Jackson, Chambers Were Healthy Scratches
It appears the Kansas City Chiefs went into last Sunday’s game against the Houston Texans with two notable healthy scratches.
Tyson Jackson and Chris Chambers.
This idea has been floating around for a few days but I wanted to make sure none of you missed it.
Both Chambers and Jackson were listed on the injury report last week but both had practice all week. I admit that I was a bit shocked to see that they were both listed as inactive vs. the Texans.
While talking to reporters this week, Chiefs coach Todd Haley told reporters that both Chambers and Jackson could have played.
“I think both players could have played, said Haley. “That was the 45 that we went with and unfortunately things didn’t work out the way we needed them to work out the way that we needed them to work out.”
This of course leads to questions about why Chambers and Jackson were benched.
More after the jump.
There have been reports that Jackson has put on some weight since his injury. The speculation is that failing to stay in shape has caused the former first round pick to enter Haley’s doghouse. Since Shaun Smith and Wallace Gillberry have done a solid job filling in for Jackson it may be that Haley is trying to send a message.
As for Chambers, the rumor about him has always been that he plays hard until he gets his money and then stops performing. Haley spoke to this idea this week.
“Chris is part of the equation that I was just speaking about, said Haley. “I think that he, like everybody else involved, has continued to be a part of us improving. And that’s not always able to be seen. I talked a little bit yesterday about one of the things where I feel like we’re growing as a team is I’m continuing to see this leadership of our team or the guys with a little more experience than maybe others that are continuing to help and work with these young guys in private settings and Chris is one of those guys. There isn’t a day that goes by that I don’t see him talking, working. So I think that again, I wouldn’t look at Chris and say production-wise or those things there’s something that’s different. I see something that’s better: he’s improving and he’s a big part and going to continue to be a big part of us going forward and trying to become a good team.”
Whether or not the speculation on Chambers and Jackson is true or not, there is obviously some reason Haley decided not to play them. It seems the team should be on notice that any player who the caching staff feels isn’t giving 100% could find himself on the bench sooner rather than later.