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When the Kansas City Chiefs take the field against the Las Vegas Raiders on Saturday, January 7, it will be the first NFL game played since Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin went into cardiac arrest during Buffalo’s game against the Cincinnati Bengals on Monday, January 2.
Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes expects there to be weird vibes during that game at Allegiant Stadium.
“It’s hard to say. We’re going to be the first game back and so it’s hard to say,” Mahomes said during his January 4 press conference when asked how different it will feel taking the field in Week 18.
“I mean you know there’s a job that you have to do. You put all this work in for months to try to go out there and play your best football but when you get on that field I’m sure it’ll be a little bit of a weird feeling because it was such a scary incident that was terrifying that I think everybody saw and so we’ll see when we get out there but I know our guys will just get out there and hopefully when we get to playing the game again it can be fun and everybody can enjoy it like we have our whole lives.”
Marquez Valdes-Scantling Reacts to Damar Hamlin Incident
Speaking to the media on January 4 as well, Kansas City receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling reacted to the incident involving Hamlin on Monday Night Football.
“Obviously, we all play this game and we put our lives on the line and to see one of our football brothers – in this fraternity of football – go down like that and (almost) lose his life, it’s hard,” he said. “We put our lives on the line every single play and a lot of people take that for granted. It’s tough to see (and) it’s tough to sleep at night because that could’ve been any one of us. It could’ve been myself (or) any one of those guys in the locker room and I think every football player around the country felt that.”
MVS was also asked if he wants to play on Saturday against the Raiders despite what happened to Hamlin.
“Yeah, obviously this is a game that I love, and I never take those games for granted. I pray before I walk on the field every single Sunday – or Saturday in this case – just for my health, my teammates health and everybody who plays this game’s health,” MVS explained.
“It’s still a dream of mine that I still take very serious and obviously health is the first thing that we all think about when we step on the field but when you get out there and you start to put those fears and doubts, that’s when more injuries happen. So, we try to take those worries and fears and anxieties out, but at the end of the day, our health is the most important thing.”
Chiefs’ Juan Thornhill Talks Raiders QB Jarrett Stidham
In Week 18, the Chiefs will be facing a Raiders team that benched quarterback Derek Carr in Week 17 and named backup Jarrett Stidham the starter for the remainder of the regular season.
Against the 49ers — who have one of the top-ranked defenses in the NFL — in Week 17, Stidham, 26, threw for a career-high 365 yards and 3 touchdowns while also throwing 2 interceptions. Las Vegas scored 34 points against San Francisco, which is the second-most points the 49ers have given up all season (the most was 44 to the Chiefs in Week 7).
Kansas City safety Juan Thornhill was asked to give his evaluation of Stidham during his press conference on January 4.
“I mean, he’s a really good quarterback. We see him as a gunslinger,” Thornhill said of Stidham. “The guy, he’s super confident – you would think that since he’s a backup he’d come in and be a little shaky, but I watched the game last week and he stepped up and played a heck of a game. I think he played one of the best games they have had all season. I think he can control it (and) he can move the ball, and we just have to focus in and show up to play because the Raiders are a good team.”
