Chiefs news: Lucas Niang, Rashad Fenton will start camp on PUP list

For those who were wondering how some injuries would cloud the picture for the Kansas City Chiefs to begin training camp, head coach Andy Reid clarified things with remarks to reporters on the very first day at St. Joseph.

According to Reid, three members of the Chiefs roster who have been struggling with injuries this offseason will go ahead and begin training camp on the Physically Unable to Play list. Per reporter Aaron Ladd, Reid specifically mentioned offensive lineman Lucas Niang, cornerback Rashad Fenton, and wide receiver Justyn Ross.

There is an important designation here to make. The players in question are on the PUP list at the present time, before training camp is officially set to begin, which means they can come off at any point. However, if the players on the PUP list to begin the regular season, it will be another issue entirely.

Being on the PUP list to enter the season is an important distinction, but even if you’re already familiar with the PUP list, you should know the rules have changed for the 2022 season. Typically, a player would have had to miss the first six games of the season (or more) in order to start to practice and then return to action sometime thereafter within a three-week window. This year, the total number of games missed has been lowered to four with zero requirements for practice. This means that Niang, Fenton, and/or Ross could all return to potentially play in time for Week 5 for K.C.

The Kansas City Chiefs will be without three players, including two potential starters, to begin camp on the PUP list.

For Niang, this is a big loss to start camp given that injuries have already kept him from establishing himself as the de facto starter at right tackle. The talent is there and he’s held down the job before, so it’s not as if he cannot reclaim it later on. However, it opens up the door for fifth-round pick Darian Kinnard to gain ground in the competition.

As for Fenton, the Chiefs are now down one of their most experienced and reliable cornerbacks in a year where they already said goodbye to Charvarius Ward in free agency. Given that they’re also down Mike Hughes and even three of their four starting safeties, the Chiefs’ overall inexperience in the defensive backfield could be a real issue early if they can’t gain ground with practice in the preseason.

Ross was always a longshot to make the team as a rookie free agent, but now it seems safe to say that any vision of him catching passes in ’22 from Mahomes feels like a fantasy. Perhaps an injured reserve stash is in the future, but we’ll just have to wait and see how training camp plays out.