Rookie cornerback D.J. White could barely contain his enthusiasm when secondary coach Al Harris told him he was starting the Chiefs’ preseason game against the Rams on Saturday.
“I can’t even lie, I was excited man,” said White, a sixth-round pick from Georgia Tech. “They told me in a subtle kind of way.”
And sure enough, once the game — a 21-20 Chiefs loss — started, White was out there with the base defense, playing opposite star cornerback Marcus Peters and shifting inside to cover the slot when the Chiefs went in nickel.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said White, who recorded two tackles in the game, earned the opportunity based on the way he’s been practicing and his performance in the preseason opener, a 17-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks in which White had four tackles and broke up a pass by squeezing a slant route and forcing an incompletion with suffocating coverage.