The Kansas City Chiefs earned the lone first-round bye week in the AFC conference with a 14-3 overall record and their seventh consecutive AFC West division title in hand.
Historically, the bye week has been good for Andy Reid and his teams. In the postseason, it allows the team to refresh, recover, study, game plan and fine-tune things ahead of the divisional round. For this particular Chiefs squad, those players dealing with injuries stand to benefit the most from the week off.
With one game left in the wild-card round on Monday night and players set to return for the practice week, here is a look at some of those players:
DE Frank Clark
Clark suffered a groin injury in Week 18 and was ruled out of the game. After an MRI, Chiefs HC Andy Reid suggested it was just a mild groin strain and that the week off would give him enough time to heal and be ready for the playoffs. As much of an up-and-down career as Clark has seen in Kansas City, he’s been dominant during the playoffs. His 11 career sacks in the playoffs are the fifth-most by a defender in NFL history. He needs two sacks to pass both Reggie White (12) and Terrell Suggs (12.5) for the third-most all-time.
CB L'Jarius Sneed
Sneed suffered a hip pointer injury in Week 17 and ended up playing in Week 18 against the Las Vegas Raiders. It was obvious that Sneed wasn’t 100% during the course of the game. He was cringing after making tackles and taking his time to pull himself up off of the turf whenever he ended up on it.
#Chiefs CB L'Jarius Sneed clearly battling through his hip injury.
— Charles Goldman (@goldmctNFL) January 7, 2023
Sneed has been the team’s best corner this season and he’ll be an important weapon for Kansas City during the playoffs. This extra time off to get him any steps closer to 100% could prove incredibly valuable in the playoffs.
WR Mecole Hardman
Chiefs HC Andy Reid thought Hardman had a good chance to play in Week 18, but he was ruled out ahead of the game.
“Yeah, so I thought he might be able to go this past week,” Reid said last Monday. “That’s a hiccup on my end. He’s trying. He’s trying to get this thing right. It’s just a matter of time. He’s really day-to-day. Although, he feels better today than he did on Saturday. So, we’ll just see how it goes during practice.”
Hardman hasn’t played since Week 9 after suffering an abdomen injury. He lost a lot of weight as result of the injury and has been struggling to get back into football shape. Hopefully, the extra time off has allowed him the time he needs to get back into the game plan in some capacity. He’s tied with Clyde Edwards-Helaire for the third-most touchdowns (6) on the team this season despite playing just eight games.
WR Skyy Moore
Moore injured his hand in Week 17, suffering a laceration that required sutures and caused a significant amount of swelling. He was ruled out in Week 18 and this extra week off should give him enough time to heal so that he can be active for his first career playoff game. How effective he can be with a hand injury as a receiver remains to be seen. It’s also unclear how much he’ll be utilized given his usage this season.
LG Joe Thuney
Thuney has been an absolute ironman throughout his entire NFL career. He started 107 consecutive regular-season games before missing back-to-back games with an ankle injury in Week 12 and Week 13 this season. Thuney reaggravated the ankle injury in Week 17 and managed to play in Week 18, but rest assured this time off was crucial for his ability to get healthy.
