{"id":1011291,"date":"2026-09-26T13:27:35","date_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:27:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1011291\/"},"modified":"2026-09-26T13:27:35","modified_gmt":"2026-09-26T13:27:35","slug":"chiefs-news-dolphins-young-defense-gearing-up-for-experienced-chiefs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/1011291\/","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs News: Dolphins\u2019 young defense gearing up for experienced Chiefs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Whether it\u2019s middle linebacker, safety or cornerback, Miami\u2019s top players on the depth chart are rookies. One of Miami\u2019s only veterans is a former fan favorite in Kansas City.<\/p>\n<p>Chiefs Kingdom, bring the noise to the SB Nation app!<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Join fellow Chiefs fans to react to every explosive play and game-changing moment in real time.<\/p>\n<p>Chat live throughout the gameBrowse with fewer adsEasily jump between communitiesEnjoy faster commenting and posting<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup duet--article--standard-paragraph _1upudxki _174s0un1 _174s0un0 _1mt21p01\">Download the SB Nation app on your mobile device! For Apple devices, <a href=\"https:\/\/apps.apple.com\/us\/app\/sb-nation\/id6789240983\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a>. For Android devices, <a href=\"https:\/\/go.skimresources.com\/?id=87443X1797504&amp;xs=1&amp;url=https%3A%2F%2Fplay.google.com%2Fstore%2Fapps%2Fdetails%3Fid%3Dcom.sbnation.app%26referrer%3Dutm_source%253Dlinks%2526utm_campaign%253Dinternal_daily_links\" rel=\"sponsored nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\">click here<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The latest Kansas City Chiefs news<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">Wille Gay Jr. knows a little something, something about the Kansas City Chiefs.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">After all, the linebacker spent the first four years of career on the other side of one of the most feared trios of the last decade, namely coach Andy Reid, quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Travis Kelce.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">So as the Dolphins prepare to take on one of the most feared offenses of late, Gay has been a reality check of sorts, reminding this young team that mere mortals \u2014 not these larger-than-life football gods \u2014 as well as the importance of communication.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">Chiefs running backs coach DeMarco Murray, who knows something about being a bell cow running back in the NFL, said they need to strike a better balance between the two backs in the future.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">\u201cI want Kenneth to get into a groove, and it\u2019s hard to kind of take him out,\u201d Murray said. \u201cBut Emmett\u2019s done a great job and he\u2019s still learning. He\u2019ll continue to get more opportunities. I\u2019ve just got to pull the trigger and get No. 9 [Walker] out of there and put No. 10 [Johnson] in there.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">\u201cYeah, for sure, more comfortable (it\u2019s been) 12 months now,\u201d said Williams. \u201cI was a fresh rookie, and now I\u2019ve got more games under my belt, and I\u2019m getting more comfortable every day, every year. Still got to climb; there\u2019s still gonna be ups and downs. I plan on getting better and better in my craft.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">Williams finished his rookie season last year with 48 total tackles and seven pass deflections in 17 games. He played more late in the 2025 campaign after the Chiefs were ruled out of playoff contention.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">Taking place on Friday 2 (3 -10 p.m.) and Saturday 3 October 2026 (1 &#8211; 10 p.m.) at Market Place Food Hall, Leicester Square, Chiefs House London will bring the energy and atmosphere of Kansas City to one of London\u2019s most iconic locations.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">Chiefs House is open to everyone, whether you\u2019re a dedicated NFL fan, new to American Football or simply fancy experiencing something a little different in London.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">Attendees can expect an event inspired by the culture and excitement surrounding the Chiefs and the NFL, while enjoying the lively setting of Market Place Food Hall in the centre of the West End.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">\u201cIt\u2019s very rewarding,\u201d Rice said. \u201cI kind of feel like not necessarily an O-lineman, but now I understand what it feels like to make a great block and not necessarily hear your name get called on the touchdown or anything like that.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">\u201cBut it\u2019s just knowing that you did your job to help the team and to progress down the field, or even score a touchdown. It feels real good.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">There\u2019s another benefit to taking an aggressive approach to blocking.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">\u201cIf you\u2019re going out there to block, a (defensive back) won\u2019t know if you\u2019re blocking or running the route,\u201d Thornton said. \u201cSo it could help you out in more ways.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">Chubb, 30, announced his retirement in August after eight NFL seasons, the first seven of which were spent with the Browns. A reserved but revered player who earned the respect of his teammates, coaches and opponents through his work ethic and dedication, Chubb will be honored at the Browns\u2019 home opener Sunday.