Chiefs missing several offensive stars in practice on Wednesday

The Chiefs are missing several of their offensive stars in practice on Wednesday.

The Kansas City Chiefs got back to practice on Wednesday in preparation for their Week 17 matchup against the L.A. Chargers—the second such meeting this season against the AFC West rival. While head coach Andy Reid was already leaning toward resting some players, fans likely got a better idea of who the list might include by looking at the long list of offensive stars who could not practice.

According to Reid, several key players were forced to sit on Wednesday for various reasons, including some unexpected names. While it makes sense that wide receiver Sammy Watkins and running back Clyde Edwards-Helaire would miss practice on Wednesday (and likely the rest of this week), it was surprising to see offensive lineman Mike Remmers on the list after suiting up and starting at right tackle on Sunday. In addition, running back Le’Veon Bell is dealing with a sore knee.

Wide receiver Tyreek Hill is still sitting out to make sure and rest the hamstring that has given him problems in recent weeks. Also linebacker Ben Niemann, who was forced to leave Sunday’s game with a hamstring injury, was also sitting out Wednesday’s practice.

Looking forward, it makes little-to-no sense for the Chiefs to play any of these players on Sunday against the Chargers given that they’ve already clinched the AFC West title and the conference’s top seed, which gives them a first-round bye to the Divisional Round of the NFL playoffs. While it might sound nice to have 15 wins instead of 14, the reality is that the Chiefs have already set a franchise record for wins in a single regular season in 2020 and being healthy for the stretch is going to mean a whole lot more.

On Sunday, expect to see each and every one of these players likely sitting out along with others like quarterback Patrick Mahomes.