Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Reid provided his usual injury update to reporters after the first practice session of the week on Wednesday. This is the first time we’ve had any significant injury updates involving starters since the practice week leading up to Week 17. There were three players absent from practice on Wednesday, including a crucial member of the receiving corps.
“The guys who didn’t practice today were Rashad Fenton, Willie Gay and Sammy Watkins,” Reid told reporters. “They’re all making progress.”
Gay is dealing with a high ankle sprain suffered in Week 17, Watkins is dealing with a calf injury that has hindered him throughout the season, and Rashad Fenton is dealing with dual ankle injuries suffered in Week 17.
Obviously, the injury to Watkins stands out here. He’s earned the nickname “Playoff Sammy” for a reason. The team has relied on him in some big moments in each of the past two seasons and not having him healthy could be a massive blow to the team.
Other than those three injuries the Chiefs are looking pretty good in the injury department. They got a crucial member of the offense back at practice today.
“Everybody else was out there moving around,” Reid said. “Clyde (Edwards-Helaire) got some work in today. He’s feeling better every day, every day that we go along here.”
While we don’t yet know the capacity in which Edwards-Helaire practiced on Wednesday, Reid elaborated on his progress.
“Ya know that is what he does,” Reid said. “I had a chance to see him in a couple of the rehab procedures as of late and he just gets after it. A lot of it is the way you approach it, the trust you have in the trainers and so on. I mean we’ve all had injuries and you guys have had injuries too. You think you’re going to break something by pushing it, but the trainers have a pretty good feel for what you can do and can’t do. You kind of surprise yourself. I’ll tell you, though, this kid, he kind of just went right at it. He was fearless with it and as a result, I’d tell you he’s probably a little bit ahead and we’ve just got to evaluate him. We’re not going to do anything to jeopardize him or his career. We’re taking it day-by-day with him and we’ll keep doing that. We’ll see how he does here.”
It sounds like he’s trending in the right direction and has a good chance to make his return this week. Having a strong running game will be an important element for the offense throughout the course of the playoffs.
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