The Kansas City Chiefs have had a unique solution for their injury woes this year.

When wide receiver Hollywood Brown went down with a shoulder injury, they signed JuJu Smith-Schuster to take his place – who spent the 2022 season in K.C.

Then, running back Isiah Pacheco injured his foot, prompting the Chiefs to bring back Kareem Hunt to take his place. Hunt was drafted by the Chiefs in 2017 before getting released midway through the 2018 season.

Familiarity is obviously something that the Chiefs very much value. Even if they don’t appear to be the same caliber of player, the K.C. coaching staff believes it can get the best version of them.

And so far, that has been proven true. Hunt has 202 total yards through two games with the Chiefs, and Smith-Schuster recorded 130 receiving yards against the New Orleans Saints in Week 5.

After beating the Saints on Monday night, quarterback Patrick Mahomes was asked why he thinks the team has been able to plug guys back in so quickly and get productive results.

“I think it’s a credit to not only the guys and how hard they work, but (Head) Coach (Andy) Reid and just knowing their skill sets and how to put them in great positions,” Mahomes said. “I mean, Kareem (Hunt) just runs extremely hard.

He gets every yard out there – (he) catches the ball (and) does whatever it takes in order to go out there and win.

Then JuJu (Smith-Schuster), even when he wasn’t getting as many reps, he was in the playbook, he was learning the things that he had lost over one year, but y’all saw him two years ago.

He fits in well in this offense and so he did a great job today. It was cool to get those guys going and then the step up and it’s going to be like that until we start getting some of these guys back, it’s going to be everybody’s going to have to step up and make plays.”

It’s a tribute to the Chiefs’ coaching staff for being able to get the most out of their players and making them feel comfortable while with the team. Many people wrote off Hunt and Smith-Schuster, and now they’re two of the biggest contributors on the best team in the NFL.

Just last year, the Chiefs decided to bring back receiver Mecole Hardman after he spent half of a season with New York Jets. Hardman made two huge catches in Super Bowl LVIII – including a 52-yard grab and the game-winning touchdown reception in overtime.

The Chiefs have set a precedent that if a player works hard and produces, they will always have a spot for them.