Getty Kansas City Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes under center against the Los Angeles Chargers.
If there’s one thing that’s easy to admire about Kansas City Chiefs team leaders Andy Reid, Patrick Mahomes, and Travis Kelce among others, it’s that they enjoy the challenge of facing a team when they’re at their best.
When the AFC West bulked up this offseason, Coach Reid was excited for his guys to test their mettle against some of the top teams in the league. We mention this because the Chiefs probably took no joy in hearing that the Los Angeles Chargers could be without one of their new key pieces in Week 2.
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J.C. Jackson Out 2-4 Weeks
Yesterday on August 23, the Chargers revealed that their top free-agent acquisition J.C. Jackson “underwent ankle surgery.”
J.C. Jackson underwent ankle surgery today at the New York Hospital of Special Surgery.
The procedure was performed by Dr. Martin O’Malley.
Jackson’s estimated return to play is approximately 2-4 weeks.
In the tweet, the AFC West rival noted that their star cornerback’s “estimated return to play is approximately 2-4 weeks.” If you do the math, that puts his timetable right around Week 2 or 3 of the NFL season.
FanSided national reporter Matt Verderame was quick to point out that this causes an immediate concern for Chargers fans, considering Los Angeles is scheduled to face off with the Las Vegas Raiders and Chiefs in potentially-integral divisional matchups over the first two weeks of the season.
Chargers desperately need a quick return from J.C. Jackson. First two weeks? Raiders and Chiefs.
Can’t afford to be without your top corner against those offenses in divisional games.
“Can’t afford to be without your top corner against those offenses in divisional games,” Verderame voiced.
On the flip side, the unfortunate injury would help the Raiders and Chiefs. There’s a reason the Chargers spent $40 million in guaranteed money on Jackson this spring, they wanted someone that could contend with players like Davante Adams and Tyreek Hill — at the time — but now he’d probably man-up on Kelce or a wideout like JuJu Smith-Schuster.
For the record, LAC’s pass defense was decent last year without Jackson, ranking 12th in passing yards allowed in 2021. They did give up a total of 58 points over the two outings with KC — splitting the season series — but held the Chiefs to under 300 passing yards in both meetings.
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News From the Wire
The NFL transaction wire had a couple of minor Chiefs-related notes this evening on August 24. The first involved a recent cut-turned-injury designation by the name of Gary Jennings Jr.
Pro Football Network reporter Aaron Wilson shared the update on Twitter. “Chiefs removed Gary Jennings from [the] injured reserve with [an] injury settlement,” he informed.
Chiefs removed Gary Jennings from injured reserve with injury settlement
That means the journeyman wide receiver and return man will officially end his stay in Kansas City and look for work elsewhere. Around the league, several ex-Chiefs came up in conversation.
Former KC wide receiver/special teamer Marcus Kemp was unfortunately placed on the injured reserve by the Giants, ending his season. He had been with the Chiefs for the better part of the last five seasons, although he did briefly spend some time with the Dolphins in between in 2020.
Tim Ward, a former fan-favorite UDFA also received a workout with the Falcons after being released by the Jets, while recent Chiefs cut Nasir Greer worked out with the aforementioned Giants.
The #Bears have waived WR Dazz Newsome, DL Lacale London, DB Bopete Keys, FB Jake Fargas, and OL Julien Davenport.
The Chicago Bears waived former KC draft pick BoPete Keyes as well, who was originally selected in the seventh round of the 2020 draft. The cornerback was released by the Chiefs after one season and two summers with the franchise. Needless to say, they have come a long way at the position since then.