Getty Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver Kadarius Toney against the Jacksonville Jaguars.
The Kansas City Chiefs are all set to take on the Cincinnati Bengals in Week 13 and one of the final steps is the injury report, which was revealed on Friday, December 2.
Heading toward the weekend, the Chiefs had a lot of banged-up contributors who saw their injury status improve as the days went on — like left guard Joe Thuney and safety Juan Thornhill, who were both absent in Week 12.
With full practices all week, the pair of starters are set to return against Cincy. Wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster also logged full practices after a midweek illness, as did offensive tackle Lucas Niang who is still working his way back from last year’s knee injury. The potential starting RT was eased back in against the Los Angeles Rams, with six special teams snaps but no playing time on offense just yet.
Of course, the main two Kansas City injuries to watch this Friday were wide receiver Kadarius Toney and running back Jerick McKinnon, and this one is a good news bad news sort of deal.
Kadarius Toney Ruled Out vs Bengals, Jerick McKinnon Will Play
It’s been trending this way all week, but Toney was ruled out officially for the second straight game. After his breakout performance against Jacksonville, the Chiefs’ newest playmaker reinjured his hamstring versus the Los Angeles Chargers.
He has not played since and did not practice once all week, raising the level of concern a bit.
Toney dealt with hamstring issues in New York and the Giants were happy to ship the former first-rounder to KC for a relatively low return. The main reason was his availability, or lack thereof. With the Chiefs, you just hope that this lingering injury doesn’t turn into a long-term problem.
McKinnon appears to be on track to play, however, which is good news for Kansas City.
A separate hamstring ailment has bothered the third-down running back this week but McKinnon was able to practice in full for the first time on Friday. He has no injury designation heading into the weekend.
The Chiefs signed veteran RB Melvin Gordon as insurance for McKinnon. It’s unclear whether or not the newcomer will supplant Ronald Jones II as the RB3 in Week 13.
Bengals WR Ja’Marr Chase ‘Questionable’ vs the Chiefs
ESPN’s Ben Baby reported that Chase is “trending optimistic toward playing on Sunday.”
Bengals coach Zac Taylor said WR Ja’Marr Chase is trending optimistic toward playing on Sunday against KC.
The Bengals star is officially labeled as “questionable” on the final injury report, although he did practice in full on Friday. Running back Joe Mixon is questionable with a concussion too, but his status appears to be more up in the air than Chase’s.
Mixon was still limited in practice on December 2, and has not logged a full practice yet this week.
Defensive tackle D.J. Reader was also limited with an ankle injury but has no injury tag heading into the weekend. Finally, linebacker Logan Wilson was a late addition on Friday’s report with an illness. He’s officially “questionable” in Week 13.
The Chiefs have been running with the assumption that Chase will be out there all week. Earlier today, cornerback Trent McDuffie commented on what to expect from the Bengals top offensive weapon.
“He’s a ball player,” McDuffie told reporters, “we know he’s going to attack the ball and make plays. He’s a very physical receiver. We have to get our hands on him and disrupt the routes.”
After all the back-and-forth between Chase and Chiefs safety Justin Reid, it’ll be interesting to see what the Cincinnati WR can do in his first outing back — assuming he plays. He’s been sidelined since Week 7 with a fracture in his hip.