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Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid opened the final week of the preseason with a Monday media session at the team’s training facility on the grounds of the Truman Sports Complex. The first order of business was a long list of injured players.
Reid said that three players previously announced as injured after Friday night’s 33-16 loss to the Seattle Seahawks — cornerback Nazeeh Johnson (shoulder strain), linebacker Jack Cochrane (knee bone bruise) and safety Mike Edwards (hamstring strain) — were all going to miss Monday afternoon’s practice session. One more of Friday’s injured players — defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah, who left Seattle with a strained hamstring — will “most likely” be placed on the team’s Reserve/Injured list.
At one time, this would have automatically ended Anudike-Uzomah’s season. But after recent rule revisions, Kansas City will have the option to declare him as a player eligible to return from IR after the season’s fourth game. This designation would have to be made with the final cutdown to 53 players, which must happen before 3 p.m. (Arrowhead Time) on Tuesday, August 26.
“Yeah, that’s a tough thing,” said Reid of the former first-round pick’s situation. “I mean, you know he’s worked hard, so we’ll see where it goes. I can’t tell you how long it’s going to be, [but] any time for that is disappointing for him, I know — because he works so stinking hard.”
Reid said that three other players were going to miss Monday’s practice. Two of them are drafted rookies. Second-round defensive tackle Omarr-Norman-Lott has aggravated the sprained ankle that troubled him during training camp, while fourth-round wide receiver Jalen Royals has tendonitis in his knee. Finally, second-year offensive lineman Ethan Driskell is continuing to recover from an appendectomy.
But there was some good news, too. Reid said nothing about rookie cornerback Nohl Williams, who entered the league’s concussion protocol during the Seahawks game. This suggested that he would be back to work on Monday. And Reid said that veteran wide receiver Hollywood Brown — who missed the first two preseason games with an ankle injury — would be practicing on Monday.
“Hollywood got a little work yesterday — which was good — and he’ll get a little bit more today,” said the head coach. “And then we’ll just see how he progresses through this thing. But it’s not a matter of wanting to be out there; he wants to do it. [We’re] just taking it slow. We don’t want any setbacks with this thing.”
UPDATE at 4:10 p.m.: Late on Monday afternoon, the team announced it had placed Anudike-Uzomah on Reserve/Injured and waived running back Elijah Young. To fill those roster spots, the team signed defensive end Owen Carney and linebacker Xander Mueller. Carney — an undrafted free agent signing for the Cincinnati Bengals in 2023 — spent time with Kansas City late in the 2024 preseason. Mueller collected 273 tackles (146 solo), nine sacks, six interceptions and eight passes defensed over 46 games with Northwestern.
