INDIANAPOLIS -- Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid recognized Nick Foles as the quarterback who played for him with the Philadelphia Eagles late in the first quarter of Sunday’s game against the Indianapolis Colts when he threw deep down the middle for a 49-yard gain to Tyreek Hill.
Playing for the Kansas City Chiefs in relief of the injured Alex Smith, Foles completed three more passes of 28 yards or more in the 30-14 win.
"He wasn’t shy," Reid said with a smile, "about slinging it around."
Foles, who was 16-of-22 for 223 yards and two touchdowns, will start for the Chiefs against the Jacksonville Jaguars Sunday at Arrowhead Stadium. Smith, who the team has determined does not have a concussion, is still on the mend from injuries sustained against the Colts.
Smith will practice this week but just on the scout team. He won't be active Sunday, and Tyler Bray will be the No. 2 quarterback behind Foles.
"Everything is positive,'' Reid said of Smith. "I just think it's important to just step back here an inch, just take a peek and see how he does this week.''
The Chiefs have nothing to fear in starting Foles. Not only was the transition to Foles seamless Sunday, but he outplayed Smith, who was 9-of-19 for 127 yards and one touchdown.
"I don’t think anybody blinked an eye," said wide receiver Jeremy Maclin, who played with Foles for a time with the Eagles. "He is a guy that everyone knows likes to throw the ball down the field."
The Chiefs cut nothing from their game plan when Foles entered the game. They didn’t have to. Foles joined the Chiefs during training camp but had a head start on learning the offense because of his one season playing for Reid with the Eagles as a rookie in 2012.
"He had pretty good numbers," Reid said. "He’s got a pretty good feel for the offense. He’s been in it before. You know that he will have studied it and he’s prepared for the game. He understands how to go about doing that. And he’s been a Pro Bowl player before. He’s a pretty good football player."
The Chiefs signed Foles after he was released by the Los Angeles Rams because of concern over their backup quarterback situation. They hadn’t needed him until Sunday, when he entered the game twice, once in the first quarter after Smith was checked for a concussion and again in the third quarter after Smith was knocked out of the game for good.
"Going in there, there’s definitely emotions," Foles said. "But [the job is to] just run the offense. Coach calls the game. We study together, we go through things together."
Having to go into a game on two different occasions can be distracting, but Foles was solid. He was 6-of-9 for 85 yards and a touchdown in the first half and 10-of-13 for 138 yards and a touchdown afterward.
His play left no doubt that despite a couple of months of game inaction since the end of the preseason, Foles prepared himself well.
"I get to watch Alex Smith practice every single day and watch him, the way he studies, the way he play the game, the way he practices, the way he does everything," Foles said. "I’ve built a database right there where I get to watch one of the best in the game do it every single day.
"You’re staying in tune. If you’re playing or not, always stay in the game, always get those mental reps so that way when Alex comes over we can talk about it. As a backup you have to always stay that way. If you let that slip and you get in the game and you weren’t prepared, it’s usually not a good thing."
