Three players who can still help the Kansas City Chiefs this season

Byron Pringle

The Chiefs lost wide receiver Byron Pringle just over two weeks ago when he left the game against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11 with an ankle injury. At the time, the Chiefs lost not only a seldom-used target on offense but, more importantly, they waved goodbye, at least temporarily, to a dynamic returner who is a special teams core-four player for coordinator Dave Toub.

Pringle was immediately placed on IR, which suggests that the injury could be more severe that originally believed, but it could have also been a roster move by the Chiefs not to mess around with a potentially flexible roster spot. It’s possible the Chiefs knew that Pringle was out for at least three games. It’s also possible that Pringle was going to be so iffy going forward that, Instead of crossing their fingers and hoping he could come back a la Sammy Watkins, they decided to just promote Marcus Kemp from the practice squad and go with the sure thing.

This point is important because Pringle was designated as questionable to return even in the game in which he was injured. If he’s not shelved for too long, then the Chiefs might be counting on Pringle to return after Week 14. The New Orleans Saints, Atlanta Falcons, and Los Angeles Chargers all await the Patrick Mahomes and company from Week 15 on, so Pringle would be a most welcome return that would solidify special teams, provide an electric return option, and give the offense another receiver down the stretch.