Mitch Morse: “It was a tough time for me last year”
By Matt Conner
Mitch Morse recently spoke to the media on Tuesday about his year lost to injury and how he got through it with the help from the Chiefs staff.
Mitch Morse is ready to turn the page.
The last year has been one to largely forget for the Kansas City Chiefs starting center, save for the lessons learned and the supportive community found within the organization. With a serious foot injury that forced him to miss the majority of the season, Morse is now feeling “great” and sounds ready to get down to business with his teammates along the offensive line.
Last year, Morse looked great out of the gate in a season-opening win against the New England Patriots. The Chiefs offense was operating at another level entirely and Morse was anchoring a line that had their way with the defending Super Bowl champions. However the tide turned in Week 2 when he was injured against the Philadelphia Eagles. He described the injury when he spoke to the media during Tuesday’s practice of training camp:
"“I don’t know if you have seen Fletcher Cox but he is a giant human. I took a bull rush and, I thought it was my ankle at first, I went out on a screen and I just felt it pop and kind of go. It just happens, man. It is part of the gig.”"
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At first, Morse didn’t require surgery but Morse said he went ahead and had it this offseason when he was unable to return to form during the regular season.
"It was a tough time for me last year. The year before I had seen guys like Larry (Duvernay-Tardif) and (Mitchell) Schwartz tough through these injuries. I wanted to get back to my team and get out there. But structurally it just wasn’t there. It was completely blown out."
Morse now says he’s ready to get back into game shape with the rest of the offensive line. He says there is “still a little bit to go,” but it sounds as if he’s going to be ready when it counts the most which pushes Cam Erving back into a versatile back-up role a la Zach Fulton.
"Now it feels great, we are progressing. Still a little bit to go. We are in a great place where I can practice comfortably. Just getting back out there and working football stuff with Pat (Mahomes) and the other quarterbacks and running backs and the other offensive linemen."
If Morse can settle back into the starter’s role from the outset, it will go a long way toward making Patrick Mahomes’s transition to full-time starting quarterback that much easier, especially as they play such difficult defenses starting in Week 1 with the Los Angeles Chargers.