Is he coming back or are we just bitching to bitch like in the Clyde thread?

So not likely to play this week either. Yeah think it's time to stop counting this guy to come in and make a huge difference

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Chiefs head coach Andy Reid says LB Willie Gay is returning to practice today. <a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/ChiefsKingdom?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#ChiefsKingdom</a></p>&mdash; Rob Collins (@RCFOX4KC) <a href="https://twitter.com/RCFOX4KC/status/1445793753613193216?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

And then he didn't practice

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Clearing up any confusion on why Chiefs LB Willie Gay Jr. is not listed on injury report. Remember, he is still on injured reserve. The &#39;return to practice&#39; designation opens a 21-day window for Chiefs to evaluate him and make a decision whether to activate him off IR to the 53.</p>&mdash; Herbie Teope (@HerbieTeope) <a href="https://twitter.com/HerbieTeope/status/1445870219084324867?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

Afterwards he will be day-to-day.

:harumph:

Actually he had a full practice today according to Matt Verderame on twitter..Chiefs don't need to put him on the injury report until he's fully activated.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Should clarify on Gay: he did practice today, but because he hasn&#39;t been activated yet, he&#39;s not on the list. My apologies if that wasn&#39;t clear <a href="https://t.co/bnVTWjvFWz">https://t.co/bnVTWjvFWz</a></p>&mdash; Matt Verderame (@MattVerderame) <a href="https://twitter.com/MattVerderame/status/1445868896515497990?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 6, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

This dude is becoming the beast we were hearing about in preseason.

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Willie Gay makes a couple of very very sweet plays in this. Love hearing DJ and DeVito get into the nitty gritty about playing their positions.

Nick Bolton is really good.

I BET YOU GUYS FEEL STUPID FOR NOT SUCKING THIS GUYS DICK LIKE I DID ALL YEAR HAHAHA IDIOTS!

Man, it is nice to see a LB out there making plays in the playoffs. We’ve been missing that since DJ.

Another Veach win

Nick Bolton and Willie Gay are studs.

If we keep hitting on players like that in the draft, we should be set.

Play Gay and Bolton all the snaps

I don't know if it's obvious, but he is the team's biggest cheerleader. The guy is on the sidelines trying to endlessly get the crowd involved. He watches the game like an enthusiastic fan. He's like Chris Jones on steroids.

I'm such a huge fan of his energy. And god damnit, he's so athletic. As he evolves and processes better, he's going to be even more of a beast than he already is.

It makes you wonder what his mental issues were early on? Just overwhelmed and away from home? It seems like he’s liked by the other players.

Yep, I noticed someone on the sidelines on 3rd down early on jumping and waving his arms around to hype up the crowd and noticed it was Gay.

I thought it was cool but then remembered that we consistently take our fastest LB off the field on 3rd downs and replace him with Ben Neimann.. I still do not understand that decision.

My favorite thing about Gay is that even though he was drafted to be a modern NFL linebacker with his range and speed, he hits like a LB from the 1980's.

One good pop from Gay and the other team could be down a player.

I want to see more Gay as the extra blitz guy this week. Send him at Allen.

I just want to see them in the nickel with Bolton and Gay on the shit and the tackle missing shithead twins on the sidelines.

Gay needs to be the Allen spy.

No doubt about it

I don't know man....I say let Sorenson do it so he won't be stuck in coverage....but then maybe Allen jukes Sorenson and goes for a 40+ run.

I don’t think Sorensen can tackle him in the open field

Sorenson is too slow and not physical enough to handle Allen in the open field.

I am not a huge Sorenson fan, but he plays his best within 5 yards of the line of scrimmage. Not saying someone couldn't play better, just saying when he gets beyond the 5 yards his effectiveness diminishes rapidly. If we are going to play him, play him where he is the most effective.

Because he's a dime LB at this point of his career.

I’m hoping for big success from Willie Gay this year!

It's going to 110% depend on his ability to stay healthy. IMO, he's already a good player and you can see the difference on the field when he's not available.

But he's never going to be a "big success" until he can play 17 games.

Of course.
But he comes screaming thru the line in week 4 and sack smashes Tommy Boy into early retirement, he goes straight into the Ring of Honor!

