Chiefs AFC West Rival Suffers Major Hit With Injury Update

The Kansas City Chiefs hope to continue their run atop the AFC, having won the conference for the last several years. But before that, they will defend an even longer stretch of dominance, coming up on a decade in its tenure. 

Kansas City has won the AFC West Division for the last nine seasons, going largely unchallenged through that stretch. However, their competitors are beginning to piece together viable challenges in pursuit of the champion. 

The Denver Broncos and Los Angeles Chargers both saw major breakthroughs last season, claiming two of the three wild card spots in the conference. Frankly, the Chiefs have not experienced that level of a challenge in some time. 

Meanwhile, the Las Vegas Raiders strive to enter these discussions currently the lowly basement dweller of the division. They have started a rebuild and have new leadership in head coach Pete Carroll guiding this crew forward. 

Rebuilds are never an easy process and usually take some time. These challenges are exacerbated by injury, especially those occurring or lingering well before the start of the season. 

Defensive tackle Chrisitan Wilkins faces that exact problem in his recovery from a foot injury suffered in October of last year. Wilkins did not participate in OTAs and according to Carroll, he is still in the process of getting back to the field. 

"Yeah, this has been a difficult recovery, and he's done everything he needs to do. He's been here every day. He's here early, working hard, but we're still working it, and he's not ready to get back out.