Chiefs could begin regular season with a couple of players on injured reserve

The Kansas City Chiefs are looking healthier in practice, but there are a couple of players that could start the year on IR.

For the 2024 season, the National Football League announced some changes to the rules regarding injured players as teams make their initial cuts to move from 90-man offseason rosters to the 53-man rosters mandated by the roster cut deadline. As it turns out, the Kansas City Chiefs might rely on those changes.

This year, the NFL announced that teams can place up to two players on injured reserve to start the season and those players would not count toward the 53-man roster. Those same players can be activated at any point after missing four weeks to return to the team. In the past, injured players would have to be on the active roster for cuts and then placed on IR after the fact.

For the Chiefs, this might come in handy depending on the severity of two specific injuries: cornerback Joshua Williams and wide receiver Marquise "Hollywood" Brown.

A closer look at Joshua Williams' status

When it comes to Williams' availability, no timeline has been established by the Chiefs—at least publicly—since the corner went on the team's injured list nearly a week ago with a hamstring issue. Williams did not play in the team's final preseason game and has remained out of practice through Monday.

Given the team's glut of quality young corners in the preseason, it might help the Chiefs to let Williams heal up for a full month on IR while allowing the first few weeks of the regular season to help them further settle the competitive mix vying for some of L'Jarius Sneed's old reps on the boundary and working into the rotation overall. If Williams hits IR, that slot could save a job for someone like Keith Taylor or Nic Jones or Christian Roland-Wallace.

As for Williams himself, it would be a frustrating beginning to a season in which he was hoping to break out and lock down a long-term starting role for the first time. But the season is long and a hamstring injury can become a nagging one if not handled properly. It's entirely possible that he'd sit that long anyway if not on IR.

A closer look at Hollywood Brown's status

The idea of putting Hollywood Brown on injured reserve is no one's idea of a good time considering how excited players, coaches, and fans are to see the Chiefs' offense at full strength. Brown exhibited quick chemistry with Patrick Mahomes and his role in Andy Reid's offense was immediately clear. Losing him is a stomach punch to start the season, for sure.

That said, the Chiefs know that the best thing for all parties is making sure Brown heals properly from an injury that's been described as potentially scary. Tyreek Hill might have returned from something similar in just four weeks, but that was a scenario in which all factors in play went the players' way. The potential timeline for Brown could be a bit longer, depending on its severity.

Brown has yet to practice since suffering the sternoclavicular injury, and while he still has over a week until the Baltimore Ravens visit the Chiefs, it feels like he's a long shot to play against his former team. Would it serve the Chiefs well to just allow Brown a full month to heal without the pressure of suiting up earlier than that? It would mean leaning on Xavier Worthy more than expected, but there are benefits to that scenario as well.

If Brown were to hit IR, a spot would open up for someone like Nikko Remigio or Justyn Ross for at least the start of the season.

Our best guess?

It feels like the Chiefs won't need both players to go on IR and Brown was back at practice for the first time on Monday, even as a spectator, since suffering the injury. Given the time before the beginning of the season and the time spent already healing, it feels like Williams is the likeliest bet for the Chiefs to use IR to start the year—if they need to at all.