Kansas City’s veteran offensive tackle seems likely to take the field against the Chargers on Sunday.
As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for their pivotal “Sunday Night Football” matchup against the Los Angeles Chargers, new offensive tackle D.J. Humphries is earning accolades from both players and coaches.
Offensive coordinator Matt Nagy has certainly liked what he’s seen in the ninth-year veteran.
“[I] love the person — [and] love his energy,” he told reporters on Thursday. “It’s a contagious, infectious personality that he has — with a lot of confidence. But he also has to learn the lingo and how we do things. He’s been able to do that [in] the last couple weeks.
“He’s been doing a really good job in practice of being able to show us [things with] the opportunities he’s getting. And I think that’s half the battle: just the experience and the confidence. And now, if he gets that opportunity — and that’s the way we go — then we’ll see on game day if that’s the case.”
Nagy also believes that Humphries will benefit from playing next to Joe Thuney, who is now playing his fourth year in Kansas City’s offense.
“If there is something schematically that there might be a question with protection or in the run game, et cetera, Joe’s right there,” Nagy reminded his listeners. “And I think it really helps out a lot.”
While he plays on the other side of the ball, defensive tackle Chris Jones has also been enjoying talking with his new teammate, who also hails from the SEC. But the two players never faced each other in college.
“You know what? I’m not that old,” Jones quipped to a reporter. “No, I’m just playing with you.”
It turns out that Humphries had wondered the same thing.
“We actually had this conversation yesterday,” revealed Jones. “He thought I was part of his class. I had to tell him, like, ‘[I’m] two years younger than you, buddy.’
Still, Jones is familiar with Humphries’ play.
“Even when he was in Arizona, I had a lot of respect for him,” said Jones, “And I think he’s going to be a great asset to this offensive unit that we have.”
It’s looking more and more likely that Humphries will get his first start for Kansas City this Sunday — and that his experience and leadership will be vital in one of the season’s most critical games.