The Kansas City Chiefs could be getting a key piece on defense back for the Week 6 game against the Buffalo Bills.
Speaking to reporters on Thursday, Chiefs DB coach Dave Merritt was asked about what he saw from CB Trent McDuffie in his first practice back with the team. The rookie first-round pick suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 and was subsequently placed on injured reserve. On Wednesday, the team designated him to return from injured reserve, officially opening his 21-day practice window.
Merritt’s first impression didn’t give him much information because the practice session was closer to walkthrough speed than full speed.
“Yesterday, we were just kind of going through it pretty slow,” Merritt said. “Today will be a great test to see him go full speed. And I asked him, has he opened up and had full speed burst. He said, ‘Yes.’ So, it’s going to be interesting to see.”
Asked whether it was realistic to think that McDuffie could play in Week 6 against the Bills, Merritt gave an affirmative answer, but not a definitive one.
“Yes, I think so,” Merritt said. “I know Coach (Andy) Reid will be able to answer that better, but I’m praying and hoping. My fingers are crossed that he’ll be able to go out there.”
Ultimately, how McDuffie performs in practice the next two days will be vital to his chances to play on Sunday afternoon. Merritt was quite confident that McDuffie has stayed mentally prepared during the course of his injury absence.
“The fact that he continues to take notes,” Merritt said of McDuffie. “And I’m calling on him and asking questions because everyone in the room, I tell them, ‘You all are starters. Everyone is a starter. Don’t sit here and think that your number cannot be called.’ (Trent) McDuffie from Day 1 of his injuries he’s been in the meeting room and he’s been taking notes and he’s been able to answer the questions for the game plan.
“One of the things that we do in the DB room, we give each player a segment of the game plan to go study. One of his segments is first- and second-down and third-down study. So he’s able to give feedback to the room. He’s staying on top of it.”
The Chiefs aren’t required to list McDuffie on their injury report until he’s been activated to the 53-man roster. So we likely won’t know McDuffie’s status until Andy Reid speaks to the media on Friday afternoon. For now, it seems that he’s at least trending toward playing, but Merritt is preparing the DB room for all possible outcomes.
