KANSAS CITY, Mo. – The Chiefs’ Alex Smith knows exactly how much weight Titans quarterback Marcus Mariota feels as the first-round pick tries to turn around the fortunes of Tennessee.
He was in a similar position in San Francisco a decade ago.
“For me, it was battling the anxiety of being the top pick and justifying that, and that’s what I fought for so long, and it took me a while,” Smith said shortly after leading Kansas City to a weather-shortened 34-10 victory over the Titans on Friday night.
“In some ways,” he said, “you have to play yourself out of that, and I think I did.”
Enough to solidify the starting job with the Chiefs, where Smith has flourished in coach Andy Reid’s West Coast offense. He was 16 of 18 for 171 yards and two touchdowns in less than a half against Tennessee, almost certainly his final tuneup before the regular season.