Dexter McCluster Expected To Return, Chiefs Move Accordingly

Geoff Burke-USA TODAY Sports

The latest news regarding Chiefs’ wideout and punt returner Dexter McCluster is that he should be medically cleared to go for the Colts game.

McCluster missed last weekend’s win over Oakland with a cut on his angle that got infected and swelled up, but Adam Teicher of ESPN.com is reporting that the team is making moves that signal McCluster will be coming back.

What are those moves, you ask?

First off, the team has released receiver Chad Hall, who was McCluster’s replacement. The club also brought back defensive tackle Jerrell Powe to take Hall’s spot, according to a press release. Powe was released on December 13th after being picked back up by the Chiefs on December 3rd. He was originally drafted by Kansas City in the sixth round of the 2011 NFL draft, but was released before this season.

Long story short, he’s back with the team.

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As far as McCluster is concerned, he’s focused on staying healthy, per Teicher’s report:

"“This is a first for me,” he said. “You get those small cuts every day. It’s just something that kind of popped up on me, but we caught it early. Doctors did the (procedure to clean the wound), and I’ve been taking positive steps forward after that.“I’m going to keep treating it. I’m going to keep doing whatever I have to do off the field to get back on the field.”"

And Dave Toub, special teams coach, talked about getting No. 22 back on the field as well, per Teicher:

"“Getting Dexter back is big,” special teams coordinator Dave Toub said. “He’s a threat, obviously, with the two touchdowns. He saves field position catching all of those short kicks. He catches the deep ones. Obviously, the threat that he’s going to catch it every time, that creates a lot of pressure on the punt team as well.”"

All signs point to Dexter being back this weekend.