Chiefs Injury Updates Ahead of Week 4 Game Against Bucs
As the Kansas City Chiefs have prepared for a Sunday Night Football matchup against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers this week, they haven't been able to do so at full health.
In addition to cornerback Trent McDuffie still being on the injured reserve list, Kansas City saw multiple players miss practice on either Wednesday or Thursday. On Wednesday, the quartet of defensive lineman Mike Danna (calf), wide receiver Mecole Hardman (heel), defensive tackle Chris Jones (not injury related) and running back Ronald Jones (illness) were all absent. All but the latter Jones returned to practice on Thursday, although kicker Harrison Butker (ankle) and wideout Marquez Valdes-Scantling (abdomen) missed out.
For the Chiefs' final practice of the week on Friday, everyone except Butker and defensive end Joshua Kaindoh (illness) was on the field and participated in at least some capacity. With plenty of questions still left to answer as Sunday's game draws near, head coach Andy Reid took the podium on Friday afternoon to provide the latest on his injured players.
Harrison Butker (ankle) and Joshua Kaindoh (sick) didn’t practice for the Chiefs today. Everybody else worked.
They’ll just wait and see on Butker in terms of his availability on Sunday, per Coach Reid.
- Matt McMullen (@KCChiefs_Matt) on Friday, Sept. 30, 200 at 1:10 p.m. CST
The lack of news on players outside of Butker and Kaindoh is a positive development for the Chiefs, especially at the receiver position. Reid's offense has scuffled a bit in its past two games, so possibly having both Hardman and Valdes-Scantling out there — even if they aren't 100% — is better than the alternative.
At kicker, the Chiefs have had issues there ever since Butker's Week 1 ankle sprain and will end up relying on recent practice squad signee Matthew Wright to fill in if Butker is unable to go. Butker's main obstacles as of late have been pain and swelling in recent days and weeks and although he was able to be a limited participant in practice on Wednesday, missing back-to-back days thereafter isn't a great sign. The wait-and-see approach seems like the best course of action.
Later on Friday afternoon, the Chiefs announced in their injury report that Danna is out for Sunday's game. Butker, Valdes-Scantling and Kaindoh are all officially listed as questionable.
Akiem Hicks ruled out, Breshad Perriman doubtful for Buccaneers
The Buccaneers worked throughout the week with plenty of injuries on their report, including defensive lineman Akiem Hicks (foot) and wide receiver Breshad Perriman (knee/hamstring). On Friday, the Buccaneers ruled Hicks out and Perriman was said to need a "miraculous" recovery in order to be good to go by game time per Greg Auman of The Athletic. Head coach Todd Bowles says that wide receivers Julio Jones (knee) and Chris Godwin (hamstring) are game-time decisions, as is left tackle Donovan Smith (elbow).
