Injury-Prone Chief Suddenly Limited in Practice Ahead of Week 7
By Jovan Alford
The Kansas City Chiefs are fresh off the Week 6 bye and will gear up to play the San Francisco 49ers in Week 7 in a rematch of last year’s Super Bowl.
The Chiefs enter this highly-anticipated matchup on Sunday with a less-than-ideal wide receiver unit missing Hollywood Brown and Rashee Rice due to injury. In Kansas City’s last game before the bye, the Chiefs saw veteran wideout JuJu Smith-Schuster have a monster game against the New Orleans Saints.
Smith-Schuster led the Chiefs with seven receptions (eight targets) for 130 yards. Kansas City hopes the veteran receiver can have a similar stat line against the Niners, but he needs to be healthy.
According to Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com, Smith-Schuster was added to Thursday’s injury report with a hamstring injury. The Chiefs gave the vet wideout a limited tag, which isn’t good, but they still have one more practice day on Friday.
Juju Smith-Schuster added to Thursday’s injury report as limited with a hamstring.
— Matt Derrick (@mattderrick) October 17, 2024
Less than ideal for an already depleted Chiefs’ receiver corps. https://t.co/hzDYNiig38
With the Chiefs already down Brown and Rice, they cannot afford another injury to the wide receiver core. If Smith-Schuster doesn’t play, it will put a lot of pressure on star tight end Travis Kelce and the running backs to be the primary receivers for Mahomes.
As for the WR room, Xavier Worthy, Justin Watson, and Mecole Hardman would have to step up and fill Smith-Schuster’s void. That’s not an easy task against a 49ers’ defense that’s allowed 215.2 yards per game (16th-most in the NFL). Hardman was the Chiefs' third-leading receiver in their Week 5 win over the Saints (four receptions for 33 yards).
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