KANSAS CITY, Mo. (AP) — Kenneth Walker is quiet by nature, so you would never know by talking to the Kansas City Chiefs running back that he is about to return to Seattle, where he helped the Seahawks win the Super Bowl just last season.
Better leave it to his current coach, Andy Reid, and Walker's teammates to talk about Sunday night's highly anticipated showdown.
“I know it's going to be a special moment for him to get back to the place where you
kind of built your career, and won a Super Bowl,” Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes said Wednesday. "Those fans were the people around him for all that. A lot of those people were teammates he grew up with as well in the NFL. It will be a special moment for him.
“But at the end of the day,” Mahomes added, “we have to win a football game.”
Walker knows that as well as anyone. That might be another reason why he sidestepped a question, just like he's been avoiding those big defensive tackles, when he was asked about his return to Seattle after the Chiefs' 22-6 win over the Chargers last weekend.
“I'm just focused on critiquing the mistakes we made,” Walker said. “Once we get to that point, we'll see.”
That point is nearly here.
Few free agents have made the kind of splash Walker has with Kansas City this season. He leads the NFL with 665 yards rushing, even though he's appeared in one game fewer than a lot of guys by virtue of the Chiefs' early bye. He's averaging 6.3 yards per attempt, half a yard better than the Falcons' Bijan Robinson, who is No. 2 among running backs. And his six touchdown runs are two back of the NFL's leader, Buffalo quarterback Josh Allen, and one behind the league's leading running backs.
The most important number: Walker has helped the Chiefs start 5-0, making them one of the NFL's final three unbeatens.
He was picked by Seattle in the second round of the 2022 draft, but for most his career, Walker shared duties in the backfield with Zach Charbonnet, whom the Seahawks picked in the second round the following year. It wasn't until Charbonnet hurt his knee late last season, and Walker became their singular feature back, that folks really got a glimpse of what he could do.
Walker ran for 116 yards and three touchdowns in a rout of the 49ers to start the playoffs. He ran for another score in the next round against the Rams. And in the Super Bowl, Walker rumbled for 135 yards against New England on his way to MVP honors.
“He's wired to do it,” Reid said of Walker's return to Seattle. “When you're on a team, everybody knows your strengths and weaknesses and quirks and everything. I think the boys there will try to get after him a little bit. But he's a pretty level-headed guy. The way he plays, you're going to get a good rep when he gets the ball in his hands. He kind of has one speed: He's coming at you. It doesn't matter who he's playing or where he's playing.”
That might be true. But there is still something special about facing your former team, said Kansas City linebacker Drue Tranquill, who gets to do it twice a season; he spent his first four seasons with the Chargers, the Chiefs' rival in the AFC West.
“You're emotions are higher," Tranquill said. There's something a little more edgy to facing your former team. At least, it was that way for me, and I'm sure he has a little chip on his shoulder, too. It will be a little hostile. I'm sure he'll love it.”
Notes: RT Jaylon Moore (concussion) and WR Rashee Rice (hamstring) did not practice Wednesday. LT Josh Simmons (back) was back at practice, though it remains unclear when he will make his season debut. ... Reid expressed his continued confidence in K Harrison Butker, who missed another FG attempt and PAT last week. He's missed three FGs this season after missing five last season. “We have confidence he'll work through it,” Reid said. “He's still doing some good things. He has a strong leg. He'll work it out.”
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