It appears the Kansas City Chiefs have sustained their first major injury of training camp.
Second-year CB Alex Brown was absent from Saturday’s practice after participating in practice on Friday. The Chiefs listed Brown with a knee injury but didn’t comment on the severity.
On Instagram, Brown acknowledged a post from a fan page, that said he’d suffered a torn ACL. Brown’s response said, “I will be back bigger, better, faster, and stronger. With that being said my brothers still running it back.”
The Athletic’s Nate Taylor tracked down the post and confirmed that Brown has in fact tore his ACL, thus ending his season early.
Via his Instagram account, #Chiefs DB Alex Brown acknowledges that he sustained a torn ACL early in camp, which a source confirmed. Tough news since Brown played in the team’s 3 postseason games last year. pic.twitter.com/5FAPINrvi1
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) August 15, 2020
Brown was added to the Chiefs’ practice squad on Sept. 2, just after roster cuts in 2019. He was a player that Brett Veach and his staff identified and targeted specifically during roster cuts. He worked his way up the food chain on the practice squad in 2019, even playing the role of Lamar Jackson on the scout team as the Chiefs prepared to face the Baltimore Ravens in Week 3.
On December 3, Brown was elevated from the practice squad to the 53-man roster. He’d become a core special teams player for Dave Toub down the stretch and even earned some snaps on defense late in the season. He’d play in three regular-season games and each of the three postseason games for Kansas City, including Super Bowl LIV.
There was some expectation that the Chiefs could have relied on Brown this season as quality depth. He already had a year in the system and the trust of the coaching staff. Now, with BoPete Keyes on the non-football injury list and Antonio Hamilton also out of practice on Saturday, the Chiefs are looking very thin at the cornerback position.
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