Travis Kelce Impressed in Clyde Edwards-Helaire's Debut
As the Kansas City Chiefs prepared for their season opener against the Houston Texans Thursday night, they had a trick up their sleeve.
Rookie running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire impressed in his NFL debut, but not in the way he was expected to.
Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce, who caught one of three touchdown passes from quarterback Patrick Mahomes, said in a video conference with reporters after the game, he wasn't sure how Edwards-Helaire was going to respond to NFL hits, but after his performance in his debut, it's now clear.
"The biggest thing in training camp is you don't always get to see the hitting aspect," Kelce said. "Whether a guy is easy to tackle or whether he's brought down easy. You know, that was shown today, man. He's a tough son of a buck. For how tall he is, he's got the strength of somebody my size. He runs the ball like no one I've ever seen at that size."
Edwards-Helaire carried the ball 28 times for 138 rushing yards and a score but didn't catch a single pass. Coming into the contest, Edwards-Helaire's pass-catching ability was a point of emphasis but his impact was felt on the ground rather than in the air as the rookie didn't record a reception.
"It's fun to play with, man," Kelce said. "It's infectious when you see him out there playing his tail off and running his tail off. You want to go out there and block for him and make plays for him as well."
While it's possible head coach Andy Reid didn't want to show his whole playbook to the Los Angeles Chargers, the Chiefs' Week 2 opponent, Edwards-Helaire will certainly be on the Chargers radar after his performance.
