Chiefs missing pivotal offensive piece at practice for second straight day

The Kansas City Chiefs brought in D.J. Humphries hoping to finally arrive at a somewhat long-term solution at the left tackle spot. Unfortunately, a hamstring injury is keeping him from even settling into the role.

When using the phrase "long-term" to describe the Chiefs' hopes at the position, even that is a bit of an oversell, since really the team is just looking for someone who can stabilize the inconsistencies and frustrations at a position that has been lacking (or outright embarrassing) for the next couple of months.

Humphries was brought in to be that answer after the veteran left tackle had been cleared medically by doctors following a torn ACL suffered late last year while employed by the Arizona Cardinals. After having played left tackle for them since being drafted in 2016, Humphries was available as a free agent for the first time and signed with K.C. midway through November.

Humphries took a week or more to get ready to play and then saw his first action in Week 14 as the starting bookend opposite Jawaan Taylor in a win over the Chargers. However, in the second half of that victory, Humphries was forced to leave the game with a hamstring injury.

So far this week, Humphries has missed both practices following that Chargers' win, so things aren't exactly trending positively as the Chiefs get ready for Week 15—a road trip to face the Cleveland Browns. While it's still possible for Humphries to return to practice in limited form on Friday or even return entirely by the end of the week, it's trending like he might need to take off a game day to get right for the rest of the year.

Should the Chiefs go without Humphries, it will be interesting to see how they play it come game-time. The Chiefs went with Wanya Morris for most of the season after the early-season struggles of second-round rookie Kingsley Suamataia. However, Morris himself has been limited as he plays through the pain of a bone bruise that can flare up. That led to the Chiefs moving Joe Thuney outside and sliding Mike Caliendo into the left guard role.

Hopefully Humphries feels better with another day of rest away from practice, but hamstring injuries can be so difficult to predict in terms of a timeline. The Chiefs will have to roll with whatever happens with the Browns on deck in a few days.