In the Kansas City Chiefs' preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers, the team was unable to escape with a clean bill of health. Four players had to leave the game due to injuries.
In the first quarter, rookie first-round cornerback Trent McDuffie went to the locker room and was deemed in the NFL's concussion protocol after attempting to deliver a hit. In the third quarter, tight end Matt Bushman landed on the ground following a catch and was ruled questionable to return to the game shortly after with a shoulder injury. At the time of their injuries, McDuffie had recorded one solo tackle and Bushman had three catches for 73 yards and two touchdowns. Neither player re-entered the game after leaving.
Following Kansas City's 17-10 victory over Green Bay, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid addressed the media and provided some brief injury updates on McDuffie and Bushman, as well as a couple of others:
"As far as the injuries go, Trent McDuffie is being evaluated for a concussion, Matt Bushman fractured his clavicle, Malik Herring has an oblique strain and (Jerrion) Ealy, his right knee... we just evaluated it as we go."
The Bushman injury effectively extinguishes his chances of making the Chiefs' 53-man roster, although those odds weren't great beforehand. The same can likely be said for Ealy. Herring has seemingly been battling with Joshua Kaindoh for the team's final defensive end spot, and the oblique strain certainly doesn't do him any favors. These injuries (aside from McDuffie's) will undoubtedly factor into the Chiefs' final roster decisions that will end in a finalized 53-man squad next Tuesday afternoon.
Heading into Thursday night's game, Kansas City was already dealing with a laundry list of injuries to players such as wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee), defensive end Carlos Dunlap (Achilles), tight end Blake Bell (hip), cornerback Rashad Fenton (groin) and others. The team hasn't been very lucky in regards to the injury bug, and that misfortune carried into the Packers game. With Week 1 of the regular season coming just over a few weeks from the preseason finale, the Chiefs will hope for as much good news as possible between now and then.
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