Andy Reid: A.J. Jenkins Out; Donnie Avery Doubtful; Anthony Fasano Up In The Air

Frankie Hammond Jr. and Albert Wilson are going to have step up significantly if the Kansas City Chiefs are going to beat the Seattle Seahawks on Sunday.

Andy Reid announced after practice today A.J. Jenkins and Jamell Fleming are officially out for Sunday while Donnie Avery is probably not going to play this week either. Add to this a growing likelihood Anthony Fasano will not play against Seattle either. Fasano did not practice all week, so, based on the pattern, it is highly unlikely he’ll be active.

Chris Owens is in a similar boat to Fasano.

Losing Avery, Jenkins, and Fasano puts a huge burden on Hammond and Wilson to contribute something for the Chiefs offense, which is not going to be easy given the strength of Seattle’s secondary. This only makes the task Dwayne Bowe, Travis Kelce, and Jamaal Charles have on Sunday that much more difficult.

The Fasano injury may be the most crucial of all of these. One would imagine the Chiefs will try to take advantage of the middle of Seattle’s defense because of the injury to Bobby Wagner. The combination of attacking with Kelce down field with Fasano running routes underneath could have been a very useful thing for Alex Smith and the passing offense. Without the underneath routes, things could get shaky.

It comes down to how ready is Albert Wilson and De’Anthony Thomas to take reps at wide receiver? Getting one-on-one matchups with those players against linebackers sound great on paper, but are those players ready to take advantage of those matchups during a game? Hopefully they are because the Chiefs are going to need it.