Getty Kansas City Chiefs left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. fends off a Dallas Cowboys pass rusher on November 21, 2021.
The Kansas City Chiefs finally lost a game in Week 17 and they were defeated without two-time Pro Bowler Orlando Brown Jr. protecting Patrick Mahomes’ blindside.
The left tackle suffered a pregame calf injury at the time but head coach Andy Reid has since provided an update on January 4.
Orlando Brown tweaked his calf before Sunday’s game but, “he did everything today,” Reid said. “He was out there today and going.”
Sam McDowell of The KC Star tweeted: “Orlando Brown tweaked his calf before Sunday’s game but, ‘he did everything today,’ Reid said. ‘He was out there today and going.'”
Brown was officially listed as “limited” in practice on Tuesday.
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More Injury News From Big Red
Speaking of injury updates, Reid also had them available for running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire and right tackles Mike Remmers and Lucas Niang during his January 4 press conference.
His statement read as follows: “Really the only players that didn’t practice today were Lucas Niang and [Edwards-Helaire]. [Niang] has a ruptured patellar tendon, so he’s not going to play, but [Edwards-Helaire] again has a chance to, so we’ll just keep rehabbing that, making sure that it gets better.”
#Chiefs say that RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire did not practice on Tuesday but has a chance to play Saturday vs. the Denver Broncos.
CEH did not practice on Tuesday, per Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride.
As for the veteran Remmers — who becomes more integral with Niang sidelined — Reid replied: “His back is feeling a little bit better as he goes, so we’ll just see. He’s another one that’s a real tough kid, just like I mentioned about with [Brown], and he’s trying to get back. So, if he could be out there, he’d be out there wanting to play. Those guys I have no questions on. But it’s still sensitive right now, but he’s making progress.”
Herbie Teope of The KC Star added that Remmers “could be an option to help the [offensive line] if he’s ready in time for the playoffs.”
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Impact of Injuries
Everyone in the NFL has injuries and COVID-19 absences right now and the Chiefs are actually in pretty good shape after their recent outbreak has mostly dissipated.
Reid noted that his “hat goes off” to Joe Thuney and Nick Allegretti for stepping up on Sunday. The former actually switched from left guard to left tackle in place of Brown. The latter then took on Thuney’s role.
So long as Brown is trending in the right direction to play sooner than later — and it appears he could play as soon as this weekend — KC has enough depth on the O-line for the moment.
As for the RB stable, Darrel Williams and Derrick Gore have performed adequately in Edwards-Helaire’s place and while the Chiefs are certainly a better team with all three backs, they seem to get along just fine with these two.
Kansas City hopes to end the regular season on a high note against the Denver Broncos, but the most important thing is entering round one of the playoffs as healthy as possible with a home game guaranteed. As the week progresses, we’ll find out more on whether or not Reid and his staff will choose to rest a couple of these questionable tags in Week 18.