Chiefs Roster: 14 absent from Monday practice; 3 players back to work

On Monday, the Kansas City Chiefs continued their preseason preparation at the team’s training facility on the grounds of the Truman Sports Complex.

Monday’s big practice headline is that wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster — whose signing to the team had been noted just hours before — was present for the session. He was wearing his old No. 9 jersey, which rookie running back Louis Rees-Zammit had been wearing. During Monday’s session, Rees-Zammit was wearing No. 49 — the same number as punter Matt Araiza. (Up until the final cutdown, it is not unusual for players to have duplicate numbers).

While observing the practice, Arrowhead Pride’s Pete Sweeney noted that two injured players were missing:

This means that DT Chris Jones (shoulder) participated in the session. So did LS James Winchester (shoulder). Both missed Tuesday’s practice — the last one for which reporters were present. DE Truman Jones did not participate in last Tuesday’s session but was back to work on Monday.

CB Nazeeh Johnson (hamstring) was limited on Monday. Cornerback Joshua Williams was present but without a helmet. So was wide receiver Hollywood Brown. It was the first time Brown has been at practice since suffering his sternoclavicular dislocation in the preseason game against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

Rees-Zammit left practice early with a back injury. Tight end Irv Smith Jr. and right guard Trey Smith left practice early because of the heat.

Five other absent players are already off the roster:

12 players were absent for unspecified reasons. Most are likely to have been waived from the roster in advance of Tuesday’s final cutdown deadline — see our roster cutdown tracker for the latest changes — but some of these could have been absent because of previously undisclosed injuries:

The 2024 season opener will be one week from Thursday, when the Baltimore Ravens come to GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium on September 5.