Kansas City Chiefs Injury Report: Joe Mays Won’t Practice This Week

The Chiefs are going to give Joe Mays one more week before throwing him back out onto the practice field.

Mays, who has missed the entire regular season with a wrist injury, is eligible to start practicing now but the Chiefs want to hold off on ‘starting his clock’ for another week, according to Andy Reid. The Chiefs will have two weeks to decide what to do with Mays once he starts practice before they have to make a 53-man roster move.

While the Chiefs defense has yet to allow a rushing touchdown this season, the team still ranks in the bottom third of the NFL in rushing yards allowed. Mays was signed this offseason to fill the role of ‘physical run stopper’ that was being abandoned by Akeem Jordan. With Derrick Johnson out for the season with an achilles tear, the need for Mays to get back in the lineup becomes all that more important.

The injuries at middle linebacker have also caused some chaos on special teams. Josh Mauga and James-Michael Johnson were originally going to be backup linebackers with key roles on special teams. Injuries to Mays and DJ have forced both of those players into the starting lineup, which in turn has caused some problems for the Chiefs special teams units. Getting Mays back will at least bump JMJ down into a reserve role which should help the special teams unit heading into the second half of the season.

For now, the Chiefs are going to have to hold on a couple more weeks while Mays works his way back onto the field. Hopefully that happens sooner rather than later.