Here’s what Kansas City Chiefs’ Dave Toub said about Justin Reid’s kicking range

What started out as an exploration of sorts during training camp and the first preseason game with safety Justin Reid is now a reality for the Kansas City Chiefs.

Reid is indeed their emergency kicker.

With Harrison Butker dealing with a left ankle injury in the first quarter of the Chiefs’ 44-21 season-opening win against the Arizona Cardinals, the Chiefs called on Reid after the second touchdown of the game.

Reid responded with a made extra point.

“This guy does have a lot of talent; it’s real,” Chiefs special teams coordinator Dave Toub said Monday. “It’s real and he did it. It’s unbelievable, but it’s impressive, as well.”

Butker, who had a clear limp, eventually returned to the game to handle extra points and field goals, but not before Reid missed an extra point on the Chiefs’ third touchdown.

The Chiefs also didn’t allow Reid to attempt a 54-yard field goal, which Butker made with one step as the first half ended. The safety, though, assumed responsibilities for kickoffs, where he excelled.

Of Reid’s six kickoffs, five went for touchbacks.

“It’s something you normally don’t see, but he’s got talent,” Toub said. “He played soccer when he was younger, so he understands the motion of it and where the ball is supposed to be placed on his foot.”

The Chiefs are dealing with a short week of preparations before hosting the Los Angeles Chargers on Thursday Night Football at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium. And with no practice Monday, the only on-field work occurs Tuesday.

Whether Butker is at full strength for Thursday night’s matchup remains to be seen, but the Chiefs officially have a Plan B with Reid if they need to look elsewhere.

The alternate course of action, however, won’t come with Butker’s incredible range from long distance.

“I told (head coach) Andy (Reid) during the game if we had to keep going with (Justin Reid), I thought if we got the ball to the 25-yard line, we’d be good with him, which would be a 43-yarder or so,” Toub said. “That’s as far back as I’d want to take him.

“That’s why there was no thought in letting him hit that long one. If we didn’t have Butker at that time, if we didn’t think we had Butker, we probably would’ve just went for it right there. I think that’s a little bit too far out of his range, realistically.”