Kansas City Chiefs are (almost) fully healthy ahead of Raiders matchup

The Kansas City Chiefs are relatively healthy coming into the team’s final game of the regular season against the Oakland Raiders.

As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for its final regular season game of the 2018 NFL season against the Oakland Raiders, the team is finally, almost fully healthy.

While there are a plethora of names on the injury report, as of Thursday’s practice, all but one player were full participants for Kansas City. The full participants were outside linebacker Dee Ford (knee), safety Eric Berry (heel), offensive tackle Eric Fisher (toe), cornerback Kendall Fuller (thumb), wide receiver Tyreek Hill (heel), cornerback Charvarius Ward (quad), running back Spencer Ware (hamstring), running back Darrel Williams (hamstring), center Mitch Morse (foot), and offensive tackle Mitchell Schwartz (knee).

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While there are a lot of names listed, full participation is a very good sign and definitely warrants little cause for concern. The lone nonparticipant is wide receiver Sammy Watkins, who hasn’t played since Week 11 against the Los Angeles Rams. As Watkins continues to get healthy, I would expect him to return in the Divisional Round of the AFC Playoffs. With a first-round bye looming, I would not expect the team to rush him back in any capacity. Ensuring he is healthy is paramount for his situation, especially if it means keeping him inactive against a struggling Raiders defense.

It was previously reported that Chiefs starting right guard Laurent Duvernay-Tardif practiced for the first time since Week 5 on Wednesday, after suffering a broken fibula and torn ligaments that same week against the Jacksonville Jaguars. He was subsequently placed on injured reserve, and his season was in jeopardy.  Since he practiced, the team has 21 days to activate him from injured reserve. Getting Duvernay-Tardif means that the team will effectively be fully healthy heading into the playoffs, barring anything unforeseen on Sunday against the Raiders.

A healthy playoff team for the Chiefs is important. With its abysmal playoff history, especially in Arrowhead Stadium which has been dubbed the ‘Arrowhead Curse‘, the team will need to be at full strength if they want to make a deep dive in the playoffs. In terms of relativity, the Chiefs have been rather fortunate seeing as there has not been an extreme amount of serious injuries for the club.

The Raiders had its fair share of injuries as it prepares to face off against the Chiefs. For Thursday’s practice, limited participants were cornerback Gareon Conley (concussion), tight end Jared Cook (ribs), center Rodney Hudson (ankle/knee), defensive tackle Maurice Hurst (ankle), and defensive back Montrel Meander (quad).

The full participants were running back Jalen Richard (ankle), defensive tackle Jonathan Hankins (shoulder), safety Karl Joseph (neck), offensive tackle/guard Kelechi Osemele (toe), fullback Keith Smith (calf), tight end Lee Smith (back), and linebacker Kyle Wilber (hamstring). The lone nonparticipant was offensive guard/tackle Denver Kirkland (illness).