Once he realized there was no friendly fire, Chiefs coach Andy Reid decided he was OK with having linebacker Derrick Johnson a little fired up.
According to Tom Pelissero of USA Today, Johnson leveled teammate Jamaal Charles and then strutted over the his defensive teammates, who joined in the celebration.
Since you don’t want to hurt your own this time of year, Reid appeared worried at first, but said after practice he was fine with it.
“He’s one of our leaders on our team,” Reid said of the 31-year-old Johnson. “We’re in the dog days. He’s not the youngest guy. For him to strut around – I’m loving that now. I’m OK with that. He’s trying to get everybody going, both sides. A little tattoo like that right there – that gets everybody going. There’s nothing wrong with that. It’s going to happen.”
The Chiefs have had a hard camp, with plenty of hitting, and it’s not the first time Johnson has put a shot on Charles, going back to the Pro Bowl last year.
“They’ve got this Texas thing,” Reid said. “You’ve got to look at the positive: Jamaal got up and his head was good and everything else so I’m good with it. That is going to happen out here. That is going to happen, I got it. You saw one with the offensive line, one of the offensive lineman hit a linebacker and then hit him again. You’ve got to be smart. It’s part of the game and things are going to happen.
“Well, I mean, you see a lot of those in football. You just keep going. They’re competing. It’s a Texas thing.”
The good news is, we’ve reached the point of their season so the contact will be with others, so their Texas thing doesn’t become the kind of thing that sinks a Kansas City season.