AFC Notes: DeAndre Hopkins, Andy Reid, Desmond Ridder, Chiefs, Raiders

Chiefs

Kansas City traded for WR DeAndre Hopkins following injuries to WRs Rashee Rice and JuJu Smith-Schuster. Chiefs HC Andy Reid outlined what Hopkins brings to the offense and their plan to get him going.

“He’s (DeAndre Hopkins) a veteran player. You’ve seen just about everything over 12 years,” Reid said, via Ed Easton Jr. of the Chiefs Wire. “He’s a good space player, so he’s very good at understanding how to work in space. At the same time, he’s a tough matchup because of his size, arm length – (he’s a) big body that knows how to kind of play that low post area.”

“You start kind of from the bottom, the snap-count part of it, and you work your way up through. He’s seen enough. He’s been around it long enough to where it’s more the dialect than the language that he has to learn.”

Hopkins is excited to join a Super Bowl-contending team and believes that he’ll be ready to play as soon as this Sunday.

“Those guys could’ve traded me anywhere,” Hopkins said, via PFT. “I gotta tip my hat off for those guys before anything and thank them a lot for that. Coming here, when I got the news, obviously I was excited but ready to get to work.”

Chiefs

• Reid was impressed with Hopkins in their two practices and thinks he can play in Week 8: “He picked it up. He’s a smart guy.” (Adam Teicher)
• Reid intimated WR Skyy Moore requires surgery on his core muscle injury: “He’s going to need that fixed.” (Taylor)
• Chiefs OC Matt Nagy is excited to have Hopkins in their offense: “It’s exciting for everybody. You get a guy that’s super experienced & had a lot of success. … He came in this morning. He’s trying to figure out where to sit in the meetings, the walkthroughs and the tempo of practice. His hands are phenomenal.” (Taylor)

Raiders

Raiders HC Antonio Pierce said recently signed QB Desmond Ridder has some similarities to Aidan O’Connell and feels Ridder has a good opportunity in Las Vegas. 

“I mean, it’s a guy who kind of like similar to Aidan, got thrown into the fire early on, played a lot in his second year in the league, then gets traded to the Cardinals,” Pierce said, via PFT. “Watching from afar, obviously dealing with the injury with Aidan, just a great opportunity for him come in, learn our system and get him up to speed.”

Pierce said they still need to get Ridder up to speed and is focused on preparing for the Chiefs in Week 8. 

“I’ll be honest, I’ve got my hands full right now with Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes,” Pierce said. “Worrying about the future is not really what I’m thinking about right now, to be honest. It’s really getting [Ridder] up to speed. Got in here. He’s a bright-eyed kid, very smart, very sharp. Fits in well with the room. I’m excited to see him at practice, see what he can do.”

• Pierce named Ridder the backup for Week 8. (Paul Gutierrez)
• Pierce also expects WR Jakobi Meyers to play against the Chiefs. (Vic Tafur)