The Kansas City Chiefs face the Cincinnati Bengals on Sunday, January 2, and will do so without running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire.
The 2020 first-round pick has been ruled out by the Chiefs for the team’s Week 17 game.
We have added RB Jerick McKinnon to the 53-man roster from IR. McKinnon should be listed on the injury report with a hamstring injury and no designation for Sunday.
Veteran running back Jerick McKinnon will take CEH’s place on the roster, as McKinnon has been activated from injured reserve and will be listed on the Week 17 injury report with a hamstring injury but no designation for the game.
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CEH Injures Collarbone in 3rd Quarter
While the Chiefs did keep their win streak alive thanks to their 36-10 blowout victory over the Steelers in Week 16, they didn’t do so without Edwards-Helaire getting banged up.
Early in the third quarter of the game on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium, Edwards-Helaire took a carry to his right for a pick-up of just two yards. Edwards-Helaire had a Steelers lineman on top of him as he went to the ground, and all of that weight landed on what looked to be his left shoulder.
The result was what the Chiefs described as a collarbone injury, which was enough to keep the budding star on the sideline for the remainder of the game.
After the game, the X-rays on Edwards-Helaire’s collarbone came back negative, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport. However, an additional update was given on the severity of Edwards-Helaire’s injury on Monday, December 27.
There is swelling in CEH’s collarbone, according to Rapoport, but there is no structural damage and the injury is not season-ending.
“Clyde Edwards-Helaire should return shortly,” Rapoport wrote on Twitter.
Additionally, ESPN’s Adam Schefter labeled CEH as “week-to-week.”
“It will be challenging for Edwards-Helaire to play Sunday vs. Cincinnati but the fact that it is on the table is a win for CEH and the Chiefs,” Schefter wrote on Twitter.
CEH did not practice at all leading up to Kansas City’s game against Cincinnati, which foreshadowed his status for the game.
Playoff Implications in Week 17
The win in Week 16 locked up the AFC West for the Chiefs (11-4), as they will now hold a better overall record than the Los Angeles Chargers (8-7), Las Vegas Raiders (8-7), and Denver Broncos (7-8) no matter the outcome of the final two weeks of the regular season.
If the Chiefs want to lock up the No. 1 seed in the AFC in Week 17, two things need to happen: Kansas City beats Cincinnati 2) The Tennessee Titans lose to the Miami Dolphins. The Titans losing and the Chiefs winning would ensure that no team in the conference would surpass Kansas City’s 12-4 record heading into the regular-season finale, which would lock up a first-round bye in the playoffs for the defending AFC champions.
For the Bengals, who sit at 9-6 and are the No. 3 seed in the AFC heading into their matchup against the Chiefs, they need to win their final two regular-season games if they want to remain in the playoff picture.
With two great football teams having major playoff implications on the line as they match up against each other, Chiefs Kingdom should be anticipating a great game at Paul Brown Stadium on Sunday.
Chiefs Make Final Decision on Clyde Edwards-Helaire’s Week 17 Status