Chiefs news: BJ Thompson takes important step toward healthy recovery

Late last week, the Kansas City Chiefs canceled practice in the wake of a traumatic day as second-year defensive end BJ Thompson suffered a seizure and went into cardiac arrest during a special teams meeting. A few days later, the Chiefs can now celebrate that Thompson was cleared to go home.

NFL reporter Tom Pelissero broke the news from Thompson's agent, Chris Turnage, late on Monday that Thompson had been medically cleared to be released from the hospital after four days of treatment following his episode.

For the first day, Thompson remained sedated as doctors watched his vital signs before waking him up after the first signs were promising. Unfortunately no diagnosis or cause has been determined for why Thompson suffered a seizure in the first place—or at least no such information has been released to the public.

The Chiefs drafted Thompson in the fifth roundss of the 2023 NFL Draft in an effort to provide more youth and developmental talent at pass rusher in the same class as first-round pick Felix Anudike-Uzomah. Together with George Karlaftis, the previous season's first round pick and the import of Charles Omenihu in free agency, the Chiefs have largely rebuilt the edges of the line to work next to Chris Jones under his new contract extension.

Thompson is a developmental pass rusher out of Stephen F. Austin who was a healthy scatch for most of the year in '23 by design. He did get to play some defensive snaps in the final game of the season against the Chargers as Andy Reid rested the majority of his starters, but Thompson remains rather green heading into '24 as he continues to work with Chiefs coaches and trainers to find his way into the rotation.

Stay tuned to Arrowhead Addict for further updates and information as we hear them.