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">\u201cIt\u2019s great to be back. Cleveland is where my journey started, and this is where it\u2019s going to end today,\u201d Chubb said during a news conference.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">Injured in his team\u2019s season-opening win over the New England Patriots, Darnold is back, pushing backup Drew Lock, who performed admirably in the starter\u2019s stead, back to the sideline.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">Darnold had returned to practice this week and was trending in the right way, going from a limited participant on Wednesday to fully practicing Thursday. Coach Mike Macdonald said he\u2019d make the call about Darnold\u2019s availability by Friday, and the call was a positive one.<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">\u201cYeah, that\u2019s pretty tough,\u201d Kraft said. \u201cLike, everyone pictures Lambeau Field and not boos. I don\u2019t picture boos. I picture my home stadium. That\u2019s tough. It\u2019s pretty disappointing \u2026 especially for a home opener. It\u2019s pretty disappointing. It\u2019s not going to help us win. I don\u2019t know what people think \u2014 that\u2019s going to rally us or something like that. \u2026<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">\u201cWe\u2019re grown men. We\u2019re mentally strong enough, capable enough to get back on the field and play ball. But it\u2019d probably be much easier with the 70,000 people behind us rather than opposing us.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In case you missed it on Arrowhead Pride<\/p>\n<p class=\"duet--article--dangerously-set-cms-markup _1bij9g79 _1bij9g78 _1mt21p01\">His 6.6 yards per target is through his first 33 career regular season games ranks 51st among that group. The only other first-round wide receivers over that stretch to average fewer than 7 yards per reception through 33 career regular season games are Kevin White, Garrett Wilson, Josh Doctson, A.J. Jenkins, Nelson Agholor, John Ross, Kadarius Toney, Jalen Reagor, Xavier Leggette, Breshad Perriman, Cordarreelle Patterson, Tavon Austin, N\u2019Keal Harry, Laquon Treadwell, Corey Coleman and Jonathan Baldwin.<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arrowheadpride.com\/games\/in-5\/09-24-2026\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/sbnation.com\/users\/B4CEh85ijX\/Joel%20Thorman\" class=\"_1tkg4tn7\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><img alt=\"Joel Thorman\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1tkg4tn5 _8s7ip80\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/09\/headshot.jpg\"\/><\/a><img alt=\"Arrowhead Pride\" data-chromatic=\"ignore\" loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" data-nimg=\"fill\" class=\"_1tkg4tn4 _8s7ip80\" style=\"position:absolute;height:100%;width:100%;left:0;top:0;right:0;bottom:0;color:transparent;background-size:cover;background-position:50% 50%;background-repeat:no-repeat;background-image:url(&quot;data:image\/svg+xml;charset=utf-8,%3Csvg xmlns='http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg' %3E%3Cfilter id='b' color-interpolation-filters='sRGB'%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3CfeColorMatrix values='1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 0 100 -1' result='s'\/%3E%3CfeFlood x='0' y='0' width='100%25' height='100%25'\/%3E%3CfeComposite operator='out' in='s'\/%3E%3CfeComposite in2='SourceGraphic'\/%3E%3CfeGaussianBlur stdDeviation='20'\/%3E%3C\/filter%3E%3Cimage width='100%25' height='100%25' x='0' y='0' preserveAspectRatio='none' style='filter: url(%23b);' href='data:image\/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAAEAAAABCAQAAAC1HAwCAAAAC0lEQVR42mN8+R8AAtcB6oaHtZcAAAAASUVORK5CYII='\/%3E%3C\/svg%3E&quot;)\"   src=\"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/05\/logo-arrowheadpride.png\"\/><a href=\"https:\/\/www.arrowheadpride.com\/post\/PzyvlnLGg2PB\" class=\"kbjb0s3\" aria-label=\"View full post: The last time the Chiefs had a kick or punt return TD\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\"><\/p>\n<p class=\"_1mg4q2a1 _1mg4q2a0\">The last time the Chiefs had a kick or punt return TD<\/p>\n<p><\/a><\/p>\n<p>Can this be right? Dang. I miss the days of electrifying returns, I certainly took it for granted with Dante and then Tyreek. How about Miami this weekend to end the streak? <\/p>\n<p>Rec 1CommentsThin Stroke Comment Icon BubbleReplyRead 32 replies<\/p>\n<p>Follow Arrowhead Pride on Social Media<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Whether it\u2019s middle linebacker, safety or cornerback, Miami\u2019s top players on the depth chart are rookies. One of&hellip;\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1011292,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2049],"tags":[6190,217,7,922,216,251,2087,6],"class_list":["post-1011291","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-miami-dolphins","tag-arrowheadlines","tag-dolphins","tag-football","tag-kansas-city-chiefs-news","tag-miami","tag-miami-dolphins","tag-miamidolphins","tag-nfl"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/channels.im\/@nfl\/117337577809074567","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011291","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1011291"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1011291\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1011292"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1011291"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1011291"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nfl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1011291"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}