Getty Rookie cornerback Darius Rush running drills at the 2023 NFL Combine.
It was a short stint in Kansas City for rookie cornerback Darius Rush — who was first claimed by the Chiefs after the 53-man cutdown.
Ahead of KC’s Week 2 matchup with the Jacksonville Jaguars, the Chiefs released Rush in order to make room for superstar defensive lineman Chris Jones. The CB was an enticing fifth-round prospect in April, but his stock will likely plummet after both the Indianapolis Colts and Chiefs parted ways with him in short succession.
It’ll be interesting to see if a third NFL organization takes a chance on Rush via waivers, or if he lands on someone’s practice squad instead. Who knows, perhaps Kansas City is still interested in bringing the 23-year-old athlete back in that regard, let’s say he clears waivers.
Chiefs Elevate RB La’Mical Perine & DT Matt Dickerson vs Jaguars
With third-string RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire dealing with an illness, the Chiefs will elevate 2020 draft pick La’Mical Perine from the practice squad in Week 2.
The reserve ball carrier began his career with the New York Jets, appearing in 14 games over his first two NFL campaigns. Over that span, he accumulated 326 scrimmage yards and two total touchdowns, but displayed more of a nose for the end zone in college.
At Florida, Perine had 30 total touchdowns in four seasons and 28 of them came from his sophomore campaign through his senior year. He registered eight or more TDs in each of those three seasons.
Perine lacks top end speed but displayed better vision than undrafted rookie Deneric Prince during the preseason and can also do a little bit of everything on offense and special teams (44 career ST snaps with the Jets). That trust and versatility earns him the initial opportunity over the promising UDFA out of Tulsa.
Along with Perine, defensive tackle Matt Dickerson will be elevated for the second time in two weeks. There’s no telling how many snaps Jones will get in his first game back, and the Chiefs are still easing in fellow interior pass rusher Tershawn Wharton from a torn ACL.
Dickerson returns to lighten the load on both, should they need it.
According to Pro Football Focus, the practice squad fill-in actually led Kansas City in DT snaps with 41 during Week 1 versus the Detroit Lions. Wharton only logged 27, for example. It should be more of a balance in Week 2 — assuming Dickerson is even used at all.
He was a liability against the run in Week 1, with a PFF grade of 35.4 out of 100 and a stop percentage of 3.4%. For clarity, run stuffer Derrick Nnadi was up at an 8.0% stop percentage in this regard.
Dickerson did have a better grade as a pass rusher versus the Lions but registered zero quarterback pressures on Jared Goff. That’s not good enough to start at the NFL level, and Jones’ return should be absolutely huge for this KC front in Week 2.
Chiefs & Chris Jones Remain Coy About Potential Usage vs Jaguars
Both Chiefs head coach Andy Reid and Jones have not given the KC media much information on the game wrecker’s potential snap count against the Jaguars.
“I don’t know, we’ll have to see Sunday,” Jones told reporters on September 13, while Reid simply said — “no” — on September 15, when asked if he had any idea about Jones’ initial workload.
Jones was also asked if he feels like he’s in football shape earlier this week, to which he chuckled and responded: “I don’t know. … We’ll find out today [at practice].”
Coach Reid did confirm that Jones and tight end Travis Kelce “did a good job” in practice throughout the week, but that’s probably all that media and fans are going to get before kickoff.