Getty Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster should be good to go in Week 1.
The Kansas City Chiefs just received a great reassurance ahead of Week 1.
Head coach Andy Reid addressed the media today on September 5 and the number one storyline was a clean bill of health. The Athletic’s Nate Taylor shared the good news on Twitter.
As the Chiefs start planning for the Cardinals, Andy Reid starts his Zoom news conference by saying that the team doesn’t have any significant injury news.
Reid expects everyone to practice this week.
“As the Chiefs start planning for the Cardinals, Andy Reid starts his Zoom news conference by saying that the team doesn’t have any significant injury news,” Taylor relayed. “Reid expects everyone to practice this week.”
Injury Update on JuJu Smith-Schuster & Marquez Valdes-Scantling
During a follow-up question, Reid also provided more information on wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he anticipates WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to be fine this week in practice ahead of Sunday’s game vs. Cardinals. Both dealt with injuries in August.
Reid also said TE Blake Bell will go to injured reserve, as expected.
KC Star reporter Herbie Teope informed: “Chiefs coach Andy Reid said he anticipates WRs JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling to be fine this week in practice ahead of Sunday’s game vs. [Arizona] Cardinals. Both dealt with injuries in August.”
Smith-Schuster had been held out of the final preseason game — as well as several practices — due to a sore knee ailment. However, Coach Reid did tell reporters that he had “turned a corner” and should be “fine.”
Today’s confirmation only furthers that notion.
As for Valdes-Scantling, the Chiefs’ second key newcomer in the wide receiver room entered the concussion protocol on August 26 but it didn’t take him long to exit it, practicing the next day.
Both appear to be ready to go in Week 1.
There was also a minor note on tight end Blake Bell, who Teope confirmed will “go on the injured reserve, as expected.” This would free up a roster spot for a player like linebacker Elijah Lee.
Chiefs WR Room Already Storyline to Watch in 2022
The Athletic’s Seth Keysor put together an article on the Chiefs’ 2022 campaign, focusing on “what we know and don’t know” about the team this year. On the known side, Keysor wrote that Kansas City will use a committee approach at wide receiver.
“By acquiring veterans JuJu Smith-Schuster, Marquez Valdes-Scantling and Justin Watson in free agency and then drafting Skyy Moore, Kansas City didn’t look to replace Hill as a player but rather looked to replace his production and role in piecemeal fashion,” he reasoned. “Smith-Schuster is a player who has consistently threatened underneath and intermediate zones, while Valdes-Scantling is known to be a reliable deep threat from his time in Green Bay who can make defenses pay for not keeping safeties deep.”
Keysor explained later that “the basic premise is simple: Spread defenses out, threaten every area of the field with multiple players at all times, and [Patrick] Mahomes will be able to do the rest.”
On the side of the unknown, he voiced that the Chiefs’ go-to target in crunch time has yet to reveal themselves — outside of tight end Travis Kelce.
“The question will be whether they can convert a third-and-10 when they desperately need one,” Keysor stated. “Both [Mahomes] and Reid are in uncharted territory now in their time together. Hill has always been there as a bit of a cheat code when yardage was tough to come by and the game was on the line. They still have Kelce, who also has been a hero many times throughout his career, including in the pre-Hill, Alex Smith era. But one of the issues that bit the Chiefs at times last season was the inability of anyone but Kelce or Hill to create separation for themselves against physical man coverage or make a big play when Mahomes was going through one of his rare moments of struggling.”
“As of now, it’s unknown who the ‘go-to’ guy will be outside of Kelce, or if one even exists,” the writer concluded. “If nobody else steps up, it could hurt the team in those crucial moments.”