KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs, next to last in the NFL with 11 sacks, can’t afford to wait any longer than necessary for Melvin Ingram‘s help.
They might not have to wait long. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo held out hope that Ingram, acquired on Tuesday from the Pittsburgh Steelers, could play on Sunday against the Green Bay Packers at Arrowhead Stadium.
“It always takes a little bit [of time] when you bring somebody in midstream,” Spagnuolo said. “We’ll see where he’s at at the end of the week and then we’ll have to make a decision. … I think there’s always a chance.”
The Chiefs were interested in signing Ingram during the offseason when he was a free agent, but he joined the Steelers instead. With the Chiefs’ pass rush faltering and Ingram expendable in Pittsburgh, Kansas City made the move for the veteran defensive end shortly before Tuesday’s trade deadline.
Ingram seemed amused by the comment from Steelers coach Mike Tomlin after the trade that he preferred volunteers to hostages, a reference to Ingram wanting the Steelers to move him elsewhere.
“I never felt like a hostage,” Ingram said. “I don’t know what he means. The situation was kind of different. I don’t want to tell a lie. It was kind of different. It wasn’t what I thought it was going to be. It was a dope situation. I respect all those guys. I respect Coach Tomlin, all the coaches. I respect all the players. It was definitely a blessing to be with those guys.”
Ingram wouldn’t say how the situation with the Steelers was different from his expectations. He did say he was happy to join the Chiefs, a team he is familiar with. Ingram played against the Chiefs twice each season in his first nine NFL seasons as a member of the Chargers.
“Great offense,” he said of the Chiefs. “Great offense with a lot of weapons. They’ve got so many weapons. It’s dope just to be on this side of it and see that everything you were thinking was really true.”
Ingram will wear No. 24 for the Chiefs; he wore No. 8 with the Steelers. He said both numbers are a tribute to the late Kobe Bryant.
“I started off with a Kobe mentality from the beginning of the year,” Ingram said. “It’s just a never-stop, never-give-up, keep-grinding type [of] mentality … Coming here, I just wanted to keep the same mentality, really.”