KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Isiah Pacheco returned to the practice field Friday for his first action since entering the league’s concussion protocol in Monday’s loss to Las Vegas. Although he’s listed as questionable for the contest, head coach Andy Reids remains hopeful his starting running back will be available against the Bengals Sunday.
“He practiced today, which is under part of that protocol,” Reid said. “We have to see how he did after today but just from talking to him out there, he did well during the practice but we got to do the – there’s more to it than that.”
That suggests Pacheco is in the fourth or fifth stage of the NFL’s return-to-participation protocol. Once the club physician clears a player for full football activity, the player must be examined by the independent neurological consultant (INC) assigned to the club. If the INC concurs with the team physician, the player may participate in the team’s next game.
The club also declared cornerback L’Jarius Sneed (calf) and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire (illness) as questionable for Sunday’s game. The Chiefs also declared out left tackle Donovan Smith and wide receiver Kadarius Toney.
Sneed left the game against the Raiders for one play after straining his calf and did not practice the last three days. Edwards-Helaire missed the last two days of practice due to an illness but Reid believes he will be able to play Sunday.
“I think so,” Reid said. “We just got to get him through this. He’s not feeling very good. He’s getting better.”
Sneed appears more of a game-day decision due to this calf strain. Defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo said Thursday that if Sneed couldn’t play against the Bengals, he hadn’t made a decision yet on whether he would ask another cornerback — such as Trent McDuffie — to shadow one of the Bengals’ top receivers. Ja’Marr Chase (shoulder) and was limited in practice Friday, and head coach Zac Taylor suggested he would also be a game-time decision.
If the Chiefs are forced to play without Sneed, McDuffie would be joined by Jaylen Watson and Josh Williams. Ebow Boye-Doe and Nic Jones would also be likely candidates to be active.
“It’s good that they’ve all played, that’s the positive thing, they’ve all got game experience,” Reid said. “If he (L’Jarius Sneed) doesn’t play then we’ll go with the other group. It’s a great challenge no matter if he plays or doesn’t play, it’s a great challenge to go against some real good receivers.”
There also remains the possibility the Chiefs could get back receiver Mecole Hardman this week. He suffered a tear of the ulnar collateral ligament in his right thumb during the team’s Week 11 loss to Philadelphia. He was a full participant in practice this week and working without a brace or any supportive device on his right hand. However, Hardman remains on injured reserve, so the Chiefs would need to make a transaction to free up space for Hardman on the 53-player roster.
While Hardman felt ready to go last week, the club paced him slowly, splitting his work this week between the scout team and rotating in with the first-team offense.
“We’ll see,” Reid said when asked about Hardman’s status. “He’s been repping in there but we got do the whole number count and see how that goes.”
