Eric Fisher, Willie Gay Jr. Only Chiefs Players Out Of Practice Wednesday
Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid confirmed in his Wednesday press conference the only two players that did not practice were left tackle Eric Fisher and linebacker Willie Gay Jr.
Reid also said that everyone else on the active 53-man roster practiced. This means wide receiver Sammy Watkins and cornerback L'Jarius Sneed both participated in Wednesday's preparations for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
Later, the Chiefs confirmed the practice participation on Twitter, noting that Watkins and running back Le'Veon Bell were limited.
It's no surprise that Fisher has missed practice though as reports are he has a torn Achilles and will miss the Super Bowl.
Arrowhead Report's Joshua Brisco discussed the report following the AFC Championship game against the Buffalo Bills and broke down Kansas City's offensive line configuration from the beginning of the year to now.
The Chiefs' opening-day offensive line was (from left to right) Eric Fisher, Kelechi Osemele, Austin Reiter, Andrew Wylie and Mitchell Schwartz. This came after the opt-outs of starting left guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif and rookie third-round draft pick Lucas Niang, who was likely to add to the team's depth at tackle.
Now, the Chiefs are heading to the Super Bowl, where they are likely to have a starting offensive line (from left to right) of Mike Remmers, Nick Allegretti, Reiter, Stefan Wisniewski and Wylie. Only Reiter will finish the season where he began it, and the Chiefs will be starting their third and fourth (if not third and fifth, if Niang had not opted out) options at the tackles across from the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' pass rush next Sunday.
It was also reported that Gay tore his meniscus during preparations for the Super Bowl last week and underwent surgery to repair his knee. I talked about Gay's season after the news surfaced he was going to miss the Super Bowl.
The second-round pick played in 267 snaps this season, equaling 24.81% of all the defense's snaps. In 16 games this season, the rookie recorded 39 tackles, three tackles for loss, three passes defended and one sack.
Gay has been used in a limited role in the Chiefs' defense this season. Kansas City defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo talked about Gay's progress in the system on December 31, ahead of the Chiefs' Week 17 game against the Los Angeles Chargers when Gay would ultimately suffer an ankle injury that kept him out of the Chiefs' previous two playoff games.
There have also been no new COVID-19 issues since the Chiefs placed guard Daniel Kilgore and wide receiver Demarcus Robinson on the COVID-19/Reserve list as close contacts on Monday. No players from either team have tested positive so far. If Kilgore and Robinson both continue to test negative they will be available for Sunday's game.
