Sammy Watkins, Alex Okafor sit out Chiefs practice on Thursday

The Chiefs are without Sammy Watkins and Alex Okafor in practice on Wednesday.

The Kansas City Chiefs are beginning their week of practice leading up to their Watkins, Okafor sit out Thursday’s practice matchup in Week 3 at the Baltimore Ravens, and two players are missing from practice: Wide receiver Sammy Watkins and defensive end Alex Okafor.

Okafor missed the team’s win in Week 2 over the Los Angeles Chargers with a hamstring injury suffered during Week 1 against the Houston Texans. Okafor missed an entire week of practice and then the game in Week 2 and it will be interesting to see if it keeps out the veteran end for another game.

Without Okafor, the Chiefs are starting Tanoh Kpassagnon opposite Frank Clark along the defensive line. Young role players like Mike Danna and Taco Charlton have looked good in limited snaps over the first couple weeks of the 2020 season.

As for Watkins, he suffered a head injury during a helmet-to-helmet hit during the Chargers game. Head coach Andy Reid stated that he’s currently in the league’s concussion protocol, so his timeline is not yet known. However, Reid also added that the primary concern for Watkins was his neck and not his head.

If Watkins is not able to go, the Chiefs offense loses an important wrinkle in a key matchup early in the season. Other than the Chiefs, the Ravens are widely credited with being the league’s other elite team and both franchises will likely be jostling for the chance to represent the AFC in the Super Bowl when all is said and done. However, only one team will receive the coveted bye week in the playoffs, which means the winner here would hold a significant advantage in playoff seeding.

The good news for the Chiefs is that Frank Clark and Charvarius Ward are both working in practice today to see what they are able to do after missing time in Week 2.