KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Wide receiver Jalen Royals didn’t practice with the Chiefs on Sunday as they began their preparation for Friday night’s matchup with the Los Angeles Chargers in Brazil.
“As far as the injuries go today for practice, really, Royals is the only one that they won’t practice,” head coach Andy Reid said. “Everybody else will go.”
Royals has been dealing with knee tendonitis since the team’s second preseason game against Seattle. The club initially hoped Royals would be available in Week 1, but Sunday’s update suggests the rookie may wait another week before his NFL debut.
With receiver Rashee Rice suspended for the first six weeks of the season, the Chiefs will lean on Xavier Worthy, Hollywood Brown and JuJu Smith-Schuster in the opener against the Chargers.
This will be the first game action of the season for Brown after a foot-ankle injury kept him out of the team’s three preseason contests. Reid said he’s not worried about Brown being ready to play.
“I mean, he’s a veteran guy,” Reid said. “If he’s younger, I’d probably say he’d be a little bit more worried about it, but he’s a veteran guy that kind of knows how to go about it. I think he should be fine. And we’ve got guys that can rotate in, too. We mix and match kind of as we go.”
Other Chiefs who have been dealing with injuries were on the field for practice Sunday. That group includes linebacker Drue Tranquill (back) and Jack Cochrane (knee) and defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott (ankle).
NFL league procedures dictate that the teams playing Friday issue injury reports on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, meaning no official report will be issued Sunday. The Chiefs are travelling to Brazil on Wednesday and will hold a walk-through on Thursday, so only estimated injury reports will be issued on those days.
