A hamstring injury to De’Anthony Thomas and an ankle injury to Marcus Cooper is going to delay both of their debuts for the 2014 season.
Both Thomas and Cooper are on the inactive list for the Chiefs after missing time in practice with their injuries. Thomas is not too much of a surprise as Andy Reid said on Friday he did not expect him to be active for today’s game after he missed two straight days of practice.
Cooper is a little different. He was limited in practice on Friday and was listed as questionable. This seemed to indicate there was more hope about him playing this afternoon than not. Turns out Cooper will sit.
This puts a lot of pressure on Sean Smith and Ron Parker at cornerback, both of whom were very shaky during the preseason at different times. It also means rookie Phillip Gaines will be the primary backup on the outside.
Other inactives for the Chiefs today include Aaron Murray, Eric Kush, Damion Square, Laurent Duvernay-Tardif, and Kurt Coleman.
Tennessee will be without Zach Mettenberger, T.J. Graham, Kris Durham, Akeem Ayers, Byron Stingily, Mike Martin, and DaQuan Jones.
Ayers being out is a bit of a break for the Chiefs as he is probably their best outside pass rusher.