Chiefs' Trent McDuffie among group not practicing Tuesday
The Chiefs are without three starters for Tuesday's practice
The Chiefs have a short week of preparation before hosting the Denver Broncos on Christmas night at GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium.
And the quick turnaround might not project well for the team’s list of wounded players.
Coach Andy Reid announced Tuesday that cornerback Trent McDuffie (knee), cornerback Jaylen Watson (groin), wide receiver Rashee Rice (concussion), wide receiver Tyquan Thornton (concussion) and wide receiver Nikko Remigio (knee) will not practice.
Tuesday is the lone on-field practice before Thursday night’s game, meaning the Chiefs will make a decision on the group’s gameday availability on Wednesday’s injury report.
The cornerback position is of concern because McDuffie and Watson are starters.
McDuffie hasn’t played since suffering his injury in Week 14’s loss to the Houston Texans.
Meanwhile, tackle Jaylon Moore (knee) and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi (illness) are expected to practice in some capacity.
Moore and Nnadi did not play in Week 16.
Opportunity knocks for other wide receivers on the Chiefs’ active 53-player roster when considering Rice, Thornton and Remigio.
But it remains to be seen if the Chiefs elect to take a good look at young players.
The Chiefs previously spoke of a desire to see what some players, including 2025 fourth-round pick wide receiver Jalen Royals, could do entering Week 16’s matchup against the Tennessee Titans.
Royals, however, only saw action on three offensive snaps in the loss and didn’t record a target.
Still, the Chiefs hope to get Royals some work either Thursday or the Week 18 finale.
“I think now is a good time to be able to try to get him some reps and we’re trying to do that,” offensive coordinator Matt Nagy said Tuesday. “It’s never easy, but for sure it’s something that we want to do.”
QB SHUFFLE
The Chiefs are down their top quarterbacks to close out the regular season.
Gardner Minshew, who opened the season as the No. 2 signal-caller, joined starter Patrick Mahomes on injured reserve.
Minshew suffered a knee injury in Week 16, while Mahomes landed on injured reserve with a torn ACL/LCL suffered in Week 15.
Chris Oladokun, the Chiefs’ No. 3 quarterback, will now start against the Denver Broncos in Week 17 and the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 18.
With Oladokun now under center, don’t be surprised if the Chiefs scale back the playbook.
“You back it up a bit, formation-wise and that,” coach Andy Reid said. “You got a lot of guys that are new to it and learning, but we’re still able to do enough.”
The Chiefs signed quarterback Shane Buechele from the Buffalo Bills practice squad to the active 53-player roster, and he will backup Oladokun.
Buechele previously spent time with the Chiefs from 2021-22 as a backup quarterback.