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The Kansas City Chiefs have lost one of two tight ends on their practice squad to another NFL team.
The Los Angeles Rams have signed tight end Kendall Blanton from Kansas City’s practice squad, ESPN’s Field Yates tweeted on September 22.
The Chiefs had signed Blanton to their practice squad on September 1. Before that, he was signed to the Washington Commanders from August 21 to 30.
Blanton entered the NFL undrafted out of Missouri in 2019. He spent the first three seasons of his career as a practice squad journeyman with the Rams. The Chiefs signed rookie defensive end Benton Whitley from Los Angeles’ practice squad on September 21, so signing Blanton could be viewed as a revenge move by the Rams.
On September 21, tight end Brycen Hopkins was suspended by the NFL for three games for violating the league’s substance-abuse policy. So, Blanton will presumably fill Hopkins’ role during his absence.
During the 2021 season, Blanton was active for 11 games and caught four passes on seven targets for 37 yards for Los Angeles.
With Blanton no longer in Kansas City, Jordan Banks is now the only other tight end on the Chiefs’ 16-player practice squad. The Chiefs are also carrying three tight ends on their active roster: Travis Kelce, Noah Gray and Jody Fortson.
Patrick Mahomes Talks 0-2 Colts
Speaking to the media on September 21, Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes shared his thoughts on Kansas City’s next opponent, the Indianapolis Colts.
“The Colts are a great football team; I think all of us understand that,” Mahomes said. “When you look at their roster, they’ve got playmakers everywhere, guys that have made plays in this league for a long time. We understand how tough of an opponent they’re going to be. So, we’re not looking ahead at anything. We’re looking straight at the Colts and know it’s going to be a tough matchup for us to go to Indy in their home opener and try to find a way to get a win.”
Mahomes was asked what he feels Kansas City’s offense needs to improve on the most after two regular season games.
“Yeah, I think we just keep getting better. We’ve done some great things,” Mahomes explained. “We’ve also done stuff that we can get better at. We got to just continue to find ways to have explosive plays.
“I know it’s tough sometimes with the defenses that we get, but we want to make sure we still take advantage of that and keep that in our offense. And then whenever we need to be patient and drive the length of the field, we got to continue to do that. So, you’ll keep getting better with new receivers and younger guys that can kind of evolve in the offense and we keep opening the offense up even more.”
Mahomes on Many Blown Leads in NFL Week 2
NFL fans witnessed many leads blown throughout the Week 2 slate of NFL games. Take the Las Vegas Raiders for example, who had a 20-0 lead on the Arizona Cardinals but lost the game.
Mahomes was asked about watching teams blow a lead in Week 2 and the Chiefs’ defense giving up a touchdown with less than two minutes left in their win over the Los Angeles Chargers.
“Yeah, I think we emphasize it a lot. We go through ‘in the game’ situations a lot, every single week. [Wide receivers coach] Joe Bleymaier does a great job of showing all those situations of where teams come back like that and how the game’s never over. (Statistical analysis coordinator) Coach [Mike] Frazier talks about it, how close these NFL games have become and how the end of game is where the games are won and lost.
“We try to do a great job of our four‐minute mode, running the time out if we can. Our defense [is] making stops. And then when we get in those special teams onside kicks, you saw guys like Noah [Gray] rallying to the ball and then recovering stuff. So, we really go over those, we emphasize those, and we understand the NFL these days. It’s closer than ever every single week, and we have to play [the] full 60 minutes if we want to win.”