I’d be good with him and Bolton making a Brady sandwich.

i don't want this to be a good reason to have drafted Chenal, but I definitely feel better knowing that it ain't Ben Niemann first off the bench.

"Here Tom, these are the Bucs throwback unis you'll be wearing for this game."

"Is... is that... a vacuum cleaner?"

"No, it's Bucco Bruce. Just put it on."

This guy is like a cross between Derrick Brooks and Jack Ham!

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet"><p lang="en" dir="ltr"><a href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/Chiefs?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">#Chiefs</a> Willie Gay shares his mental health journey: &quot;Coming to the NFL, people think everything&#39;s perfect because you got a little money or you play on Sundays.&quot; <a href="https://t.co/efrYhvzde8">pic.twitter.com/efrYhvzde8</a></p>&mdash; Aaron Ladd (@aaronladd0) <a href="https://twitter.com/aaronladd0/status/1454519649299730440?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">October 30, 2021</a></blockquote> <script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>

I did my residency at Childrens Mercy in the 90’s. Was one of the best in the country. A kid that young could die any day, any time. No matter the level of care. That ways on a parent. I don’t care how tough you are. Your son could die at any minute…. It effects everyone.

Lol you're talented man. How did you manage to make what Willie was talking about and make it about you?

I am really happy for Gay. He went through a rough stretch and made it back to his team.

The guy is a warrior and should have a huge year for us.

I was worried about you. You hadn't patted yourself on the back in awhile. I'm glad you're back to normal.

*Weighs on a parent.

Our LB crew is going to be amazing.

All mobile QBs that think they can gain easy yards by tucking it and running are going to be out on notice early and often next year with these LBs.

All 3 can end your day with one clean hit.

I’m looking forward to the same….having our LB crew discourage running QB’s from taking off.

Maybe Brian Cook will get some licks in too..

Is there a better candidate for potential breakout star?

He just needs to stay healthy

He was looking dominant last year before that stupid turf toe.

I got turf toe right about the same time when I stumbled forward doing a squat. I can still feel it and my big toe knuckle is always red and swollen after hiking. That shit takes a long long time to go away.

I think this year he becomes a household name. Fingers crossed forno injuries, because that's the only thing that can hold him back.

All-pro if he stays health all season. Unless he gets "Creed Humphrey'd" from the all-pro list.

He just needs to stay away from vacuum cleaners.

He's a fun out going personality that's going to make him a fan favorite on top of his play making ability.

Man, I'll just spot him a couple. Here ya go, buddy! Let it all out!

Missed tackle aside, dude had a really good game. His speed and athleticism really pop.

He straight whiffed that tackle for ahuge ooss and allowed a first down.

Made me sick to my stomach.

But outside of that play, he had himself a pretty good game.

I hope to God he cleans that shit up and becomes a 100% reliable tackler. We need that from him and the rest of the LB corps this season. But as a leader, he needs to be a sure tackler before all else.

I think he will. The tape is going to look REALLY good outside of those badly missed tackles.

He had a nice night, except for the previously mentioned whiffs. Got to clean that up. :thumb:

I thought he was a mixed bag, which you'd expect from a young guy going up against a good offense.

Great thing about Gay is when he looks good, he's ****ing great.

Plus, I believe it was his pressure that forced the Herbert pick-6.

I thought he was money in the first half then came out shaky in the third. Then got back on track mostly. If he makes the back field tackles, hes on pace for all pro this year.

We've come a long way from the days of Hitchens, Ragland, and Terrance Smith.

Missed tackle and dropped INT to seal the game but yeah his good plays outweighed the bad with flashes of great. Sky is the limit for him.

just some overpursuit and over-aggressiveness in general all game long. That's alright, it's correctable. But his size and speed just jump off the screen. He's going to be a good one.

He plays with alot of passion which gets him to amped at times.

Throttle down a bit when you get there and make the tackle.

He absolutely flys around. I love it. I wonder if a little of it wasnt just prime time jitters.

Saw a tweet saying he was targeted 14 times and gave up 13 completions. Seems not great. He does fly all over the field.

The light is coming on for Willie Gay, he's about to become a big time player.

He's kind of got a case of the whiffies right now but i imagine it won't take much for him to clean that up.

