The Kansas City Chiefs have passed the first-quarter mark of the season, which means that anyone who started the season on injured reserve and was designated for eventual return can do so. In short, the Chiefs can get some injured players back.
However, head coach Andy Reid doesn't know whether that will happen just yet for a couple of Chiefs players.
Both defensive back Nazeeh Johnson and tight end Jake Briningstool are eligible to return to the team as previous IR placements. However, updates on both players have been understandably quiet, given their expected impact on the roster. Still, the situations are worth monitoring but Reid didn't have much to say in his latest remarks to the media.
Andy Reid isn't clear if Chiefs who are eligible to come off of injured reserve will do so at this point.
"They’re doing good," said Reid. "I haven’t gotten with [general manager Brett] Veach on all of this and/or Rick [Burkholder] or the docs on it, but I know they’re doing well in their rehab as they’ve been working here. I get those updates. They seem to be doing good."
As for what could happen, Reid could only say, "I don’t know the move we’ll make there or if we’ll make a move."
Johnson is the more important of the two players injured, since he's earned the trust of Steve Spagnuolo over the years. Johnson hurt his shoulder in a preseason game against the Seattle Seahawks and started the season on injured reserve.
After being selected in the seventh round of the 2022 NFL Draft, Johnson has steadily earned more favor with Chiefs' coaches than anyone could have expected. Last year, he played in all 16 games and started 6 with nearly 500 snaps to show for his efforts. He had 56 total tackles and 3 pass deflections in 2024.
If Johnson is able to return at some point soon, the Chiefs will have an admirable level of depth and talent in the secondary with the emergence of Nohl Williams and addition of Kristian Fulton at cornerback to go with the talent already in house. That said, Johnson primarily played on the boundary last year for the Chiefs, but those slots are already spoken for.
As for Briningstool, he's likely going to remain on IR if the Chiefs want to make sure no one can claim him from the practice squad. It makes little sense to add him to the active roster given the veteran depth with Travis Kelce, Noah Gray, and Robert Tonyan. Some rookies are "stashed away" by teams in such instances, and Briningstool feels like that sort of organizational play, unless an injury arises.
A former star at Clemson, Briningstool was an exciting long-term addition as a rookie free agent who looked like he could be an instant contributor on special teams and with limited offensive touches. Expect him to stick around and compete for reps for the Chiefs in 2026 and beyond.