Tag: Rashad Fenton

Chiefs activate CB Rashad Fenton from active/PUP list

#Chiefs CB Rashad Fenton is practicing for the first time this offseason after being activated off of the active/PUP list.

The Kansas City Chiefs are getting some reinforcements on the defensive side of the ball on Tuesday.

Chiefs CB Rashad Fenton has been recovering from shoulder surgery that took place in the spring. He missed the entirety of the offseason workout program. He was placed on the active/PUP list at the onset of training camp and missed the first 11 practices, but he won’t be missing another day of practice.

Fenton tweeted out about an hour ahead of practice that it was his first day out there with the guys.

He was spotted by reporters in attendance with his pads and his helmet, suggesting he’s been activated from the active/PUP list and will be practicing on Tuesday.

We can expect the team to be cautious and ramp up Fenton’s workload as they have the players who are coming in after not having practiced this offseason (Orlando Brown Jr., Carlos Dunlap). It’s possible that they even hold him out of the upcoming preseason game as he continues to acclimate.

A former sixth-round pick in the 2019 NFL draft, Fenton was one of the team’s top cornerbacks last season despite playing fewer than 50% of the team’s defensive snaps. He graded out in the top-5 at Pro Football Focus among cornerbacks with at least 500 snaps, boasting an 82.0 overall grade. Fenton appeared in 14 games and started eight for Kansas City, finishing the season with 49 total tackles, seven passes defended and a forced fumble.

Fenton is primed for a bigger role this season, but he’s a bit behind in terms of the competition. We’ll see exactly how he fits as soon as the team gets him back up to speed.

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Chiefs place 4 players on PUP list to start training camp

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid suggested this was coming with four players going on the active/PUP list to start #ChiefsCamp.

The Kansas City Chiefs have placed three players on the active/PUP list to start training camp, just as we predicted they would.

Andy Reid suggested this was coming during his injury update at the onset of training camp arrivals on Friday. Each of CB Rashad Fenton (shoulder), OT Lucas Niang (knee), and WR Justyn Ross (foot) had surgery this offseason and won’t be healthy enough to participate at the start of training camp. OT Prince Tega Wanogho (leg) will also join them on the PUP list.

What does their movement to the active/PUP list mean, though? Here is an explanation from our earlier article:

“Players who are placed on the active/PUP list can participate in Chiefs’ team meetings, do solo conditioning and work with the team training staff. They’re simply prohibited from practicing with the team while they remain on the PUP list. Players who are on the active/PUP list count against the 90-man offseason roster and they can be activated from the PUP list at any time during training camp.

If a player were to remain on the PUP list through training camp they’ll be sent to the reserve/PUP list to start the season. From there players now have to wait for just four regular-season games to elapse before they can return to practice. Once they return to practice, the team will then have a 21-day window to activate the player to the 53-man roster. If a player isn’t activated during that window, the Chiefs will be forced to place them on injured reserve.”

As you can see, this doesn’t necessarily mean that Fenton, Niang, Ross and Tega Wanogho will be out for the duration of training camp. We’ll monitor their status throughout the course of camp and provide you with any updates should they return to action.

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3 Chiefs players who could open up training camp on PUP list

We take a look at three players who could start #Chiefs training camp on the Physically Unable to Perform (PUP) list.

When the Kansas City Chiefs rookies, quarterbacks and injured players report to training camp on Friday, July 22nd, there will likely be a few transactions made to add players to the active/PUP list.

This is done for players who are deemed physically unable to participate in training camp due to a football-related injury. Players who are placed on the active/PUP list can participate in Chiefs’ team meetings, do solo conditioning and work with the team training staff. They’re simply prohibited from practicing with the team while they remain on the PUP list. Players who are on the active/PUP list count against the 90-man offseason roster and they can be activated from the PUP list at any time during training camp.

If a player were to remain on the PUP list through training camp they’ll be sent to the reserve/PUP list to start the season. From there players now have to wait for just four regular-season games to elapse before they can return to practice. Once they return to practice, the team will then have a 21-day window to activate the player to the 53-man roster. If a player isn’t activated during that window, the Chiefs will be forced to place them on injured reserve.

