Chiefs’ long layoff chance to get healthy
Many key players dealt with issues down the stretch
KANSAS CITY, Mo. — The Kansas City Chiefs had to wait until the very last of the six wild-card games played over the weekend to find out who the reigning Super Bowl champions would play in the divisional round of the playoffs.
As if they hadn’t sat around long enough.
The Chiefs clinched the No. 1 seed in the AFC and its lone first-round bye in Week16, allowing coach Andy Reid to sit just about every crucial player for their regular-season finale.
So that means Patrick Mahomes and his cadre of support, along with Tyrann Mathieu and other defensive stars, will have gone 21 days without stepping on the field for a game by the time they face the Cleveland Browns on Sunday.
“We had a bird’s-eye view yesterday of watching them. They’re a good football team, and we knew that,” said Reid, whose staff had begun preparing for each of the four possible opponents long ago. “We had a chance to study them last week, as we did the other teams we might be playing. All in all, we’ll start the week of practice tomorrow and go from there.”
It should be the first practice in a while that the Chiefs are relatively healthy.
Tyreek Hill was dealing with a hamstring injury the final three weeks of the regular season, and fellow wide receiver Sammy Watkins was slowed by a calf injury. In the backfield, Clyde Edwards-helaire has been trying to return from a highankle sprain, and Le’veon Bell was sidelined Week 17 with a knee injury. Up front, offensive lineman Mike Remmers had a back injury that caused him to miss the Chiefs’ regular-season finale.
Middle linebacker Anthony Hitchens, who is tasked with calling the plays, spent the past couple of weeks on the COVID-19 list. His running mate, Ben
Niemann, has been dealing with a hamstring strain and backup Damien Wilson has been limited with a lingering knee injury. Defensive tackles Mike Pennel (back) and Derrick Nnadi (knee) were hobbled on the front end, and cornerback Charvarius Ward (hamstring) was slowed on the back end.
They might need to be against the Browns, who earned the right to visit Kansas City by being the lowest-remaining seed in the AFC playoffs, but hardly looked as if they were overmatched Sunday night in Pittsburgh.
“There is anticipation, obviously, to who we’ll play and that ended up being the last game of the two days,” Reid said, “so we had a little bit of a wait to find out and then once you get that, we’re going. So you don’t get much time to think about anything else other than that. So I wouldn’t tell you I feel any different than I did last year. Everyone had a chance to see how good they are, and it’ll take all of that. We have to keep our eye right on that.”