Each NFL team gets just 14 full-padded practices per season, and the Kansas City Chiefs, who have dropped two straight divisional games, used one of theirs on Wednesday as they prepare to take on the Arizona Cardinals this Sunday.
During the last two games, the Chiefs defense has surrendered 393 combined yards rushing to the Oakland Raiders (179) and Denver Broncos (214).
So tackling has been an emphasis this week for coach Reid.
"We haven't done too well on it the last couple weeks," Chiefs coach Andy Reid said of the team's tackling. "We're going to put an emphasis on the best we can right now, but we've got to get better. There are a lot of things we need to get better at. I've said that even when we were winning games.
"You have to keep improving and then you're going to go through ups and downs and you have to work through those. One of those is our tackling right now so we'll do everything we can without going live that we can get taken care of."
Veteran linebacker Tamba Hali understands how important it is for the Chiefs to go in full pads right now, something they haven't done in a few weeks.
"Very important," Hali explained. "We're getting the proper fits and going back to the basics, going back to the fundamentals and not just going through the motion out there. That makes a huge difference when you go into the game.
"You have to know how to practice without [the pads] and with our young team, it's hard when every day is without pads and you're not getting your proper fits on the defensive side and on the offensive side, so it's totally beneficial.
Practice photos from Wednesday, getting prepped for the Cardinals.
"It's not a punishment, it's something we want to embrace and then carry over into the game."
Reid believes his team will use this week to work and improve upon this one aspect that's been a struggle recently.
"The one thing about this crew here, they'll work on whatever seems to be a negative to try to fix that problem, which I think is a real strength of this team."