There are three particular players who look like they could be heading for a stay on the active/PUP list at the onset of the 2022 Chiefs training camp. Here is a quick look at each:

Is the Chiefs’ cornerback group being slept on heading into 2022?

The #Chiefs were snubbed from @TheNFLWire’s lists of top cornerbacks and it has @goldmctNFL wondering if the team’s corner group is being slept on.

Touchdown Wire kicked off their annual top positional lists, but the Kansas City Chiefs have yet to have a player make the cut.

Touchdown Wire’s Doug Farrar has named the top safeties, slot defenders and outside cornerbacks in the league thus far. Kansas City has been noticeably absent from the list, save for former Chiefs DB Tyrann Mathieu. It’s not all that surprising to see a largely revamped safety group left off that particular list, but it feels like there are some corners on the roster that are worthy of recognition among the top in the league. At the very least the team has two players worthy of an honorable mention, which they didn’t receive.

Let’s start with the team’s longest-tenured veteran, former sixth-round draft pick Rashad Fenton. Among cornerbacks with at least 500 defensive snaps last season, Fenton had the sixth-best overall grade in the league from Pro Football Focus. He was the only Chiefs cornerback to not allow a touchdown in coverage during the regular season last year, also allowing less than 70% of passes to be completed in his coverage. He was also the Chiefs’ top-ranked corner in ANYA/CS (Adjusted Net Yards Allowed per Coverage Snap) last season, which is a statistic developed to better quantify cornerback play. He came in No. 25 overall among 78 qualifying cornerbacks.

Then there is L’Jarius Sneed, who has emerged as the top cornerback from the 2020 NFL draft class as a fourth-round pick. He burst onto the scene as a rookie playing outside corner, recording interceptions in his first two career games. Injury stifled his rookie campaign, but when he came back he’d begin playing both nickel and outside cornerback. Last season, which was a tough one for Sneed personally due to the loss of his older brother, Sneed recorded the second-most defensive stops of any cornerback in the NFL. That’s all while missing a few games too.

Rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie hasn’t played a snap in the NFL, so he wouldn’t have qualified for Touchdown Wire’s list. Regardless, he was statistically one of the best cornerbacks in college football last season. He allowed just 16 catches on 36 targets for 111 yards and no touchdowns surrendered on the year. He actually hasn’t surrendered a touchdown since 2019 and has only allowed two receptions of more than 20 yards in his entire college career. People will try to discredit McDuffie for his size, but that didn’t seem to make any difference over three seasons with the Washington Huskies.

Maybe the Chiefs don’t have any outside or slot cornerbacks worthy of being recognized on a list of the top-12 players heading into the 2022 season. While Fenton and Sneed might have some statistics that make them worthy, they don’t have the longevity, name recognition or accolades to match.

That said, this group is hardly one to be slept on. These three players, along with others on the roster, are fully capable of putting up performances that could establish each as a top cornerback in the league. It’s just a matter of putting it together once the new season begins.

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Chiefs GM Brett Veach provides injury update on CB Rashad Fenton

One reason the #Chiefs drafted three corners and traded for another? Rashad Fenton is currently recovering from an injury.

Kansas City Chiefs GM Brett Veach spoke to media members on Tuesday morning to recap a long draft weekend.

In doing so, Veach revealed some news on an injury that hadn’t previously popped up before. Fourth-year CB Rashad Fenton, who dealt with a back injury that kept him out of some games late last year, is currently rehabbing from a surgical procedure done this offseason.

“Fenton is a guy that we’re obviously very high on and very confident in,” Veach said. “He’s going through a little bit of a rehab now, so hopefully we get him for the start of training camp.”

Elaborating on the injury, Veach said that he believes it’s a shoulder injury and reiterated that they’re hopeful he’ll be ready to play by training camp.

“I think it’s a shoulder,” Veach said. “I’m sure Rick (Burkholder) will talk about that either after OTAs or before. It’s something that — I think he’ll be ready for training camp, but we certainly want to get some guys out here and be ready to roll. (We want to) be in position to kind of know what we have (at cornerback).”

Ultimately, this injury did play a factor in how aggressive they were to add to the cornerback position via the draft and to go out and trade for Texans CB Lonnie Johnson Jr. just a day ago. The team is currently preparing for all possibilities and ensuring they have the depth to field a competitive unit.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides injury updates after Wednesday practice

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided injury updates following practice on Wednesday, speaking on Tyrann Mathieu, Rashad Fenton and Darrel Williams.

Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided his typical post-practice injury update to start the practice week.

The only player to sit out of practice on Wednesday was S Tyrann Mathieu, who is still in the NFL’s concussion protocol. Mathieu was knocked out of the divisional-round game against the Buffalo Bills early on in the first quarter. Despite his absence from practice on Wednesday, Reid still seems quite optimistic about Mathieu’s status for the AFC championship game.

“So, the only person who didn’t practice today was Tyrann (Mathieu),” Reid said. “He’s in the (concussion) protocol. Doing very well, we’ll just see how he does tomorrow. There is a chance if everything works out that he’ll be back.”

If they could get him back at practice on Thursday, even in a limited capacity, it would significantly increase his chances of playing. That said, Mathieu is probably one of the only players on the team that Reid would trust to play in such a big game with limited or no practice.

As for other injuries, Rashad Fenton returned to practice after missing the entire past week of practice due to a back injury. Darrel Williams also continued to practice. He was limited late in the practice week ahead of the divisional round, but he was inactive during the game on Sunday.

“Yeah, they did good today,” Reid said of Fenton and Williams. “They moved around good.”

Both Fenton and Williams seem to have a chance to make their return to action in the AFC title game. Given their impact earlier this season, they’d both be welcomed additions for this game.

We’ll have more injury updates later this afternoon when the first injury report for both the Chiefs and Bengals is released.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides injury updates after Friday practice

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided injury updates on CB Rashad Fenton, RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire and RB Darrel Williams after Friday’s practice.

The Kansas City Chiefs look to be getting a little healthier in their final practice of the week.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid gave his final injury updates of the week following the conclusion of practice. He told reporters that they had a full house at practice, with the exception of CB Rashad Fenton, who suffered a back injury in pregame warmups against the Pittsburgh Steelers.

“Other than (Rashad) Fenton, everybody else practiced,” Reid said. “Willie (Gay Jr.) was a part of that. I know that’s where we’ll be going here, so you don’t have to. He’s going to play, he was at practice.”

Reid did confirm Willie Gay Jr. would play following his Wednesday night arrest. Expect Fenton to be ruled out for Kansas City, though.

As for the running back situation, Clyde Edwards-Helaire practiced for the third consecutive day. Reid stopped short of saying that he’ll play, only because he hasn’t yet met with head athletic trainer Rick Burkholder to discuss his status.

“You know what, I haven’t met with Rick (Burkholder) after this practice yet,” Reid said. “I’ll get with him. I felt comfortable with (Clyde Edwards-Helaire) practicing today and he did practice full speed and all that. Listen, I’m still recovering from telling you guys he was going to play last week, so I’m not going to say anything until the fish is in the boat.”

Expect that Edwards-Helaire plays against the Bills, short of a new development with his injury situation.

As for Darrel Williams, he returned to practice after missing the first two days of the week. He’s dealing with a toe injury, one that has been dampening his ability to push off. He’ll have a tougher time returning to the field than Edwards-Helaire, only because of his lack of practice this week.

“Yeah, I’d probably tell you the same thing,” Reid said. “He moved around well today, but let me see how he does. He only practiced today, so we’ll see how he does here in the next day, see where he’s at.”

We’ll have injuries and game status designations for you later this afternoon.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides injury updates after Wednesday practice

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid had the latest injury updates on Darrel Williams, Rashad Fenton and Clyde Edwards-Helaire after practice on Wednesday.

The Kansas City Chiefs were back at practice on Wednesday ahead of their divisional-round game against the Buffalo Bills.

Chiefs HC Andy Reid gave his typical post-practice injury update to start off the practice week. He said that all but two players participated in their first practice of the week, with RB Darrel Williams (toe) and CB Rashad Fenton (back) sitting out of practice. Reid felt the time off now would allow both injuries to, “calm down a little bit.”

Fenton suffered his injury during pregame warmups, which led to him being ruled inactive for the wild-card game against the Pittsburgh Steelers. It was the third consecutive week that the team had a pregame injury that either caused a player to be scratched or limited during a game. Williams, however, played on Sunday, but the team shut him down after it was clear that his toe wasn’t going to be cooperative. Reid said that Williams had trouble pushing off.

