Anthony Fasano Returns To Practice, Donnie Avery Still Out
By Ben Nielsen
A Thursday night games means the Kansas City Chiefs don’t have a lot of time to celebrate their victory over the Seattle Seahawks. So they’re back on the field today for practice, still short a few players that did not play against Seattle.
Let’s start with the good news. Andy Reid told the media today he expects Anthony Fasano to be back on the practice field today after missing Sunday’s game with a knee injury. Fasano did not practice all week prior to the Seahawks game.
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With Fasano out the Chiefs used a lot of heavy sets, bringing out six and sometimes seven offensive linemen. Offensive coordinator Doug Pederson said part of the reason for the multiple linemen sets was because of the injury situation the Chiefs were facing at tight end with both Fasano and Demetrius Harris out of the game. Harris, by the way, is out for the season.
Getting Fasano back expands the Chiefs offensive options a bit in the passing game. The Chiefs attempted only 16 passes against Seattle, mostly because the running game was so effective, but also because the Chiefs lost some favorable matchups with only Dwayne Bowe and Travis Kelce being serious threats in the passing game. Should Fasano return on Thursday night then the Chiefs should be able to be a little more create with some of those heavy packages they showed on Sunday.
Bad news is things are not looking great for Donnie Avery once again. Avery went through a groin procedure before the bye week and has not been back since. He was limited in practice all week last week but the sense is he will not participate in practice today.
Add in A.J. Jenkins to the mix of wide receivers who look like they’ll be out for the Raiders game, and the Chiefs find themselves in a similar situation to Sunday at wide receiver. No Chiefs wide receiver not named Dwayne Bowe caught a pass against the Seahawks. While, yes, the Raiders secondary isn’t as touted as the Seahawks, the Raiders do have some very solid pieces in the secondary that could make some things difficult.
Chris Owens is also not going to practice today, but Jamell Fleming is expected to return to work this afternoon.