The Kansas City Chiefs, like every other NFL team, have had to deal with injuries to key contributors.
At different points this season he Chiefs have had to play without Tony Moeaki, Dexter McCluster, Ryan Lilja, Kendrick Lewis and Jon McGraw but it looks like Sunday they may be healthier than they have been in a number of weeks.
According to yesterday’s injury report, Dexter McCluster and Tony Moeaki returned to practice as full participants. This is big news for the Chiefs who have struggled on offense when playing on the road and will be able to use all the help they can get this Sunday in Seattle.
Limited in practice were Branden Albert, Jon McGraw and Ryan Lilja. Yesterday was a step forward for McGraw who did not practice on Wednesday.
The bad news?
CB Brandon Flowers who is suffering from a hamstring injury did not practice for the second straight day.
More after the jump.
Flowers is having a Pro Bowl type season and if he misses Sunday’s game it will be a blow to KC’s young secondary. Still, the Chiefs are likely going to be very, very careful with Flowers’ hamstring. As we’ve seen with Kendrick Lewis this season, hamstring injuries can linger and will keep shutting a player down if he tries to come back to early and re-aggravates it.
While it will never be ideal to have a player like Flowers out of the lineup, this week’s game might be the time to rest him. If the Chiefs will want Flowers available in two weeks when pass happy Denver comes to Arrowhead and the week after when the team travels to San Diego for a critical AFC West showdown with Philip Rivers and the Chargers.