The Kansas City Chiefs are already working without a net, so to speak, at the wide receiver position after suffering catastrophic injuries to start the year to their two best pass-catchers on the depth chart. Now they're without a third, at least for now, with the news that JuJu Smith-Schuster has left the field in Week 7.
The Chiefs are in Santa Clara, California for a showdown against the San Francisco 49ers, a rematch of last season's Super Bowl. The Chiefs were already have some offensive issues early on after two failed drives to start the game, and now they've lost Smith-Schuster to a hamstring injury.
The Chiefs are already working without a number of pass catchers and now JuJu Smith-Schuster is among them.
Smith-Schuster has officially been ruled out for the rest of the game.
Coming into the game, the Chiefs knew that Smith-Schuster was an injury risk given that his status was also questionable entering into the game from the final injury report submittted by the team on Friday. The veteran wideout saw a hamstring issue flare up in practice on Thursday and the Chiefs were watching his status closely throughout the weekend.
Smith-Schuster was signed to provide depth and security in the wake of an injury to Marquise "Hollywood" Brown to start the season, but he moved into a more prominent pass catching role when the Chiefs also lost Rashee Rice for the season in Week 4. In Week 5, Smith-Schuster led all pass catchers with 130 receiving yards on 7 catches—marking his highest total in two years.
Without Smith-Schuster, the Chiefs are likely to lean more on their running game as well as bigger personnel sets with multiple tight ends. Rookie receiver Xavier Worthy also becomes more important.