KC Chiefs seem to believe that Anthony Hitchens can be healthy soon

The Kansas City Chiefs announced a few roster moves in the hours leading up to the team’s Week 7 game against the Tennessee Titans including a couple additions from the practice squad to the roster at linebacker. But it’s the move that they’ve not yet made at the position with Anthony Hitchens that holds some hope for long-term ramifications for the team.

On Saturday, the Chiefs placed tight end Jody Forston on injured reserve in a move to officially end his season, as expected. From there, the Chiefs also brought two players aboard from the practice squad in Darius Harris and Christian Rozeboom.

On the surface, the moves are necessary for Week 7 against the Titans. The Chiefs are going to face a significant challenge knowing that veteran and captain Anthony Hitchens has already been ruled out for Sunday’s game, leaving young players like Willie Gay Jr and Nick Bolton as the surest things at the position. That’s tough sledding ahead against any opponent, but that is especially true of a ground game featuring a future Hall of Fame player like Titans back Derrick Henry.

The Chiefs seem to think Anthony Hitchens could be back sooner than later.

However, here’s what’s most important to note about these transactions. The Chiefs are moving players around at linebacker, and even conducting business by placing someone on injured reserve, and Hitchens is not among those players. If action speak loudly, then the same is true of inaction and that’s where we’re finding hope.

Hitchens’ triceps injury has been mentioned in conjunction with nerve damage. The Chiefs also didn’t see him suit up at all in practice this week, even as a limited participant. Those sorts of elements could lead someone to assume that Hitchens might miss considerable time for the Chiefs instead of a single game or two. But what speaks loudly here is the Chiefs unwillingness to put Hitchens on IR just yet.

If Hitchens went on IR, the Chiefs could have that roster spot back, which is a big gain if the linebacker is going to end up missing that much time. Instead, they’ve refrained from doing so, which allows Chiefs Kingdom to hold out hope that Hitchens could return in Week 8 or Week 9. The former, a primetime game against the New York Giants, isn’t so important, but the following week, the Chiefs will need all hands on deck against the Green Bay Packers.

The Chiefs are pretty thin at linebacker overall and are leaning heavily on two youngsters at this point, so much so that a savvy, experienced offensive coordinator is going to be able to exploit them with some mental aspects of the game—unless the unit is well-coached heading into this week.

Hitchen is going to miss time in the present, but we’re intrigued by the Chiefs’ decision not to place him on IR just yet. We hope it means Hitchens will be back sooner rather than later.