Why Chiefs’ Jawaan Taylor believes NFL refs will be watching him closely this weekend

Kansas City Chiefs right tackle Jawaan Taylor says he expects the officials will be paying close attention to him during Sunday’s road game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

“My coaches this week were like, ’Make sure you’re not going too fast, slowing down. The refs are definitely gonna be looking a little harder now,’” Taylor told The Star on Wednesday. “But that’s just part of the game. I’m not gonna try to change my game at all. Just make sure I’m focusing — more conscious on it — just so I won’t get any penalties or anything.”

Taylor — unexpectedly, he says — became a national storyline following the Chiefs’ season-opening 21-20 home loss to the Detroit Lions last week.

For one, NBC’s broadcast implied that Taylor was false-starting when attempting to time up center Creed Humphrey’s snap count.

Last week, Taylor said this quick first movement is a trained skill. During home games, Taylor’s first move is based on quarterback Patrick Mahomes’ snap count, while on the road, he begins his pass set while looking at Humphrey’s helmet out of his peripheral vision.

Taylor also reiterated Wednesday that what he did last week against Detroit was the same thing he had done with the Jaguars in the previous four seasons.

“I just feel like now, that was a game that was the only game on TV, and it was a big-time game. So a lot more eyes were on the screen and watching than I’m used to. So of course, I feel like that’s what made it blow up so much,” Taylor said. “But end of the day, I’ve been doing it for a while, so I was shocked to see how big it really was. But I’m definitely keying in on it, making sure I’m on time and not early.”

Jacksonville’s Doug Pederson — Taylor’s coach with the Jaguars last year — was asked Wednesday about Taylor’s pre-snap anticipation in light of its recent attention.

“I’m sure they (refs) have been notified after that first game on Thursday night,” Pederson said. “But again, good player. We know who he is. He did the same thing here. He has great anticipation with the snap count.”

Something else NBC’s analysts pointed out: There were times when Taylor appeared to be lined up in the backfield on passing downs.

Jawaan Taylor’s positioning on the Chiefs offensive line was a talking point during Thursday’s game.

Taylor admitted to this one Wednesday. He said he tries not to make things too obvious for the officials, but film review showed that a few times, “I definitely was too deep for sure.”

“So I’m definitely trying to fix that this week in practice and just work it,” Taylor said. “Walk-throughs, get comfortable with it, just so I won’t have too many eyes on me about something that simple.”

Typically, Taylor said, referees are good about warning offensive tackles about being in the backfield before throwing a flag. He said that happened last week against the Lions as well, with an official coming over to him in the second half about his pre-snap alignment while telling him he needed to get back up on the line of scrimmage.

In that instance, Taylor said he was told that if he had any question about where he lined up, he could look to the side judge, who would give him a thumbs up or thumbs down to indicate whether he was legal.

Taylor said these exchanges with officials don’t happen every game, but they still occur often.

“They’ll give me a warning, like, ‘Hey, make sure you’re not too deep.’ And I’ll be like, ‘Yes sir. I’ll fix it.’ Stuff like that,” Taylor said. “But I’m pretty sure they’re gonna be more conscious this week than any other week, just because it’s such a big-time thing over social media.”

Other analysts noted that Taylor was “tipping” some plays against the Lions based on his pre-snap alignment.

In particular, when Taylor’s back foot was tapping while staggered behind him, the Chiefs often called a passing play.

During a news conference with reporters Monday, Coach Andy Reid addressed this some, saying, “You don’t want it to be a tell, when you’re running (or) passing.”

Taylor said Wednesday that this part of his game hadn’t been emphasized as much as other facets by coaches.

“Some guys (on defense) may key in on it. Maybe they’ll be like, ‘It’s a run,’ or, ‘It’s a pass.’ But I feel like it’s not really a huge deal, unless it’s really, really that obvious,” Taylor said. “I feel like with all linemen, you’ll be able to tell (post-snap) if they’re pulling or if they’re pass-setting, if they’re run blocking … it’s just football, man. So if they know it, it is what it is.

“But I feel like we all sometimes may weight shift in our stance or something like that, just to make sure we can put ourselves in the best position to win.”

During his talk with reporters Monday, Reid emphasized that Taylor needed to be careful when he timed the snap count this week. Taylor was flagged for one false start in the fourth quarter of the opener.

“He gets pretty close at times — and sometimes too fast,” Reid said. “So we’ve just to make sure it’s not too fast, because then that obviously hurts the team. But he takes a lot of pride in that and works very hard at that, trying to make sure that he gets off well.”

Originally from Florida, Taylor says he’ll have about 25 family members in attendance for Sunday’s homecoming game in Jacksonville. He said the goal this week would be to continue working on his first-step execution in practice; while he doesn’t want to be late on the snap, he also believes he’ll need to go an instant later so it’s not as apparent if he is a touch early.

Overall, however, he remains amazed his play has attracted so much attention over the past week.

“Linemen, we don’t get noticed until you have a bad play or until you have a big play. So when we get noticed about something like that, it’s kind of crazy,” Taylor said. “But it is what it is. I guess the fans really care about that, so I’ve just gotta make sure I’m doing it right.”