Eric Bieniemy on Josh Gordon: We need to make sure he’s comfortable

All indications are that the Chiefs would like to play the receiver more; it’s just taking some time.

Ahead of their game against the Washington Football Team, Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid teased that the team might play wide receiver Josh Gordon a bit more.

Reid said the plan against Buffalo had been for Gordon to get around 20 plays, but the way the game shook out, with the Chiefs needing to run their hurry-up offense while trailing, he saw less than 10. It was thus thought that the receiver would be on the field much more against Washington, especially considering how the game went.

But not to be, as Gordon saw only 11 plays in the 31-13 win (film breakdown here). So what gives? Why hasn’t Gordon been able to see more time on the field?

“Probably us as coaches,” said offensive coordinator Eric Bieniemy on Thursday. “We just need to make sure we’re putting him out there and getting him comfortable out there as a player and making sure that he’s understanding exactly what’s going on. The only way he’s going to learn is to go out there and make a mistake every now and then. And that’s OK because if he does make a mistake, I guarantee you he won’t repeat that mistake. But that kid has been working his tail off.

“The thing is, I’ll say this again, we just need to make sure we’re getting him more involved. (Wide receivers coach) Joe (Bleymaier) has done a great job with him, he’s been practicing his tail off and it’s just up to us to make sure we’re getting him the necessary reps that he needs on game day.”

When Gordon spoke to the media last Friday, he revealed that his understanding of the Chiefs’ playbook was coming along. Now it could just be a matter of translating that knowledge to the field through repetition.

Tight end Travis Kelce thinks he simply needs to keep working at it.

“Josh, he’s an absolutely unbelievable athlete,” said Kelce. “You see him out here running around — you see how big he is, how physical he is, and then he plays like that. You know? Some guys don’t actually play the way they look, but he’s every bit of it, and we’re excited to have him here.

“It’s just getting him caught up with all the terminology, the slangs that we use and just how we practice every single day here. I think he’s just fine. He’s moving along and he’s definitely progressing through the offense and understanding things a lot.”

Gordon’s comfort with the playbook will be directly reflected in his snap count in Sunday’s game against the Tennessee Titans. It sounds as though the Chiefs are ready for him to be a regular part of the offense.

It just may be taking longer than first thought.