Andy Reid: L'Jarius Sneed, Rashad Fenton 'Respectable' Against Chargers
With 29 seconds remaining in the third quarter of Sunday's game between the Kansas City Chiefs and Los Angeles Chargers, the Chargers were threatening to extend their eight-point lead. Then, Chiefs rookie cornerback L’Jarius Sneed rose to the occasion.
From the line of scrimmage at the Chiefs 39-yard line, Chargers quarterback Justin Herbert put up a pass targeted for wide receiver Keenan Allen. The ball fell into the hands of Sneed five yards outside the end zone instead.
The Chiefs offense turned around to tie the game 17-17 following Tyreek Hill's 54-yard reception from Patrick Mahomes and a two-point conversion pass to Mecole Hardman minutes later.
“Sneed with the interception was big and Tyreek with the big catch for the touchdown was big,” Reid said. “You got to see some grit from our guys.”
Sneed was one of four active Chiefs cornerbacks in what ended up being a 23-20 win. Rashad Fenton and Antonio Hamilton were the only others to join Sneed with defensive snaps.
Hamilton injured his groin on special teams in the first half and did not return. That left Sneed and Fenton as the Chiefs’ primary players in coverage through the contest’s remainder.
Both played through 99% of the Chiefs’ defensive plays. Sneed recorded six tackles (five solo, one assist) while Fenton accounted for three tackles (two solo, one assist).
“You know what, they were respectable I thought," Reid said on Monday. "You know, obviously L’Jarius Sneed had the interception but Fenton, I thought he did a good job too. I thought the guys worked well. There's some things that they can take out of it and learn from, but I thought they did a good job.”
According to Pro Football Focus, Sneed’s 70.0 overall grade is the highest-graded Chiefs defender with over 100 snaps through the first two weeks of the season.
His performance helped counter the absence of cornerback Charvarius Ward against the Chargers due to a hand injury. It also comes in light of cornerback Bashaud Breeland’s four-game suspension, which is now half-way through.
Reid did not have an update on the status of Ward or Hamilton for Week 3 on Monday.
