Like he always does, coach Andy Reid opened his weekly Monday news conference with his usual opus about the positives and negatives of the Chiefs' most recent game. Reid opening by conceding that the Chiefs, who gained 231 yards in their 19-14 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars, struggled a bit offensively, which he vowed to fix.
It appears that charge will be led by quarterback Alex Smith, who is expected to start Sunday at Carolina after sitting out the Jaguars game because of two blows to the head in the Chiefs' 30-14 win over Indianapolis on Oct. 30.
"He'll be back in as long as there are no setbacks," Reid said of Smith.
The team said last week tests showed that Smith was not concussed during the Colts game, but Reid and the Chiefs kept him out of the Jaguars game for good measure. Smith looked woozy after both hits against the Colts _ he left the game both times _ as his head bounced off the hard Lucas Oil Stadium turf.
But Reid said the Chiefs watched Smith throughout the week _ he led the scout team as they prepared for the Jaguars _ and showed no signs of a concussion.
"There were no signs of anything _ it was just business as normal," Reid said. "Things like headaches or dizziness ... there was none of that. There was no hesitation when bodies were flying around him _ he wasn't flinchy or anything. It was all positive."
Don't underestimate the importance of the latter as the Panthers, 3-5, boast one of the league's better front sevens. The defending NFC champions rank seventh in the league with 21 sacks and fifth in sacks per pass attempt, 8 percent, but Reid said the Chiefs can't worry about the level of competition when making a decision about Smith's status.
"That has nothing to really do with (bringing him back)," Reid said. "They are good, but you've got to make sure he's OK, No. 1."
The decision brings an end to the short-term evaluation of No. 2 quarterback Nick Foles, who completed 20 of 33 passes for 187 yards and a touchdown on Sunday against Jacksonville, the league's 11th-ranked defense, which hasn't created many turnovers but proved to be salty against an offense missing starting running back Spencer Ware (concussion) and No. 1 receiver Jeremy Maclin, who left the game early in the first quarter because of a groin injury.
"I thought they moved around," said Foles, who was complimentary of the Jaguars. "They showed things on film, tendencies I saw on film, they tried to switch it up."
Foles' highlights include a pretty fade down the sideline to tight end Travis Kelce on the first play of the game and a 23-yard touchdown pass over the middle to receiver Albert Wilson in the first half. The latter was schemed by the Chiefs' offensive staff, which called all verticals and got Wilson in single coverage over the middle against Telvin Smith, a speedy 220-pound inside linebacker.
"That's a good matchup," Foles said. "That's where you've got to place it where your receiver can make a play."
Foles did that, staking the Chiefs to a 7-0 lead. But he also threw some not-so-nice passes Sunday, like his near interception on a badly overthrown deep ball that was outright dropped by cornerback Prince Amukamara, and others in which he threw off his back foot because of pressure and/or watched land in the grass in front of, or behind, his receivers. Foles threw behind receiver Tyreek Hill over the middle in the second half.
"Backer kind of spooked me and shot out underneath it," Foles said. "If I wanted to throw the ball really accurate, it might have went straight into the backer's hand, so I pushed it _ trying to be smart right there."
It was Foles' first NFL start in 366 days.
"It's been a little while but I wouldn't say it's rust," Foles said. "Obviously I'd like to be perfect and make every play, everybody wants to do that ... at the end of the day, we got the win."
And Foles _ who was also pressured eight times and sacked twice due, in part, to him holding the ball too long _ can take heart by knowing that in two games this season, he has completed 65.4 percent of his passes for 410 yards and three touchdowns while leading the Chiefs to two victories.
Certainly not a bad return on investment for a 27-year-old who was released by the Los Angeles Rams after a seven-touchdown, 10-interception season in 2015 and signed by the Chiefs after the start of training camp.
"For just stepping into it, I thought there was some good things there and there were some things he would like to have back," Reid said. "Couple of those sacks, he would surely like to have back. But again, those are bang-bang decisions. They were coming after us a little bit, but he'll be fine. Great learning experience for him, getting in there and kind of knocking the rust off. Hard to knock the rust off in game eight. We're lucky to have him here."
