Chiefs vs. Commanders Expected Inactives: Who's In, Who's Out?

Coming off a 19-14 loss to the Chicago Bears in their preseason opener, the Kansas City Chiefs are at home for the first time in months and will be hosting the visiting Washington Commanders. In their first preseason contest a week ago, Ron Rivera's squad lost to the Carolina Panthers by a final score of 23-21.

Ahead of this preseason week two matchup, both teams will be without some major contributors. Despite starters and high-end depth pieces not playing full games such as this one anyway, any missed time is a net negative in regards to establishing chemistry and fine-tuning things as the regular season approaches. Instead of official inactive lists issued by teams leading up to game time, the media typically report injured players as not expected to play.

The Chiefs held their final training camp practice on Thursday, and many players missed time. In addition to offensive tackle Lucas Niang (who is still on the physically unable to perform list), tight end Blake Bell (hip) and wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee), a pair of players who left Wednesday's practice early ended up missing the following day. Defensive tackle Chris Jones (back) and wideout Mecole Hardman (groin) didn't practice to close out camp.

Head coach Andy Reid hinted earlier in the week that Smith-Schuster wouldn't play. He left the door open for Hardman and Jones, and Hardman ended up working with the team and catching some passes pregame. Despite that, he didn't end up being active. Jones is also not suited up. Per Herbie Teope of The Kansas City Star, tight end Matt Bushman and defensive end Carlos Dunlap also weren't present for the end of pregame warmups.

On Washington's side, here's who won't be participating in the club's second preseason game of 2022. Nicki Jhabvala of The Washington Post has the list:

Not playing for Commanders in Kansas City:

J.D. McKissic
Curtis Hodges
Trai Turner
Rashod Hill
Andrew Norwell
Wes Schweitzer
Charles Leno
Nolan Laufenberg
Cole Turner
John Bates

Lineup changes:

Lucas at LT
Monteiro at RG
Charles at LG
Rogers at TE
James Smith at DE
— Nicki Jhabvala (@NickiJhabvala) August 20, 2022

The Commanders have been bitten pretty hard by the injury bug recently, as the club has already been forced to place linebacker Drew White, tight end Sammis Reyes and running back Alex Armah on the injured reserve list. Additionally, tight ends Cole Turner, John Bates and Logan Thomas have dealt with injuries of their own that have held them out of some practices. Along the interior of the offensive line, guards Wes Schweitzer, Trai Turner and Andrew Norwell have also been nursing ailments in August. All of that, as well as even more, has led to the lineup changes and absences listed above.

Read More: What to Look For in the Chiefs’ Second Preseason Game