Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided an update on a pair of injured players during his Monday media availability.
One player, injured late during last night’s game, appears to have been cleared of his injury and will be available to practice and play to start the week.
“We found out that (Ben) Niemann had cleared out of the concussion protocol,” Reid said. “He’s OK to go. Other than that, everything is good as far as the injuries go to this point.”
The other player Reid was asked about was second-year LB Willie Gay Jr., who has been on injured reserve with a toe injury since the start of the 2021 NFL season. He was eligible to be designated to return from injured reserve ahead of Week 4, but unfortunately, he wasn’t quite ready to return. Reid is more optimistic that his return designation could come this week and possibly as early as Wednesday.
“Yeah, there’s a chance,” Reid said Gay being activated. “I mean he was kind of getting there last week. So we’ll see on this and see where he’s at as we go forward here.”
When players are designated to return from injured reserve it opens up a 21-day practice window. It’s possible that he returns from injured reserve, practices and still doesn’t suit up in Week 5. It’s also possible that he’s designated to return and gets back into the starting lineup this week.
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Reid also made a point to note that he feels the pass rush and other facets of the defense will improve when some players like Gay, Frank Clark, Charvarius Ward and Rashad Fenton return from injury. That said, he was appreciative of the snaps that some of the younger defenders have seen in their absence and believes that it’ll help the Chiefs down the line.
We’ll find out more about injuries from Reid on Wednesday when the team has their first practice of the week ahead of their Sunday night showdown with the Buffalo Bills.
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