During the Kansas City Chiefs’ loss to the Buffalo Bills in Week 5, starting left guard Joe Thuney fractured his hand, which was brought to light after the game courtesy of head coach Andy Reid. While Chiefs Kingdom has been wondering since the Sunday Night Football game occurred how long Thuney could potentially be sidelined, NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport gave details that suggest Thuney may not miss anytime at all because of his high pain tolerance.
“G Joe Thuney will have more tests today on his fractured hand, but consider: He broke it on the first series, put it in a cast… and played the entire game. Some of these guys are a bit different,” Rapoport wrote on Twitter.
That’s incredible. To fracture his hand on the first very first series of the game and then continue playing the remainder of the game shows the kind of grit Thuney has, and why the Chiefs may have been so willing to pay him a five-year, $80 million contract during free agency this offseason.
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Reid on Thuney’s Injury
Following Rapoport’s report, Reid met with the media and addressed Thuney’s injury for the second time since the game ended, giving a bit more detail this time around.
“I don’t really have any injuries to give you right now other than Joe Thuney we talked about last night has got a broken hand,” Reid said during his opening statement on Monday, October 11. “He had that throughout the game and continued to play, didn’t miss any plays as we went forward there. He actually did a pretty good job in there.”
Based on Reid’s remarks, it would be surprising to see Thuney miss time due to his fractured hand. If he was able to wrap it up and still be a quality player on the field, then it is unlikely the veteran will miss any time because of the injury. That also makes Thuney a stone-cold warrior.
Chiefs Beat Down by Bills
In a highly-anticipated matchup between two AFC powerhouses, Kansas City was beat down by a Buffalo team that was clearly better on both sides of the football.
The Bills offense racked up 462 yards of total offense; quarterback Josh Allen threw for 315 yards and three passing touchdowns, and also had 11 carries for 59 yards and another score on the ground, per ESPN’s box score. As for Buffalo’s defense, they got the best of quarterback Patrick Mahomes and Kansas City’s offense in Week 5. Mahomes threw for 272 yards, two touchdowns, and also had two interceptions, one of which was a pick-six. He also rushed eight times for 61 yards and had one lost fumble.
“Yeah, when things aren’t going right, it’s not necessarily communication as much as it is the execution part of it and then maybe trying too hard to make something happen,” Reid said when asked if he saw communication issues on both sides of the football. “Whether it’s gaining an extra yard, whether it’s trying to make a throw, tipped ball, lineman keeping a hand down on it or handing it off, it’s one of all these things. I don’t know if that’s necessarily communication, but it comes across that way. I think people know what they’re doing, you’ve just got to do it and you can’t go above what you’re supposed to do, just let the play happen.”
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