On the whole, the K.C. Chiefs left their preseason opener with a relatively healthy roster and a close 19-17 win. However, the team did suffer one injury of note as linebacker Darius Harris was forced to leave the game with a hand injury in the first half.
Harris first left the game with the hand injury but was termed questionable to return. The Chiefs then downgraded him to out a bit later during the game after receiving further attention from the team’s medical staff.
The timing feels unfair for Harris given that he’s put together a solid camp and was even looking his best in the sessions immediately prior to the team’s preseason opener, especially in the wake of the absence of Willie Gay Jr. due to being in the team’s concussion protocol.
Darius Harris left the Chiefs-Niners game with hand injury.
While the Chiefs have imported some big-name young talent in recent drafts like Nick Bolton (2021) and Gay (2020), Harris was impressive in camp as another young linebacker hoping to force some tough decisions when active roster cuts are due. Instead, Harris now finds himself at the mercy of a hand injury that could potentially take him out of the mix.
Details are unknown at present, so it will be interesting to see If Harris is able to come back and rejoin practices in short order. Linebacker is more competitive than it has been in recent seasons with Bolton, Gay, Harris joining Anthony Hitchens, Ben Niemann, Omari Cobb, Dorian O’Daniel, Riley Cole, and Emmanuel Smith.
Harris, a former teammate of Charvarius Ward at Middle Tennessee State, initially signed with the Chiefs as a rookie free agent in 2019 and spent the year on injured reserve recovering from a knee injury. From there, the team re-signed him for the 2020 season and he landed on the practice squad for the duration. This year, he’s hoping to make the leap to the active roster but for now the injury clouds those plans.