The team did have one player back at practice to start the week. Clyde Edwards-Helaire practiced in some capacity on Wednesday. Reid is cautiously optimistic with Edwards-Helaire, who has missed the past three games with a shoulder injury. The second-year running back was a limited participant to start off last week, but he was ultimately shut down for the following two days.

“Listen, he moved around well,” Reid said. “We’ll see how he is tomorrow and how he back-to-back’s these things. I don’t want to (predict) anything. I said it last week and I was wrong, so, we’ll just see how he does as we go forward.”

We’ll have more updates on exact practice participation when the injury report is released later today.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides more injury updates on Monday

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid gave a brief injury update on Rashad Fenton, plus more on RBs Darrel Williams and Clyde Edwards-Helaire ahead of the upcoming practice week.

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Kansas City Chiefs HC Andy Reid provided media members with some new injury updates on Monday.

After the game on Sunday night, Reid spoke about RB Clyde Edwards-Helaire and DT Chris Jones, but he neglected to mention CB Rashad Fenton, who sat out with a back injury. It’s the third consecutive week with a pregame injury for the Chiefs, and the timing of this one seemed to have more to do with his inactivity than the severity of the injury.

“By the way, I didn’t mention (Rashad) Fenton to you last night with the injury,” Reid began. “Right before the game, he came in and his back had locked up, so we had to sit him down. But again, that was right before we had to turn our (inactive players) slip in.”

It sounds like Fenton could be back in action in the divisional round, but it all will depend on how his back is feeling at the start of and throughout the week of practice. As for other injuries that Reid didn’t mention, Darrel Williams appeared in just eight snaps on Sunday night. He entered the game with a toe injury and that seemed to be bothering him more than the team anticipated when they made him active.

“Darrel (Williams) tried to go, but he was having a hard time pushing off that toe,” Reid said.

As a result, Jerick McKinnon saw the lion’s share of the carries and looked good doing so. He could be in line for more snaps moving forward with Williams dealing with the toe and Clyde Edwards-Helaire still struggling to return to practice due to a shoulder injury.

Edwards-Helaire started off last week with a limited practice before he was downgraded to a non-participant for the final two days. Reid doesn’t quite know what to expect from Edwards-Helaire this week.

“You know what, I haven’t had a chance to talk to him,” Reid said. “I thought we’d be able to do more last week, so I’m just curious to see. I think he almost has to get out on the field to feel that and see where he’s at. But I think he thought he could do more last week, too. It just didn’t work out that way.”

All things considered, the Chiefs are about as healthy as you could hope for at this point of the season. We’ll keep you abreast of any new injury updates when the team returns to practice on Wednesday.

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Chiefs HC Andy Reid provides updates on injured players on Friday

#Chiefs HC Andy Reid ruled out ST ace Chris Lammons for Week 14, but he seemed optimistic about Lucas Niang and Rashad Fenton’s chances to play vs. #Raiders.

The Kansas City Chiefs will be without at least one player in Week 14 against the Las Vegas Raiders.

Speaking to reporters on Friday, Reid ruled out special teams ace Chris Lammons. The starting gunner is dealing with a high ankle sprain suffered in the Week 13 win over the Denver Broncos.

“Really, the only injury, is Chris Lammons,” Reid said. “He’ll be listed as out. Everybody else will be ready to roll. I’ll meet with (Brett) Veach on the actives and all of that as we get a little more time this afternoon.”

Lammons’ absence was expected after he missed the first two practices of the week, and special teams coordinator Dave Toub has already identified replacement options on the practice squad.

The good news here is that both Lucas Niang and Rashad Fenton have a chance to be active on Sunday. Niang hasn’t been active since Week 9 against the Green Bay Packers, when he first suffered his rib injury. Fenton missed the past week with a knee injury suffered in the Week 11 game against the Dallas Cowboys.

“They both worked (at practice today),” Reid told reporters. “Those are day-to-day things, but they both worked today and that was a plus. We’ll see how that situates itself here and where we’re at.”

The team’s final injury report is due out any time now. Don’t be shocked to see both Niang and Fenton listed as questionable heading into the game.

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