Chiefs Injury Updates on Clyde Edwards-Helaire, JuJu Smith-Schuster

Kansas City has some clarity on multiple injury situations heading into Week 12.

The Kansas City Chiefs haven't been the luckiest in the durability department as of late, seeing multiple players miss varying amounts of time due to injuries. There was still plenty to sort out in that regard when head coach Andy Reid took the podium on Wednesday morning, but Reid was able to provide some additional information about some of his injured players.

Per Reid, running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire is going on the reserve/injured list following a high-ankle sprain he suffered in Sunday's 30-27 win over the Los Angeles Chargers. As a result, the third-year man will miss at least the next four weeks while on IR. He joins wide receiver Mecole Hardman on the list, although Hardman has a one-game head start on getting back on the road to returning. With Edwards-Helaire out of the picture, the Chiefs will rely on rookie Isiah Pacheco to lead the way out of the backfield and could even make veteran Ronald Jones active for the first time all year on Sunday against the Los Angeles Rams. 

Andy Reid said Joe Thuney (left ankle) & Kadarius Toney (hamstring) will not practice today. 

Clyde Edwards-Helaire (high ankle sprained) has been added to injured reserve. 

Lucas Niang is also back on the active roster.

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Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) on Wednesday, Nov. 23 at 11:49 a.m.

Additionally, Reid added that wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster is back at practice on Wednesday after missing Week 11 due to being in the NFL's concussion protocol. That's a major boost for Kansas City, who is without Kadarius Toney on Wednesday as he works through a hamstring injury that caused him to leave the team's last game early. If Smith-Schuster is able to return to action this week, that would help a receiver room that recently relied heavily on its depth in a grueling divisional game. 

Along the offensive line, Reid had a mixed bag of news to share. Left guard Joe Thuney is nursing an ankle injury, and he isn't practicing on Wednesday. Right tackle Lucas Niang, however, is back on the active roster after a stint on the physically unable to perform (PUP) list to begin the 2022 campaign. Niang, who suffered a serious knee injury at the end of last season, is far from guaranteed to be a starter once he's officially ready to make his return. When asked about Niang's potential role on Monday, here's what Reid had to say:

“Yeah, I’ll talk to (General Manager) Brett (Veach). I haven’t talked to Brett today, but we’ll talk on that and just see where we’re at with that. But, he’s made some nice progress over the last couple of weeks. And I’m not telling you he’d be the starter, but I think he’s ready to get in, probably, the two-deep. We’ll have to talk to the kid (Lucas Niang), too.”

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