Why Don’t the Chiefs Use Uche?

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Colin Miller | Last updated Nov 22, 2024 5:07 PM ET

The Kansas City Chiefs will look to get back in the win column on Sunday against the Carolina Panthers.

The Chiefs lost their first game of the season last week against the Buffalo Bills. Kansas City allowed 30 points in the loss, marking the first time they've allowed more than 28 points in a game since 2022.

One defensive player who hasn't seen the field much is linebacker Josh Uche, who the Chiefs acquired from the New England Patriots prior to Week 9. In the three games since being acquired, by trade, Uche has played a combined 25 defensive snaps.

In a recent press conference, defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo was asked about Uche's lack of usage so far.

"Yeah, keep trying to amp him up," Spagnuolo said. "I mean, listen, we've got a lot of guys who can rotate in there. A lot of the guys now, especially in the D-line room when we're getting into situational things where we've got guys earmarked for certain situations, sometimes they come up [and] sometimes they don't."

Spagnuolo continued, emphasizing that the team emphasizes units over specific players.

"But we're going to function as a unit," said Spagnuolo. "It's not trying to get one person a number of reps, it's not trying to get one person a number of sacks. We play best when it's 11 guys, and that's what it'll always be. However it works out numbers-wise, one game might be one way and another game might be a little bit different. "

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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