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The Kansas City Chiefs will take the field for their first game of the 2024 preseason on Saturday night in Jacksonville, and many young players will be looking to make a positive impact under the lights.

While defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo won’t be dialing up a typical game plan for the exhibition game, he will learn some things about the younger members of his defense.

After Tuesday’s training camp practice in St. Joseph, Missouri, Spagnuolo was asked if there are any young players he’s especially excited to see on Saturday night.

Back-end, always,” Spagnuolo said regarding the secondary. “We want to see what we’ve got going on there, and we’ve had some injuries, and then the continuity and the chemistry of those young guys — who will communicate in the heat of battle? […].

Biggest thing is I want to see guys that are unknown to me from their toughness and tackling, those’ll be the two big things.”

Asked if he was specifically referring to fourth-round rookie safety Jaden Hicks, Spagnuolo named Hicks, sixth-round rookie cornerback Kamal Hadden and second-year undrafted free agent corner Ekow Boye-Doe as players he’s excited to see get more playing time in a “real-game atmosphere.”

Spagnuolo also shared the message he’s been sending to the Chiefs’ young defenders.

“I told them in the meeting, the guys that I’ve been around that are here, I know which guys are tough and which guys are fake-tough.

I mean, I’m trying to find out if guys are tough enough to play in this league and do the things we need to do.”