Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid delivered one good and one bad piece of injury news on Friday as the team prepares to head west to face off with the San Francisco 49ers on Sunday.
Addressing the media on Friday, Reid announced that defensive end Mike Danna will be ruled out for Sunday's contest due to a pectoral injury. On the other side of the ball, wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster will be listed as questionable after being limited on Thursday due to a hamstring spasm.
"Yeah, I think he'll be fine," Reid said of Smith-Schuster.
Asked about the potential to call a wide receiver up from the practice squad, Reid said the team would be waiting before making that decision.
"We'll see," Reid said. "I mean, we're gonna list him [Smith-Schuster] as questionable just in case something comes up, but he did good today, so we'll see how he does tomorrow. But he was good today."
Shortly following Reid's press conference, the team officially announced that Danna is out and that Smith-Schuster is questionable. Friday's injury report listed Smith-Schuster as a limited participant in practice for the second consecutive day, while Danna did not practice at all this week.
Before Reid's brief update, Smith-Schuster was spotted working during the open portion of practice, certainly a good sign for how Smith-Schuster was feeling
With Reid's positive update, Smith-Schuster's availability on Sunday is a massive development for a wide receiver room that has been decimated by injuries this season. Smith-Schuster looks likely to reprise his role from KC's win over the New Orleans Saints in Week 5 when he and rookie Xavier Worthy each took 67% of the offensive snaps, trailing veteran Justin Watson's 70% usage.
Barring a practice squad elevation for wide receivers Justyn Ross, Nikko Remigio or Montrell Washington, the Chiefs will once again enter a game with only five active wide receivers: the previously mentioned trio plus Mecole Hardman and Skyy Moore, who took just eight and six offensive snaps against the Saints, respectively.
The bad news on the defensive line isn't surprising after Danna's back-to-back absences, but it will lead to Danna's second missed game of the 2024 season. In Week 4, second-year defensive end Felix Anudike-Uzomah got the start in Danna's place while Malik Herring also saw an increased workload. Against a strong 49ers running game, Anudike-Uzomah will be tested as he works to become more stout against the run.