Dude was a monster. He's going to tighten up the tackling and be even more of a monster. No concern whatsoever.

Meh, a check down out of the backfield is likely to be completed, even if it's for a minimal gain.

I think he's slowly becoming the energy of the defense as well. No more of this Frank Clark faux swagger bullshit (seriously, just watching him walk around annoys me; dude is out there sauntering like billy badass - watch it from Arrowhead next time - I hate this guy so much).

Instead Gay is out there firing up his teammates. He's getting charged up in the huddle and between plays. He's gearing his guys up and playing HARD and fast. Bolton is the intellectual center of the defense but Gay may well be its heart.

When he's playing fast, it rubs off. Now I feel like Jones sack finally put them to another level, but even in that first half when they were clearly on their heels - they did just enough to stay in the game and that was largely because Gay kept them fired up, IMO.

I'd be shocked if they can afford to do it, but man I'd love to see those 2 guys patrol the middle of this defense for another 6-8 years and put themselves in the ring of honor. They're just so incredibly complementary.

:clap:

Sure - I'd like to see him clean that up. We all would.

But what if that comes at the cost of the energy? What if breaking down and making some of those tackles means he's not out there playing with his hair on fire?

I'm not saying 'sound' and 'fast' are mutually exclusive...but they might be. That's just how it goes sometimes.

So if you can have a guy who plays at 90% of that intensity level but is more sound in his technique or you can keep this guy, which would you prefer?

Honestly, given my druthers, I'd take the current version of Gay over that hypothetical one. Because again - Bolton's here. Nick can be the steady, dependable, drop you when he gets his hand on you player. But I want guys nervous when Gay's on the field because sure - maybe you can make him miss, but if you don't he's gonna drive himself through your spine.

I don't want to worry so much about filing his horns that we take the bull out of him in the process.

That’s what makes Bolton better than Gay IMO. Willie is more athletic. It’s really not close. But Bolton is like a Jack of all trades. He’s good at everything. It’s amazing how reliable and smart he is.

Willie has potential but he makes a lot of mental errors like that whiffed tackle that was a 25 yard swing. He’s got potential but needs to clean that up

I just don't see either as better. They're just really different.

Bolton simply doesn't have a weakness. He's a 4-pitch pitcher with good command but no wipeout putaway pitch. Gay is a guy who has 4 pitches; his changeup and curve suck but the fastball/slider combo is hell on wheels.

So don't try to make Gay waste time/energy getting beat with his curveball and don't expect Bolton to get his fastball to Gay's level. Let them be who they are and lean into their respective strengths without saying that one of them is inherently 'better' than the other.

Because I think both of them make the other guy better. Neither one of them will be as good without the other guy but either of them could be equally good for any given team depending on the needs of that team.

Gonna bump a previous post in this thread to make my point a bit:

If you spend so much time telling Willie Gay that he needs to come in under control and make sure he never gets put in the spin cycle, you're gonna lose this kind of reckless abandon, IMO. You can't have a thought in your head to blow a play apart like that other than "See run fit, kill run fit - hope ballcarrier is there when I'm done" He's not looking around the G to find the ballcarrier. He's not going Derrick Johnson out there and looking to knife the gap. He's looking to find a mother****er and hit him. He has his eyes on his target from the moment the ball is snapped and smokes him. Then after he stops the guy, he finds someone else and suddenly he's wrecked an entire gap precisely BECAUSE he's just playing downhill.

Let the guy play at 100 mph - it's what makes him so appealing and what makes him so damn nasty to play against.

Let Bolton do the cipherin' out there.

Great points. Literally every offensive player is going to know where he is on the field at all times. That's a huge thing.

The tackling will come even if he has to do Derrick Johnson style tackles. The fact that he reacts and gets to the ball so quick is what matters most. He can read a play and get to the ball faster than the majority of LBs in the league.

Derrick Johnson had the right amount of energy and still able to tackle. That would be have.

Heads up play. Gay snatched that ball from
Between his cheeks.

Bolton will get most of the glory on the defensive side and rightfully so, but Willie is my unsung hero.

Really, all of the linebackers played an impeccable game, including Chenal who I noticed out there quite a bit.