Chiefs React to Kingsley Suamataia's Rough Game vs. Bengals – Will He Start Week 3?

Kingsley Suamataia struggled in the Chiefs' win over the Bengals, and Andy Reid and Patrick Mahomes both had thoughts after Sunday's game.

Jul 22, 2024; St. Joseph, MO, USA; Kansas City Chiefs offensive tackle Kingsley Suamataia (76) walks down the hill from the locker room to the fields prior to training camp at Missouri Western State University. Mandatory Credit: Denny Medley-Imagn Images / Denny Medley-Imagn Images

The Kansas City Chiefs escaped with a narrow home victory over the Cincinnati Bengals, but not without plenty of drama along the way.

One of the main contributors to that tumultuous afternoon was rookie left tackle Kingsley Suamataia. The second-round pick had easily his worst game as a professional on Sunday, even heading to the bench late in Week 2's win. Speaking about his decision to make the shift to Wanya Morris in-game, head coach Andy Reid said he thought it was a necessary move to help Suamataia.

"Listen, it's a great learning experience," Reid said. "Sometimes if you get beat a couple different times and you're a young guy, you haven't quite figured out the answers to the test there on how to fix it. Your coach talks to you, and you've got to settle down. That happens, so you go back and you learn from it. Wanya will do the same. He did a nice job jumping in there, with the exception of penalties."

Coming into this weekend's outing, a lot was made of Suamataia's looming matchup against Trey Hendrickson. After all, the veteran pass rusher has logged double-digit sacks in three of his last four seasons and is fresh off the heels of a career-best 17.5-sack 2023 campaign. The Chiefs are firsthand witnesses to his dominance, so it didn't shock anyone – including Reid – that Hendrickson got the best of the rookie.

"Kingsley was going against, arguably, one of the best defensive ends in the league," Reid said. "It'll be a great experience he can put away and learn from. I ended up taking him out of the game. Sometimes, you've got to take a step back to take a step forward. Wanya (Morris) came in and did a nice job. Now he also had a penalty there, but very seldom are you going to get a guy like that (Hendrickson) right there that you're playing against. What you want to do is learn from it and move forward."

Suamataia's performance was poor all game, but his level of play seemed to dip near the halftime break. On Kansas City's final offensive possession of the second quarter, he lost on consecutive reps and the team punted. That bled into a rough second half, which featured a pair of offensive holding calls and an ugly sack surrendered down the stretch.

When asked whether Suamataia will start next weekend against the Atlanta Falcons, Reid was noncommittal.

"We'll see," Reid said. "We'll see how it goes. I'm going to go back and look at the tape and I'll talk with Coach (Andy) Heck and we'll go from there."

Given the Chiefs' investment in Suamataia, both with their draft pick and the subsequent time to develop him, it would be a minor surprise to see him head back to the bench so soon. Morris got beat out for the starting job this summer, and he was far from perfect in relief late in the fourth quarter. There are ways for Kansas City to help their rookie left tackle out, whether it be offering him chip help or fine-tuning a specific technical aspect of his game.

Reid doesn't seem worried, nor does quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Following Sunday's game, the two-time MVP gave his blindside protector a vote of confidence.

"Just keep playing, man," Mahomes said. "You're not always going to have your perfect day. I didn't have a perfect day today but just like any other great player, you have to trust in your abilities [and] you have to learn from it. You have to have that mentality [of] 'I'm going to come in and get better this next week.' I have all the trust in the world that he's going to keep getting better and better and be a guy I can really count on every single game."

Read More: Four Takeaways from the Kansas City Chiefs' 26-25 Win Over the Cincinnati Bengals