KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Alex Smith noticed the anxiety and immediately felt compelled to act.

The uncertainty in the eyes of rookie quarterback Aaron Murray seemed so familiar. The tension in second-year signal-caller Tyler Bray as he paced back and forth in the locker room brought back memories as well. This was only the Chiefs' first preseason game of the year -- a wild contest that would end in a 41-39 Kansas City victory over the Bengals -- and Smith sensed he would be doing more than standing on the sideline for the majority of the evening.

So Smith pulled Murray aside and explained that the rookie's first NFL action wouldn't be nearly so daunting as one might imagine. "Trust me," Smith said. "Nothing you guys go through tonight will come close to being as bad as my first preseason game." Murray chuckled and thanked Smith for the advice and went back to mentally preparing for his opportunity. Smith ambled in the other direction, knowing full well his roller-coaster career had once again put him in a position to make the kind of impact he always expected to have on a franchise.

Smith downplayed that moment as he answered questions in front of his locker at the team's training facility this past week -- "If I can help some of these young guys avoid the mistakes I made early in my career, it's for the better," he said -- but the significance of it can't be ignored. The skeptics who view Smith as an overrated game manager or a 10-year veteran lucky enough to resuscitate his career after a horrendous start in San Francisco need to back off. In his second season in Kansas City, he's become exactly the quarterback the Chiefs need him to be.

As Kansas City prepares to meet New England on "Monday Night Football," Smith once again will have a chance to show a national audience why the Chiefs traded two second-round picks to San Francisco to acquire him.

"There was nothing crazy to what they told me when I first got here," Smith said. "Coach [Andy Reid] told me to just execute the offense. There's no crazy, magical thing you're expected to do. He told me to just be myself. I've been around some things. I've seen a rebuild, and I've seen how quickly things can turn around when guys buy in. I always try to relate that to the young guys."

Smith first impressed the locals by helping the Chiefs rebound from a 2-14 mark in 2012 to an 11-5 campaign last season, which ended with a 45-44 loss to Indianapolis in the AFC wild-card round. Smith revealed how much he had matured as a quarterback in that contest, as he completed 30 of 46 passes for 378 yards and four touchdowns despite Kansas City's losing a handful of key starters to injuries. This year, Smith, who signed a four-year, $68 million contract extension earlier this month, is being asked to work similar magic. The Chiefs already have lost two key starters (linebacker Derrick Johnson and defensive end Mike DeVito) to season-ending Achilles ruptures, while two other stars (running back Jamaal Charles and safety Eric Berry) have been sidelined with ankle injuries the past two games. Versatile offensive threat Joe McKnight became the latest injury victim when he suffered a ruptured Achilles in practice this past week that will likely sideline him for the season.

Alex Smith posted career highs of 3,313 passing yards and 23 TDs and guided the Chiefs to the playoffs in 2013. AP Photo/Michael Conroy

Yet here the Chiefs stand, fighting their way back toward contention, buoyed largely by the calming presence of Smith.

"We trust Alex to do what he has to do with the ball," Chiefs offensive coordinator Doug Pederson said. "We tell him all the time, 'You have the keys to the car. Drive it any way you want.'"

Added San Diego Chargers safety Eric Weddle: "You don't play a lot of years in this league and start if you're not an above-average quarterback. I just have the utmost respect for him. I know he can kill you if you give him the chance."

The Chiefs, especially head coach Andy Reid, have been enamored with Smith ever since his arrival in March 2013. The first thing Reid conveyed to his new quarterback when they met was that this would be Smith's team. Pederson said it was a statement vital for Smith to hear at that stage of his career. It was just as critical for the 52 other players on the Kansas City roster, none of whom had witnessed any stability under center since Trent Green left town after the 2006 season.

Reid's faith in Smith would become a crucial element in a relationship that is essential to Kansas City's long-term prospects. The Chiefs' head coach has a long history of bonding with and maximizing the skills of quarterbacks with varied talents, especially during his 14 seasons with the Philadelphia Eagles.

"I get good quarterbacks and then allow their personality to grow so they can put their own flavor on the offense," Reid said.

In Smith, Reid saw a smart, athletic talent with the requisite size (Smith is listed at 6-foot-4 and 217 pounds) and enough mobility that Chiefs tight end Travis Kelce said, "I call him Scooter because of the way he scoots around the field." Smith saw a shot at redemption. His time in San Francisco had been defined by limited ups and considerable downs: He'd gone from being the top pick in the 2005 draft to an openly mocked bust to the leader of the 49ers team that reached the NFC title game in 2011, Jim Harbaugh's first year as head coach. A season later, just as Smith was leading the NFL in passer rating after eight weeks, a concussion sent him to the bench and opened the door for Colin Kaepernick to become the 49ers' new starter.

Smith holds no grudges over losing his job on a team that eventually lost to Baltimore in that season's Super Bowl. He does admit he couldn't have found a better landing spot than Kansas City.

"I knew the opportunity was there, and I felt like I'd had one taken away," Smith said. "My attitude was I was going to make the best of it and not worry about anything else. I was going to focus on helping this team win, and I realized that comes down to doing the little things."

Those little things include holding on to the ball when he's taking a sack behind an inexperienced offensive line that has struggled to protect him. It also means throwing the ball away when he desperately wants to convert a third-down opportunity. These are the very things that lead to critics bashing Smith for being too passive with the football, even though his career highs in passing yards (3,313) and touchdown passes (23) were critical to Kansas City's renaissance in 2013. On a young team with limited weapons at wide receiver, his savvy and decision-making ultimately give the Chiefs more chances to win games.

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When Smith tossed three interceptions in a season-opening loss to Tennessee, he was quick to tell Pederson he'd left far too many plays on the field. He could've complained that his best receiver (Dwayne Bowe) and starting right tackle (Donald Stephenson) were sidelined with suspensions and the game plan inexplicably minimized Charles. Instead, Smith focused on making his game better for the following week.

"He remained steady," Reid said. "He was still early in, late out, working his tail off. That's Alex -- he doesn't flinch when you put in a new receiver or change things. He just plays."

It's no coincidence Smith almost led the Chiefs to an upset in Denver a week later and also helped Kansas City earn its first win, a 34-15 victory in Miami, in Week 3. The most important thing he learned when his career finally turned around in San Francisco was that winning matters more than style when it comes to playing in the NFL. And he tries to spread that message to as many people as he can find. He's already endured enough rough times in his own career to know an 0-2 start isn't the end of the world.

"I think we're heading in the right direction," Smith said. "You put in the work, you enjoy your success for a few hours, and then it's onto the next challenge. This is a big opportunity -- playing the Patriots on Monday night and having a chance to get to 2-2. When you look at where we started, we're exactly where we need to be."