Andy Reid Provides Thursday Chiefs Injury Updates
The Kansas City Chiefs got back to work this week following their AFC Championship Game win over the Cincinnati Bengals, and a season-finale Super Bowl LVII showdown against the Philadelphia Eagles is coming up. Next Sunday will be here before anyone knows it and with that in mind, Kansas City is hard at work preparing for the ultimate game of the 2022-23 NFL campaign.
On Wednesday, the team released an injury report that was an estimation due to practice not being held for the day. On that list, four players (wideouts Mecole Hardman, JuJu Smith-Schuster and Kadarius Toney, as well as cornerback L'Jarius Sneed) were listed as non-participants. Linebacker Willie Gay Jr. and right guard Trey Smith were both listed as limited. Everyone else on the report was given a full participant designation.
On Thursday morning and into the early afternoon, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid took the podium to speak for the first time since Monday. In his availability, he provided some injury updates on all of the aforementioned players:
All four of the non-participants from Wednesday's estimated report will miss practice on Thursday. With that said, Reid was optimistic that Smith-Schuster could return to practice once the team gets down to Arizona. He's currently dealing with some knee swelling. Additionally, he said that Toney — nursing an ankle injury — participated in Thursday morning's team walkthrough and is "close" to returning to practice with his teammates. Sneed presumably remains in the NFL's concussion protocol after exiting Sunday's game early.
Hardman, who hauled in two passes for 10 yards in the AFC Championship Game, is having some serious uncertainty cast upon his status for the Super Bowl. Reid said he doubts that his fourth-year receiver will be able to return in time, which would potentially end his season. Hardman, who is set to become a free agent in just a few weeks, missed over two months with an abdominal injury that then transitioned to being described as a pelvis ailment. The AFC title game was his first contest since Nov. 6.
As far as quarterback Patrick Mahomes is concerned, Reid said that his star signal-caller was doing well and only felt a little bit of stiffness following Sunday's game. Mahomes confirmed that he's "in a good spot" with his high-ankle sprain, adding that he didn't suffer any setbacks or re-aggravations of the injury. Mahomes completed 29 of 43 passes for 326 yards and a pair of touchdowns on the ankle on Sunday, and he still has over a week to recover before his biggest game of the season.
THURSDAY AFTERNOON UPDATE: In the brief media look during Thursday's practice, Sneed was spotted on the side doing some stretching and warming up.
