Kansas City Chiefs injuries: Tyrann Mathieu, Deon Yelder hurt vs. Steelers
By Matt Conner
The Kansas City Chiefs saw several players go down to injury in the team’s 17-7 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers on Saturday night.
The Kansas City Chiefs fell to the Pittsburgh Steelers in the second week of preseason play in a fairly miserable 17-7 loss filled with mistakes and frustrating plays on both sides of the ball. Making matters even worse is the number of injuries suffered by the team during the competition at Heinz Field.
The biggest injury suffered by the Chiefs on Saturday is undoubtedly the loss of wide receiver Marcus Kemp for an extended period of time. For now, the team is calling it a knee sprain, but an MRI will confirm whether or not reported fears of a torn ACL are actually true. If so, Kemp could be lost for the season.
Beyond that, several Chiefs were also injured on the night. Here’s a full rundown:
Deon Yelder, tight end
Andy Reid said after the game, “Yelder has an ankle and we’ll just see how bad that is as we go through the night here and then into tomorrow.” He was seen in a boot on his ankle after the game was over.
No further details have been given, but the competition behind Travis Kelce is wide open and Yelder is the primary competitor for veteran Blake Bell for the team’s second tight end spot. There’s a chance the team could carry three tight ends, but it’s not a given, so any time missed by Yelder is significant for a coaching staff trying to make their decisions.
Tyrann Mathieu, safety
Reid’s comments after the game were, “Tyrann hurt his shoulder. He should be okay.” To that end, it doesn’t sound like anything serious, but here’s hoping the team’s biggest secondary import can return back to full strength in a short amount of time.
Justin Hamilton, defensive line
After the game, Reid mentioned Hamilton among the injured but said he “should be okay” despite suffering a hyperextension of his elbow. Hamilton is in competition for a final spot along the defensive front and showed strong last year in spot duty.
Next. Where does Andy Reid rank among active head coaches?. dark
Breeland Speaks, defensive line
Last year’s second round pick and the first ever draft selection by general manager Brett Veach has been slow to develop into the pass rusher he was envisioned to be. He has come on stronger during this training camp now that he’s back along the defensive front instead of linebacker under former coordinator Bob Sutton. Reid says he’s got a knee sprain but didn’t seem too concerned.