'We're going to definitely fix that' - Chiefs S Jaden Hicks knows the defense can get much better in one key area

The Chiefs' defense had a rough outing against the Seattle Seahawks during last week's preseason game.

It struggled against the run in particularly, surrendering 268 rushing yards and two touchdowns on the ground. Kansas City was down several key starters in that contest, but you'd still like to see a better performance than that.

While speaking to the media on Wednesday, safety Jaden Hicks quickly pointed to the run defense as the area in which the unit needs to improve the most during the Chiefs' preseason finale against the Chicago Bears on Friday.

"Most definitely with the run game, we know we're going to shut that down," Hicks said. "I feel like last week with Seattle, that wasn't a very good performance on the defensive end, so we're going to definitel y fix that."

As a safety, Hicks is usually among the last line of defense against the run. He went on to discuss the importance of his job to not allow runs to become gashing plays.

"We had a couple runs break out of 10 yards," Hicks continued. As safeties, that just can't happen. We got to make tackles before they reach that stick yard, or whatever the case may be, we just got to make tackles. We got to be in the [open] field, we're asked to do that, so we definitely got to do a better job of that."

The Chiefs will obviously get a huge boost with linebacker Nick Bolton and defensive tackle Chris Jones back in the lineup on Friday. However, it appears that Hicks, who played a lot of snaps last week against Seattle, is taking the defense's performance personally.

Hicks is entering his second NFL season after showing promise as a rookie in 2024. He led the team with three interceptions as a backup, and now is taking on a starting role with Justin Reid out of the picture. Hopefully Hicks and the rest of the Chiefs' defense can build some momentum heading into their regular season opener against the Los Angeles Chargers on September 5.