By Matt McMullen – Chiefs.com Reporter
The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Jacksonville Jaguars, 26-13, at EverBank Stadium on Saturday night as both teams kicked off the preseason.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes and the first-team offense tallied a field goal on Mahomes’ lone series of work, but Jacksonville outscored Kansas City by 16 points the rest of the way to secure the victory.
“There were some good things, and there were some things that we need to work on,” said Head Coach Andy Reid. “The obvious [thing] is we’ll clean up the special teams [mistakes]…I thought the offense did some nice things. There are things to work on, but there were also some positive things as well.”
Mahomes connected on 3-of-4 passes for 85 yards on the Chiefs’ opening drive, finding wide receiver Hollywood Brown, tailback Isiah Pacheco and tight end Travis Kelce for completions. Pacheco also added a 16-yard rush as part of the series, which culminated in a 45-yard field goal by kicker Harrison Butker.
The Jaguars responded with 10 unanswered points, however, due in part to a 73-yard kickoff return following Butker’s field goal. The Chiefs then tied things up with a 16-play, 82-yard drive engineered by quarterback Chris Oladokun that ended with a 1-yard touchdown plunge by rookie tailback Carson Steele.
The score was part of a productive outing for Steele, who led the Chiefs with 29 rushing yards on four carries.
Jacksonville went on to outscore the Chiefs by 13 points from that point on, but several young players still made sure to make their mark as the game progressed. Wide receiver Nikko Remigio, for example, caught three passes for 35 yards on the night. Defensively, rookie safety Jaden Hicks turned in a productive evening as well with three tackles and an outstanding play in punt coverage.
In terms of injuries, Hollywood Brown suffered a sternoclavicular posterior dislocation on the first play from scrimmage. Coach Reid described it as similar to the shoulder injury sustained by former wide receiver Tyreek Hill during the 2019 season.
Brown was transported to a local hospital for evaluation following the diagnosis. As for when Brown will be able to return to the field, Reid didn’t have a definitive answer at the moment.
“I think he’ll miss some time, [but] we’ll just see where it’s at,” Reid said. “We’re going through it right now, and we’ll know more later on.”
The other entry into Saturday’s injury report was rookie offensive lineman McKade Mettauer, who suffered a left knee injury during the second half.
The Chiefs will now head back to training camp at Missouri Western State University before taking on the Detroit Lions at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on Saturday.
