The Kansas City Chiefs have released their injury report, and there is some concerning news for the team ahead of the Week 10 clash against the Atlanta Falcons. The Chiefs’ head coach, Andy Reid, has updated the team on the three players the Chiefs will miss ahead of the game.
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“All right. Um, as far as the injuries go, on the guys that didn’t practice today, uh, Jaylon Moore didn’t practice,” Reid told the media at the press conference. “Making progress [with] the ankle. Peter Woods, uh, didn’t practice, making progress there.”
Right tackle Moore and rookie defensive tackle Woods have both been ruled out for Week 10. In addition, second-year defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott has been ruled out as well.
Moore suffered an ankle injury in the Week 9 win against the New York Jets in the third quarter. So, Moore didn’t practice on Wednesday, Thursday, or Friday. The same goes for Woods as well, who did not participate in any practice days and has been ruled out because of a neck injury he suffered in the Week 8 loss against the Denver Broncos.
“No, you know what? It’s the nerve part of it, and those things take just a bit of time,” Reid said earlier about Woods. “So, I think he’s gonna be okay. He’s getting stronger. That’s the primary thing. It’s a little bit like (Mansoor) Delane. It was the same thing. It’s a matter of getting stronger. And I mean, he’s working like crazy to do it. But he’s got the feeling. Yeah, it’s just literally being able to do (lift your arm), and just get it where he’s got strength to it.”
Woods will miss his second straight game, while Moore will miss his second game of the season, after missing the Week 7 loss against the Seattle Seahawks due to a concussion from the Week 6 win against the Los Angeles Chargers.
As for Norman-Lott, he hasn’t played for the Chiefs since suffering a season-ending ACL injury in Week 7 of last season. The Chiefs opened Norman-Lott’s 21-day practice window on October 28, making November 18 the final day to activate him from the Physically Unable to Perform list to the active roster if he wants to play this season.
The Chiefs’ defensive coordinator, Steve Spagnuolo, spoke on Norman-Lott’s injury on Thursday ahead of Week 10.
“Yeah, I watched him one-on-ones last week,” Spagnuolo said. “I thought he looked more like Omarr. I think he still got a little ways to go. Now I’m just going to trust the trainers on that. But they got him out there working and hopefully get him to the point where he can help us. But you know, we’re not there yet.”
Defensive tackle Chris Jones also addressed Norman-Lott’s injury on Thursday, saying that he is “another guy to help us get up to the quarterback,” and having him back can “add depth to the D-Line.”
While these three players being ruled out are enough to disturb the momentum of the Chiefs, there is a cornerstone player whose injury worries are haunting the team.
Chiefs’ rushing might be in danger as Andy Reid gives worrisome update on Kenneth Walker III
While the Chiefs have already taken injury blows, the string of potential injuries hasn’t been ruled out, as Reid gave a scary update on running back Walker. Reid reported that Walker felt tightness in his groin area before the final on-field practice of the week started. As a result, he didn’t participate in the practice session and is ruled questionable for the game.
“We’ll just see how he feels through this afternoon, with rehab, and through tomorrow,” Reid said. “Somewhere he tweaked it. We’re kind of feeling it out just to see where we’re at with that (groin). We’re not going to put him at risk. If he can go, he can go. If he can’t, he can’t.”
If Walker doesn’t play for the Chiefs, the team will lose its most productive runner on the field, who has recorded 872 rushing yards, second in the league and just falling short of Atlanta’s Bijan Robinson (880).
If Walker doesn’t play, rookie running back Emmett Johnson will step onto the gridiron, who has worked great for the Chiefs both as a running back (111 rushing yards and a touchdown on 26 attempts) and as a receiver (14 receptions for 237 yards and a touchdown).
He’ll be ready to go,” right guard Trey Smith said of Johnson. “I like Emmett, man, his juice, his energy. He oozes enthusiasm, emotion, and positive energy. You can tell the guy wants to be great, and you can tell he works at it. He really cares, man. I’m really excited for him. It’s not hard to root for guys like that.”
So, with the Falcons game coming up, the Chiefs have a huge list of injury scares, with rookie cornerback Mansoor Delane and rookie running back Jaydn Ott also questionable for the game.
It will be a difficult road for the Chiefs amid all these injuries as they try to maintain their winning form, with a record of 6-2.