The Kansas City Chiefs are getting closer and closer to their AFC Championship Game outing against the hosting Baltimore Ravens. Before Patrick Mahomes and company hit the road, though, they have some injuries to address.
Kansas City has a laundry list of ailments, with a whopping 17 players appearing on the club's injury report on Wednesday and Thursday. With that said, over half of them have been full participants in practice throughout the week. That still leaves a handful of situations to monitor, however.
Prior to Sunday's game, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid took the podium on Friday afternoon to provide an update on where things stand on the injury front. The team also released its official Friday injury report with designations for the weekend.
Isiah Pacheco returns to practice on Friday
Some alarms were sounded when running back Isiah Pacheco was held out of practice to begin the week with a toe sprain. Despite the second-year man saying he'd "absolutely" play on Sunday, that still left some uncertainty surrounding his potential effectiveness. After not practicing on Wednesday, he worked in a team walkthrough on Thursday but was held out of afternoon practice once again. Returning to close out the week was a good sign for Pacheco heading into the weekend. He's officially questionable for the AFC title game but is expected to play.
An end-of-week update on the status of Joe Thuney, Mike Edwards, Willie Gay Jr.
Kansas City will officially be without left guard Joe Thuney in the AFC Championship Game. The All-Pro was ruled out on Friday afternoon with a pectoral strain suffered in the Divisional Round of the playoffs. Reid said earlier on Friday there was "a chance" Thuney would be out, adding that his injury was less of a pain tolerance issue and more of a functionality one. Nick Allegretti, who has plenty of experience along the offensive line, will get the start in Thuney's absence.
The good news for the Chiefs is safety Mike Edwards progressed to full participation in practice on Friday after not working on Wednesday and being limited on Thursday. He's listed as questionable for Sunday's game, although there's growing optimism that he could clear concussion protocol in time to play.
Linebacker Willie Gay Jr. is questionable as he continues to work through a neck injury. He was a limited participant in Wednesday and Thursday's practices but didn't work at all on Friday. Gay played just 11 defensive snaps last Sunday before exiting the Bills game. He's a critical part of Kansas City's game plan against rushing quarterbacks like Lamar Jackson, so his status is a huge one to watch over the weekend.
Once again, no Derrick Nnadi or Skyy Moore at practice
For the third day in a row this week, nose tackle Derrick Nnadi and wide receiver Skyy Moore didn't practice for the Chiefs. The former is nursing a tricep injury, whereas the latter continues to deal with a knee ailment that's held him out of action since a mid-December game against the New England Patriots. Moore was designated to return from the injured reserve list last week but has since suffered a bit of a setback.
As expected, both Nnadi and Moore will be held out of Sunday's game. They simply didn't display enough progress during the week to be deemed ready to roll for the AFC Championship Game. With Nnadi out, expect veteran Mike Pennel to step back into his role along the defensive line. In the Divisional Round, he played a season-high 40 snaps. Moore's practice window will remain open, although Kansas City's wide receiver room has plenty of cooks in the kitchen already even without the second-year man in the fold.
Elsewhere, wide receiver Kadarius Toney was limited in practice for the second day in a row and is questionable for Sunday with a hip injury. Offensive tackle Prince Tega Wanogho, recently designated to return from IR, is out.
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