The Kansas City Chiefs are expecting Sammy Watkins to miss up to six weeks, including the time he’s already missed.
UPDATED: As more and more reports have emerged on Friday, it is now clear that wide receiver Sammy Watkins will continue to miss time in the regular season, up to a potential of six weeks. Sam Mellinger, a writer for the Kansas City Star, has a source who says Watkins will miss 4-6 weeks total, but even then, it will be impossible to tell whether or not Watkins will be ready until he proves himself healthy.
Watkins originally hurt his foot trying to stretch a short pass into a first down against the Cleveland Browns late in Week 9. The Chiefs gave him the week off the following week against the Arizona Cardinals and only utilized him for a single opening series against the Los Angeles Rams. GIven the bye week, the team was clearly hopeful that rest would solve the problem for Watkins, who has battled foot injuries in the past.
Unfortunately, Watkins looks just as injured on this side of the team’s week off as the did before it. He sat last Sunday’s game against the Oakland Raiders. If the diagnosis is for him to miss 4-6 weeks total, then he’s already in that time frame, which means he’ll likely be viewed as week to week for K.C.
Perhaps this was behind the Chiefs signing of Kelvin Benjamin as a big target who was recently released by the Buffalo Bills. Benjamin comes with some drama, but at least he has some potential as a mismatch, especially in the end zone, for a potent offense that has lost Watkins and Kareem Hunt in recent weeks. At this point, the Chiefs are dangerous offensively but they’re also not the elite powerhouse that steamrolled teams with an overwhelming amount of weapons in previous weeks.
Given his contract, what is most important is having Watkins healthy for the long term. Here’s hoping the receiver feels much better with continued rest.