Matt Nagy: Chiefs Receivers Want Early Struggles to ‘End Quickly’

In the Kansas City Chiefs' Week 1 loss to the Detroit Lions, there were multiple reasons why the home team lost by a single point. The biggest culprit, however, was very clearly the wide receiver room having a poor showing.

Don't get it twisted: Kansas City did have some members of its wideout collective step up when asked to. Most notably, the veteran duo of Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson combined for four receptions and 93 yards on the night. Additionally, rookie receiver Rashee Rice hauled in a touchdown and looked good in the first half. With that said, the line probably stops there.

The two players with the highest expectations, Kadarius Toney and Skyy Moore, flopped on banner night. Each young pass-catcher did anything but catch on Thursday, as both Moore and Toney combined for multiple drops and just one reception for a single yard against a less-than-stellar Lions secondary. Eight targets between the two of them weren't enough for either to break out, and it held the offense back as a result.

Prior to this Thursday's practice, offensive coordinator Matt Nagy spoke to the media about what needs to change entering a new week. With a Sunday matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars on the horizon, a repeat performance from the Chiefs' talented receivers simply can't happen. Nagy knows that, and he thinks his players understand the task at hand and that those coaching them still have a great deal of belief. His message echoes that.

"I don't know if I have an exact answer for you other than let's make it end quickly," Nagy said. "And the way to do that is to come out this week and have a great game and put that behind us. You can sit there and talk about it all day long in practice and always bring it up [but] that's not what the players want. That's not what we want. We need to be able to let them know what we expect and the standards here in this offense — execution, details, fundamentals, all of that stuff that's rather simple. And then they just go out and do it. If they know that you believe in them, that's a big part of getting over those hurdles. Those players know that."

Far too often in the opening game of the 2023 regular season, Chiefs receivers were either failing to come down with passes, failing to get open with consistency, failing to find soft spots within the Lions' coverage or failing to go where quarterback Patrick Mahomes thought they would. There were numerous breakdowns over the course of the night, which forced Mahomes into a shell of sorts as he was also imperfect in the second half. According to Nagy, the receivers want to show their true colors this time around.

"Trust me, these players that were out there playing last Thursday night, every one of them wanted to win just as much as us and they all care," Nagy said. "They get more opportunities to show what they can do and what they're all about. I think that's the beauty of sports, it's the beauty of our team. The people that we have in this building, there's a belief and trust and you feel that. It's not a Debbie Downer [situation] where you're hanging your head and you don't want to go out to practice, you're worrying about drops. Nah, that's not where we're at. We're about going the other way and being positive."

If tight end Travis Kelce makes his anticipated return on Sunday against the Jaguars, that will undoubtedly take some of the pressure — and attention — off Kansas City's many wide receivers. With six or seven options being factored into early game plans, each member of the group is still working to find his respective footing. Things got off to a horrific start to begin the year, but it's apparent that Nagy and company still fully support this unit. Now, the onus is on the players to answer the call and respond with an improved performance.

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