Kansas City Chiefs wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion protocol) was knocked out of the team’s Week 10 win over the Jacksonville Jaguars due to a big hit by safety Andre Cisco. He then missed every practice leading up to the team’s Week 11 game against the Los Angeles Chargers on Sunday Night Football.
The consecutive absences from practice could only mean one thing in terms of JuJu’s Week 11 availability.
Chiefs head coach Andy Reid announced during his presser on Friday, November 18 that JuJu will miss Sunday’s game against the Chargers, as would cornerback and special teams ace Chris Lammons (concussion protocol).
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said WR JuJu Smith-Schuster (concussion) and CB Chris Lammons (concussion) are out for Sunday night’s game against the Chargers.
Without JuJu in the lineup and Mecole Hardman (abdomen) being placed on injured reserve on Thursday, the Chiefs will role with Marquez Valdes-Scantling, Kadarius Toney, rookie Skyy Moore, and Justin Watson as the top three wideouts in Week 11. Kansas City also has Marcus Kemp, Cornell Powell, and Ihmir Smith-Marsette available for a game-day promotion from the practice squad.
Twitter Reacts to JuJu Being Out
Twitter users reacted to Reid announcing that JuJu will be out in Week 11.
“If mahomes wins with MVS, Toney, Watson and Moore he is the MVP,” one Twitter user wrote.
“Well KC at least stacks up on offensive talent MVS, Kelsey, Toney, Moore and then the backs 2 that can catch out the back but all 3 good skill set lord,” another user wrote.
@AdamSchefter Well KC at least stacks up on offensive talent MVS, Kelsey, Toney, Moore and then the backs 2 that can catch out the back but all 3 good skill set lord
“Chiefs missing two of three starters at WRs but don’t have to sweat it because GM Brett Veach preemptively traded a compensatory 3rd round pick for Kadarius Toney,” another user wrote.
“The Chargers played a ton of man coverage against the Chiefs in week 2,” Steven Haglund of the “Guilt as Charged” podcast wrote. “I can’t imagine they’ll have the exact same game plan but the CB-WR matchups should be crystal clear if they do play man: Davis-MVS, ASJ-Toney, Callahan-Moore.”
“No one will be more free-er than Kadarius and I’m here for it,” another user wrote.
Toney Set for Increased Workload
An increase in familiarity with Kansas City’s offense had newly-acquired Chiefs receiver Kadarius Toney in line for an increased workload in Week 11. Yet, the injuries to Hardman and JuJu have Toney poised for an even larger workload in the coming weeks than previously anticipated.
Quarterback Patrick Mahomes discussed his thoughts on Toney being able to pick things up so quickly in Kansas City after joining the team via trade on October 27.
“Not – I wasn’t surprised by him making the plays,” Mahomes said of Toney’s performance against the Jaguars. “But just us being able to move him around as much as we have, it’s a testament to him. He’s really got in here, he’s learned. He’s learned multiple positions.
“We’ve moved him around now, it’s not like he’s in that one spot. And so, we’ll just continue to build on that. We don’t want to overwhelm him. We don’t want to put too much on his plate, but we’re going to keep giving him more and more, and get him more involved in this offense because it’ll make this offense better as a whole as the season goes on.”
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Chiefs Make Final Call on WR JuJu Smith-Schuster’s Status vs. Chargers