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After being traded to the Kansas City Chiefs on Tuesday, November 2, defensive end Melvin Ingram is already prepared to make his Chiefs debut.
Head coach Andy Reid confirmed that Ingram will play for Kansas City in Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers on Sunday, November 7.
“Yeah, he’ll be up,” Reid told the media of Ingram’s Week 9 status during his press conference on Friday, November 5. “We’ll have a few plays for him. He’s looking good. He’s done a nice job.”
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Something in the KC Water?
Ingram’s fast turnaround in Kansas City was noted by NFL Media’s Aditi Kinkhabwala, who shared Ingram’s recent injury timeline while with the Pittsburgh Steelers.
“Melvin Ingram first appeared on the Steelers injury report w/ a groin injury on 10/27, just as they came off the bye,” Kinkhabwala wrote on Twitter. “That groin injury kept him from fully practicing and prevented him from traveling to Cleveland six days ago. The healing powers of that KC water…”
Ingram talked about his time in Pittsburgh as “not what I thought it was going to be,” which may have led to a speedy recovery after changing teams.
“My situation was kind of different. I’m not in to telling lies, but it was kind of different,” Ingram said during his first press conference as a Chief on Wednesday, November 3. “It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, but it’s good, it was a dope situation. I respect all those guys, I respect Coach (Mike) Tomlin, all coaches, I respect all the players. It was definitely a blessing just to be there with those guys. I can’t sit here and downplay that in no way, shape or form. It was definitely a blessing to be there.”
Reid, Spagnuolo on What Ingram Brings to Chiefs
Andy Reid spoke about Ingram, 32, and what he brings to the table at this point in his career.
“We felt like it was an addition of another good football player. Very smart kid,” Reid told the media on Wednesday, November 3. “We’ve competed against him a number of times, and you’ve seen him play. He’s getting older, he’s moved around a bit, but 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. It gives you another guy that can rush the passer but can also play the run”
Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo also explained what the Kansas City coaching staff likes about Ingram.
“Listen, glad to have him. We had an opportunity to visit with him last spring sometime when we were in the middle of that,” Spagnuolo explained on Thursday, November 4. I love his energy and attitude. He loves football. He’s passionate about the game of football. That came across when we visited him back a couple months ago. It always takes a little bit when you bring somebody in midstream. Yesterday was kind of a light practice, hard to tell. He had spent quite a bit of time with Brendan Daly and Terry [Bradden]. So, we’ll see where he’s at when we get to the end of the week and then have to make a decision.”
With the Kansas City offense leading the league in turnovers through eight weeks (17), the defense needs to play much better than they have for a better part of the season. If they replicate their production in Week 8 against the New York Giants, in which they gave up just 17 points, 300 yards of total offense, and had three sacks and an interception, then the Chiefs should be able to pull out a win against the Jordan Love-led Packers.
Adding Ingram into the mix will improve the Chiefs’ defense and make the unit more of a strength than a weakness as the season progresses.
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