Inexperienced WR Robinson works on communication

Oct 18, 2017 - 12:56 AM KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Demarcus Robinson made his first NFL start Sunday against the Pittsburgh Steelers, and with the game on the line late in the game, Alex Smith fired a pass his direction that could set the Chiefs up for a game-winning touchdown.

The deep pass from Smith sailed just beyond Robinson's grasp.

"Just a miscommunication," Robinson said. "It was a mental error on my part."

The Chiefs offense helped the team roll through the first five weeks of the season to an unbeaten record due in large part to Smith and his connection with a young group of receivers. Now with injuries reducing the number of targets with whom he is more familiar, Smith finds himself recalibrating his timing working with backup receivers such as Robinson.

"Games are always a little different, game speed, all that stuff, you can't totally always get that rehearsed," Smith said. "Especially in-season practices it's not quite the same. There's going to be a growing process between him and I as we just kind of continue to communicate."

The Chiefs played the Steelers without two of their most experienced receivers. Chris Conley is out for the season with a ruptured Achilles tendon and Albert Wilson was a late scratch with a sprained knee.

The loss of Wilson may have meant more than his numbers illustrate. Wilson caught 16 passes for 158 yards and a touchdown through the first five games of the season. But the team utilizes Wilson's speed and stamina to set up their pre-snap motion and run jet-sweep plays proven most effective early in the season.

Now Smith finds himself working with Robinson as a nearly every-down receiver. The second-year speedster from Florida played 49 of the team's 54 offensive snaps Sunday. He played just 38 offensive snaps in his career prior to Sunday.

Smith says timing is a factor, but also so is reading coverages and adjusting routes based on what the defense presents.

"The line on the paper could say this, but there's so many little subtleties depending on what they present that those could all change," Smith said. "I think it's understanding all that stuff on the fly."

Smith, however, sees plenty of potential in the 6-foot-1, 203-pound fourth-round pick in the 2016 draft.

"I thought he did a great job," Smith said. "I think he's a guy that it's not too big for him out there. I think he's got a ton of potential, a ton of ability, so just kind of continuing I think to work on that communication."

Robinson believes with more playing time he will grow in the position.

"I think it's just getting more game reps with each other (at) game speed, and know how and where players are going to be in a certain position," Robinson said.

One thing the Chiefs do not have this week, however, is time. With a road trip to the West Coast looming on Thursday to face the Oakland Raiders, the Chiefs conducted just one light outdoor practice on Tuesday afternoon. That's hardly the right environment to work on timing and communication, according to head coach Andy Reid.

"It's more mental, picking up everything you need picked up with a limited amount of fast reps," Reid said. "It's not your normal week of practice. You take a lot of mental reps there."

SERIES HISTORY: 114th regular-season meeting. Chiefs lead series, 60-51-2. The Chiefs own a five-game win streak over the Raiders and head coach Andy Reid owns a 7-1 record against Oakland since arriving in Kansas City in 2013. The Chiefs won at Oakland last season 26-10, with defensive tackle Dontari Poe scoring a 1-yard touchdown run on a lateral from Alex Smith. Kansas City completed the season sweep with a 21-13 win at home behind two touchdowns from Tyreek Hill, a 36-yard touchdown reception and a 78-yard punt return. The Raiders have dropped their last four games, including home losses the last two weeks to Baltimore and the Los Angeles Chargers.