Kansas City Chiefs left tackle Eric Fisher did not have a great outing in Sunday night's 28-16 loss to the Carolina Panthers.
Fisher was pushed around by Greg Hardy, who blew by the lineman on one occasion to make a big tackle for loss. He was also beaten by role player Wes Horton for a big hit on Alex Smith. Those struggles were part of the reason Smith was constantly under siege. A holding penalty against the second-year player didn't help matters.
However, on Monday Andy Reid defended his offensive lineman, saying the transition to the left side has been compounded by Fisher's recovery from shoulder surgery.
"Any time you're coming off a significant injury, you've got to continue to battle through," Reid said, per The Kansas City Star. "That's what this preseason has been for him. He's coming off shoulder surgery.
"You saw how he started the game -- he started like gangbusters and then that arm gets tired and he has a tendency to not shoot it quite as fast as when he would when it's fresh. I'm not even sure he's conscious of that but you see that with players coming off knees, it's the same thing. As the game goes on, they don't plant off it quite as well as they do early in the game. "
In Reid's view, the more reps Fisher receives, and the further removed from surgery he gets, the more he'll improve.
The Chiefs need that statment to be true, as they've invested a lot in Fisher being their left tackle of the future. If any other No. 1 overall pick struggled as he has, there would be a much bigger outcry.
The latest "Around the League Podcast" talks quarterback battles and debates the gang's preseason power rankings.
