Getty Kansas City Chiefs rookie defensive tackle Keondre Coburn.
The Kansas City Chiefs welcomed one of their rookie draft picks back into the fold, as sixth-round pick defensive tackle Keondre Coburn signed with Kansas City’s practice squad on November 16, according to Aaron Wilson KPRC 2 Houston.
Rookie defensive tackle Keondre Coburn is signing back with the #Chiefs to their practice squad after being waived by Denver on Tuesday, per a source. The former Longhorns @TexasFootball standout was a sixth round pick by KC in this year’s draft @KPRC2
After starting the 2023 season on the 53-player roster, Coburn, 23, was waived on October 19 in an effort to make room for defensive end Charles Omenihu, who had been suspended for the first six games of the regular season.
On October 20, the division-rival Denver Broncos won their waiver claim for Coburn. He was inactive for the Broncos’ next three games, was waived by Denver on Tuesday, November 14, and cleared waivers on Wednesday, November 15.
Coburn was active for one game earlier this year — Kansas City’s Week 1 loss to the Detroit Lions — and played a total of 9 offensive snaps with 1 tackle for loss.
Coburn will join veteran Mike Pennel as one of two defensive tackles on the practice squad. The defensive tackles on the Chiefs’ active roster include Chris Jones, Derrick Nnadi, Tershawn Wharton, Matt Dickerson, and Neil Farrell.
Andy Reid: WRs Are Showing Progress
During the bye week, one point of emphasis for Kansas City’s coaching staff was likely to find ways to get the team’s overall unproductive wide receiver room to be much more productive moving forward.
Outside of tight end Travis Kelce, the team’s leading receivers are rookie second-round pick Rashee Rice (32-378-4) and Justin Watson (25-276). According to Sports Network, the defending Super Bowl champions are tied with the Lions for the most dropped passes in the NFL with 18, which is the clearest sign of how inept the Chiefs’ pass catchers have been this season.
Speaking to the media for the first time off of the bye week, head coach Andy Reid said that the receivers are showing progress despite it not appearing so on the box score.
“They’re getting better as we go,” Reid said on November 16. “I know it’s hard to see, but they’re getting better. We’ll just see how it goes [moving] forward. Anything I say isn’t going to mean anything unless they continue to improve. But we’re seeing improvement, we’ve just got to keep it going.”
Patrick Mahomes: WRs Are Headed in Right Direction
Shortly after Big Red shared his progress report on the Chiefs’ receivers, quarterback Patrick Mahomes was also asked about his young group of pass catchers and echoed similar remarks to Reid.
“I’ve always felt like throughout the season, the chemistry gets better and better,” Mahomes said. “Obviously everybody wants the receivers to blow up and everything like that, but I think guys have gotten better as the season’s gone on and they’ll continue to get better. We’re making strides in the right direction, and I think we’ll keep doing that as the season goes and hopefully carry that momentum into the playoffs.”
In Week 11, the Chiefs (7-2) will have a Super Bowl LVII rematch against the Philadelphia Eagles (8-1) on Monday Night Football. In that game, Kansas City’s young receiver group will face a Philadelphia defense that has given up the 7th-most passing yards this season (2,313) and has intercepted opposing quarterbacks just 4 times, which is tied for second-fewest in the league, per NFL.com.