In the Kansas City Chiefs' Divisional Round win over the Buffalo Bills, starting left guard Joe Thuney suffered an injury that forced him to exit the contest early. Head coach Andy Reid didn't initially have any news to provide postgame, but there's new context on the injury on Monday afternoon.
Per a report from Ian Rapoport of NFL Network, Thuney suffered a pec strain in Sunday's victory that was revealed by an MRI. In a separate tweet, he said the first-team All-Pro lineman's status "will be tracked throughout the week" and is "up in the air" as of Monday.
#Chiefs All-Pro guard Joe Thuney suffered a pec strain in Sunday’s win over the #Bills, source says. That is a potential good sign for his availability over the next few weeks.
Thuney, a multi-time Pro Bowler, has started every game for Kansas City this season. He played 37 offensive snaps in the Divisional Round, good for 74% of those available. Ignoring an abbreviated rest stint in Week 18, the 31-year-old played every single snap this season before Sunday.
Earlier on Monday, Adam Schefter of ESPN appeared on The Pat McAfee Show and spoke about Thuney. His MRI results weren't available at the time, so Schefter had a more pessimistic tone than Rapoport.
"Well, he's got that pec injury," Schefter said. "And I think you hear that right away and you say that's not good for his availability. Now, they're doing testing today, doing an MRI. I don't know what time the MRI was but in a best-case scenario, I think he's going to be challenged to play this weekend. In a worst-case scenario, he's going to be out for the year. Either way, he's an incredible lineman. He's done an unbelievable job there. I would say the chances are that they're going to have to prepare for life without Joe Thuney. We'll see how the tests come out with the MRI, but pec injury, offensive lineman, never a good combination."
Thuney is arguably the Chiefs' best offensive lineman, so any time he misses would be a major blow to the team's Super Bowl chances. With a Sunday afternoon AFC Championship Game matchup versus the Baltimore Ravens looming, his participation in practice during the week will be worth monitoring closely. Should Thuney sit out this weekend's game, Nick Allegretti is likely the favorite to replace him along the left side of the line.
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