The Kansas City Chiefs have no choice but to stick with Eric Fisher, their struggling left tackle. But coach Andy Reid sounded as if the Chiefs would stand by Fisher even if they had a decent alternative.
Reid gave a vote of confidence to Fisher, who had offseason surgery to repair a balky shoulder and hasn’t played well in either of the two preseason games.
“Any time you’re coming off a significant injury, I think you’ve got to continue to battle through and that’s what this preseason has been for him,’’ Reid said. “He’s coming off of shoulder surgery. You saw how he started the game. He started off like gangbusters. As that arm gets tired he has a tendency to not shoot it quite as fast as he would when it’s fresh. I’m not even sure he’s conscious of that.
“You work through it. The more you play and the more you keep working your fundamentals, the more consistent you become and eventually it will be for four quarters.’’
The entire offensive line didn’t play well in Sunday night’s loss to the Carolina Panthers. Quarterback Alex Smith, who played the first half, took several big hits.
The Chiefs lost three regulars from last year’s line. This year’s starters are mostly inexperienced. Left guard Jeff Allen has the most career NFL starts with 27, followed by center Rodney Hudson (19), right tackle Donald Stephenson (14) and Fisher (13). Rookie Zach Fulton, a sixth-round draft pick, is the starting right guard.
This group needs all the preseason playing time it can get. Reid would be wise to give it to them, starting with Saturday night’s game against the Minnesota Vikings at Arrowhead Stadium. It sounded like that's what he plans to do.
“We’re going to test them,’’ Reid said. “We’re going to throw the football. We’re going to run the ball. We’ve got a young offensive line. We’ve got to learn. We’re going to feed them the things they need to get better at. We’re not hiding that part of it. We know they’re going to get better with practice.’’