Chiefs Injury Updates Ahead of Game vs. Bengals

The final practice of the week provides some clarity for Kansas City's injury report.

The Kansas City Chiefs' Week 13 injury report was chock-full of names, although most of the list was far from alarming. 

Of the 14 players who appeared on the report to start the week, all but four of them were full participants in practice on Wednesday. Players such as wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster, guards Trey Smith and Joe Thuney, offensive tackle Lucas Niang, cornerback L'Jarius Sneed and others were designated with various respective injuries, although none of them were held back by the time the final stretch of the week rolled around. From that perspective, Kansas City's laundry list of injuries wasn't nearly that severe in reality.

On the other hand, Andy Reid's squad is already without wide receiver Mecole Hardman (abdomen) and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (high-ankle sprain) due to them still being on the injured reserve list. Additionally, wideout Kadarius Toney missed practice all week with a nagging hamstring injury and running back Jerick McKinnon was kept out of Wednesday and Thursday's practices with a hamstring ailment of his own. Safety Deon Bush, nursing an elbow injury, was a limited participant for both of those days.

On Friday afternoon, Reid took the podium to speak ahead of the Chiefs' Sunday afternoon matchup at Paycor Stadium against the Cincinnati Bengals. Kansas City would prefer to have all hands on deck for this AFC Championship Game rematch, but that isn't quite going to be the case. With that said, Reid had mostly good news to report. Everyone on the active roster except for Toney practiced. 

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid says he expects Juan Thornhill and Joe Thuney to return this week.

Everyone but Kadarius Toney practiced today. Reid thinks Jerick McKinnon will be able to play -- team was just being cautious this week.

— Jordan Foote (@footenoted) December 2, 2022

While Reid didn't officially rule Toney out, the team did in its final edition of this week's injury report. The 23-year-old will now miss his second straight game this weekend which is less than ideal for the Chiefs, but they're clearly taking a cautious approach with their talented pass-catcher. The 2021 first-round pick battled a hamstring injury early in the season and was healed up following a trade to the Chiefs and the team's bye week, but it began to flare up in Week 11's outing against the LA Chargers. Look for the Chiefs to once again go to rookie Skyy Moore on offense in a supporting role.

Elsewhere, getting the duo of Juan Thornhill and Thuney back will be a major plus for the road team this week. While Thornhill hasn't been great in 2022, he remains a key piece of Steve Spagnuolo's defense. Thuney, when healthy, is one of the best interior offensive linemen in all of football. The McKinnon news is also positive, as the veteran running back has missed some time during the week recently but is also remaining healthy enough to play on game days. With a mix of him, Ronald Jones and rookie Isiah Pacheco to choose from, Kansas City will again have a solid group of options in the backfield.

Bush, who was limited for the third day in a row, is officially questionable for Sunday's game. Getting Thornhill back offsets that for the Chiefs, but Bush's ability to play a reserve role on the back end of Spagnuolo's defense is valuable and him potentially not being able to play in Week 13 could force rookie Bryan Cook to play even more snaps. 

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