The defending AFC champion Kansas City Chiefs have a golden opportunity to turn their flagging season around within a five-day span. They took the first step on Sunday with a dramatic, comeback victory over the AFC South-leading Indianapolis Colts at Arrowhead Stadium — a game in which the Chiefs never had a lead until Harrison Butker kicked a walk-off field goal with 1:57 left on the clock in overtime.
Four days later, the Chiefs take on the 5-5 Dallas Cowboys in a Thanksgiving Day game at AT&T Stadium in Arlington, Texas. Another victory would raise the Chiefs to 7-5, vaulting them to the No. 8 spot in the AFC, just a half-game behind the Buffalo Bills in the race for a playoff berth.
But they will have to do it without a key player who made one of the most spectacular, game-saving plays of Sunday’s win over Indianapolis. According to Chiefs coach Andy Reid, as well as the team’s official injury report, fifth-year tight end Noah Gray remains in concussion protocol and did not practice on Monday or Tuesday.
Gray Injured on Highlight-Reel Catch
A 2023 study by Sports Injury Central found that just 22 percent, or about one in five, players who went into concussion protocol were able to return without missing a game. But the vast majority of those players had a full week to recover, not the four days that Gray will have.
Gray’s concussion occurred on a highlight-reel catch of a 5-yard pass from quarterback Patrick Mahomes, on a second-and-8 play with 3:46 remaining in the fourth quarter and Kansas City trailing 20-17. The seemingly impossible catch helped keep the Chiefs’ final drive alive, resulting in a game-tying field goal by Butker with no time left in regulation.
But Gray paid a steep price, slamming his head on the ground as he came down with the ball and knocking himself unconscious.
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Gray Appears Unlikely to Play on Thanksgiving
Gray was later seen on video walking back to the Chiefs’ locker room, under his own power but appearing unsteady and accompanied by trainers.
While the severity of Gray’s concussion has not been revealed by the team, and a brief — less than 30-minute — loss of consciousness alone does not indicate a longer recovery time, it appears highly unlikely that the 2021 fifth-round draft pick out of Duke will be available for Thursday’s game.
Gray’s recovery could be complicated by the fact that he was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 18. Some studies have suggested that hyperglycemia — also known as high blood sugar, which occurs with diabetes — can make the recovery process from traumatic brain injuries such as sports-related concussions more difficult.
Unless the Chiefs make specifics of Gray’s symptoms public, however, the length of his absence cannot be determined for certain until it happens.
Kelce Has High Praise for Gray
The Chiefs clearly think highly of Gray, signing him to a three-year, $18 million contract extension before the 2024 season. He has received effusive praise from his teammate and fellow tight end, future Hall of Famer Travis Kelce, as well.
“He is the guy. The professionalism, when he walks in the building he’s in it wholeheartedly,” Kelce said of Gray on his New Heights podcast last year. “All of his focus is on one goal, and that’s to make the team better. And he’s been that guy since he’s been in the locker room.”
Gray has been targeted 28 times by Mahomes this season, with 16 catches for 132 yards, though he has not caught a touchdown pass so far. In the 2024 season, he caught five TD passes.
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