Saints’ Khalen Saunders, Tyrann Mathieu on facing ex-Chiefs teammates for first time

Chiefs linebacker Nick Bolton left Sunday’s preseason game against the Saints with a No. 32 jersey.

That may seem self-evident given Bolton wears No. 32 for the Chiefs, but this particular jersey was black and gold. Bolton exchanged jerseys with former teammate Tyrann Mathieu of the Saints.

Mathieu wrote this message to Bolton on the jersey: “To: The Captain. Keep leading the boys. It was an honor to play next to you.”

The Chiefs shared photos from after the game of Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes hugging former teammate Tanoh Kpassagnon, Mathieu meeting KC defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo and the jersey exchange between the No. 32s.

Mathieu retweeted that post and wrote: “always love for the kingdom.”

Mathieu, who played for the Chiefs from 2019-21, also shared a photo of himself with Spagnuolo.

Saints defensive tackle Khalen Saunders, who signed with New Orleans during the offseason, helped stuff the Chiefs’ first-quarter sneak. He was happy to see his former teammates.

“It was fun getting to talk to those guys too before and after the game,” Saunders, who helped the Chiefs win two Super Bowl titles, told reporters. “Because, like I said in my introductory press conference here, I’m a big team guy. I’m going to treat them ... treat those guys like my brothers. I still talk to those guys daily and so it was good to kind of reconnect with them and share sentiments and all of that stuff like that.

“But they also know who I am and they know that I’m a team guy so they know I take the Saints seriously and it’s not like no, ‘Man I wish I can be back.’ Like no, I love y’all to death but I’m a Saint. So that’s how it is now and it was a good experience and it was a good competition.”

On Twitter, Saunders shared a simple sentiment: “Well, that was fun.”

Saunders also wanted to clear the air on one matter: he really didn’t do the worm after one particular play.