KC Chiefs have varying injury concerns heading into postseason
By Matt Conner
Tyreek Hill
Coming into the game, the Chiefs found out they had an injured player during warm-ups for the second game in the row. Against the Cincinnati Bengals, it was left tackle Orlando Brown Jr. This time, it was wide receiver Tyreek Hill.
During the broadcast, ESPN reporter Laura Rutledge noted that the Chiefs were concerned about Hill’s heel but didn’t want to term it as an official injury. By that point, it was already notable that Hill was missing on several snaps on the team’s long first drive—17 plays—and he was barely playing on the second drive as well, which was in process at the time.
Looking forward, Hill did play in 10 snaps or so and he caught one pass for 2 yards on 3 total targets—which even the stat line suggests something was off.
After the game, head coach Andy Reid referred to the heel injury as an ongoing problem that has crept up in the past. In fact, it sounded like he hurt it again during warm-ups perhaps on the fun play in which he went up and over Mecole Hardman for a catch in practice.
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About the injury, Reid said, “Tyreek Hill had a sore heel, so we held him out for most of the game, Reid said. “Although he jumped in and played a little.”
Of all of the injuries on this list, this is the most concerning because it’s one that has plagued Hill before and now it’s crept in again right before it matters most. Hill is the linchpin to this offense and everything that Reid wants to do offensively, and it’s much harder to stretch the field in every direction without their top wideout in the game consistently to force defenses to account for his presence. It’s too bad Hill had to play at all against Denver.