’ll see how he picks things up, and what he feels comfortable with. With these veteran guys, they’ll kind of let you know if you keep open communication with them.”
While Ingram will be adjusting to a new scheme, he is a veteran player with a decade of NFL experience. He also has the advantage of already having played the Packers back in Week 4 with Pittsburgh, where he played nearly 50% of the defensive snaps. He recorded three pressures and a stop in the Steelers’ loss to Green Bay.
This is also a little different than say Josh Gordon’s scenario earlier this season. Ingram has played football as recently as Week 6, so really it’s just a matter of the coaches working with him and getting him comfortable with the system in Kansas City.
“Yeah, Spags has a few things,” Reid continued. “Again, you don’t want to put the guys in a bad position where they either hurt the team or themselves. We’ll just see. You’ve got to play it by ear and just see how it goes.”
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