Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid gave his typical pre-practice injury update when he spoke to the media ahead of the first practice of the week on Wednesday.
The good news is that several key players will return to practice for the Chiefs in Week 9. The bad news is that two players won’t be participating in practice today, including one new player that hasn’t been on the injury report.
“As far as practicing today, Frank Clark won’t practice,” Reid told reporters on Wednesday. “He’s got a little bit of a swollen knee. He should be okay, though, as we go. But we’ll rest him up today.”
Clark wasn’t on the injury report last week, so this looks to be a new injury. It doesn’t seem to be something that Reid expects to be serious. Don’t be surprised to see Clark back at practice later this week after the comments from today.
“(Mitchell) Schwartz is not going to practice, likewise, with the back,” Reid continued.
Schwartz has missed two consecutive games with a back injury. It seems like they’re really trying to rest him up and make sure he’s available for the stretch run of the season. While Schwartz won’t be back today, the Chiefs did have three players return to practice.
“We do have Sherm (Anthony Sherman) back,” Reid said. “He’ll be out there.”
Sherman had missed the past few weeks as he was on the reserve/COVID-19 list following close contact with someone who contracted the virus. He’s been cleared to return from that list and practice with the team.
“Sammy Watkins will get some work in,” Reid said. “And we’ll see how he does.”
Watkins has missed the past three weeks due to a hamstring injury. He’d been working hard toward getting back. While Reid wouldn’t commit to full practice for Watkins, it’ll be good to see him out there getting some work in. His return to practice doesn’t necessarily indicate that he’ll play this week.
“(L’Jarius) Sneed will also be out there getting some work in,” Reid concluded.
Finally, the Chiefs’ standout rookie cornerback has been designated to return from injured reserve. Sneed suffered a fracture to his collarbone in Week 3 against the Baltimore Ravens and has been on injured reserve ever since. The team now has a 21-day practice window to decide whether he’ll be activated from injured reserve. It could be as early as this week or it could come following the bye week depending on how well Sneed does in practice.
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