The Kansas City Chiefs should benefit from the latest Detroit Lions injury update ahead of the Week 6 Sunday Night Football matchup.
Earlier in the week, it was reported that Lions rising star cornerback Terrion Arnold will miss Week 6. Arnold joins fellow starting CB D.J. Reed Jr. on the pine, but the injuries don’t end there for the Detroit secondary.
On Friday, October 10, The Athletic’s Lions correspondent Colton Pouncy reported the following: “[Lions head coach] Dan Campbell says he doesn’t see [safeties] Kerby Joseph or Brian Branch practicing Friday. Will know about their status closer to the game. Same with LT Taylor Decker. And [cornerback] Avonte Maddox.”
Pouncy noted that this injury development is “not ideal” for the Lions.
This led to a full secondary update from Lions SB Nation writer Al Karsten.
“If the Lions are without Kerby Joseph, Brian Branch, and Avonte Maddox — in addition to D.J. Reed and Terrion Arnold — they may need to get creative in the secondary against the Chiefs, possibly shifting Rock Ya-Sin back to safety,” Karsten informed.
Continuing: “Ya-Sin, who played outside corner last week, did spend time cross-training at safety during Training Camp and the preseason. A potential five-man defensive backfield could look like: CB1, Amik Robertson. [Nickel], Arthur Maulet. [Safety], Rock Ya-Sin. [Safety], Loren Strickland/Thomas Harper. [Second] CB, Tre Flowers/Erick Hallett/Nick Whiteside.”
Officially, Joseph, Branch and Maddox were all labeled as “questionable” in Week 6.
Chiefs WR Corps Is Looking Healthy After Xavier Worthy Injury News
If the Chiefs were still banged up at wide receiver, their massive injury problems would likely just even the playing field, but Kansas City appears to be healthy — outside of Rashee Rice’s final absence due to a six-game suspension.
On October 10, head coach Andy Reid confirmed that Xavier Worthy is expected to play in Week 6, barring any setbacks.
That gives the Chiefs their full complement of offensive weapons, aside from Rice. The starters will likely be Worthy, Hollywood Brown and Tyquan Thornton, along with tight end Travis Kelce.
But KC also has rookie Jalen Royals and veteran JuJu Smith-Schuster waiting in the wings, should they need them.
With a lot of speed at the position, expect Reid and quarterback Patrick Mahomes to test this banged-up Detroit secondary early and often. Besides being less talented players, injury replacements also sometimes experience communication difficulties in the secondary, being that they don’t play together as often as starters would.
The Chiefs and their wide receivers must do their best to exploit that on Sunday night.
Chiefs Must Try & Steal a Win From Lions After Injury Update
On paper, things looked pretty bleak heading into a Week 6 matchup with the 4-1 Lions after KC surrendered the lead late versus the Jacksonville Jaguars.
After all, Detroit has been one of the best teams in football this year, and the Chiefs are still down one of their best players in Rice.
Having said that, Friday’s Lions injury update changes everything for Kansas City. The Chiefs never go into a matchup feeling like an underdog, but if for some reason they did, they shouldn’t now.
This has the look of a shootout, considering Detroit’s strength is its offense, not to mention the injuries. If Mahomes can outpace Jared Goff, Kansas City can steal a massively important win at home.
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