Reid full of praise for Chiefs hero Hunt
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid lauded Kareem Hunt's performance in the shock win over the New England Patriots, before insisting there is more to come from the rookie running back.
Third-round pick Hunt registered three touchdowns, having been stripped on his first NFL carry, as the Chiefs claimed a surprise 42-27 win over the Super Bowl champions in Thursday's season-opening game.
His 246 yards from scrimmage (17 carries for 148 yards and five receptions for 98 yards) represented a record for a player in his first NFL game.
Reid said of Hunt: "He's a load, he's talented and he's a smart kid, which helps at that position because that's a tough one.
"You have a lot of things to learn as a rookie coming in - I haven't had a lot of rookies start for me over the years.
"He can think on his feet and that's very important when we're asking you to run the football, but then we're asking you to pass block, and to run routes and you have to know all the blocking schemes up front and know how the line's going to handle each front. He spent the time learning how to do that. My hat's off to him.
"Again, he can be better. There's things that we'll look at and he'll look at and that he can grow from."
HAVE A DAY, @Kareemhunt7! #ChiefsKingdom #KCvsNE pic.twitter.com/d8grCluXzQ
— NFL (@NFL) September 8, 2017
The Patriots gave up two receptions of over 75 yards on Thursday as Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith connected on passes to Tyreek Hill and Hunt.
"Well I give it to Alex and the receivers," Reid added. "That doesn't happen a lot to this to team, to the Patriots, so it's a tribute to the guys for making it happen.
"Actually, Tyreek called the one that he ended up scoring on. He goes, 'I think I can get him on this one,' so we called it and he got him.
"As long as you can run the football, and our offensive line did a nice job of that, and throw the ball down the field, that's a tough balance for a defense to have to put together and defend."