It’s do or die time for the Kansas City Chiefs, and they know it. Sitting at 6-6 on the season, head coach Andy Reid’s team has its back against the wall. Sunday Night Football’s showdown with the Houston Texans carries plenty of importance, and that’s the case for both sides.
Unfortunately for Kansas City, it’s heading into Week 14 at much less than full strength. The team’s official inactives are out, leaving multiple Chiefs on the shelf.
Chiefs Make RT Jawaan Taylor, RG Trey Smith Inactive for Week 14
The biggest news pertains to the offensive line. Not only is right guard Trey Smith missing another game, but right tackle Jawaan Taylor is also out. That means quarterback Patrick Mahomes will have a backup-led right side of the offensive front.
This shouldn’t come as too much of a surprise, all things considered. Neither Smith nor Taylor practiced this week, putting the writing on the wall. In most cases, Reid-coached teams prefer a player participates in some capacity on Friday in order to play Sunday. Rare cases exist, although this isn’t one of those for either player.
Reid acknowledged such on Friday when Smith and Taylor were ruled doubtful to play.
“I mean, it’s been done before,” Reid said. “Listen, I think it’d be a stretch for them to get there. If the other guys play, they play. We have trust in everybody there.”
Smith, a fifth-year man, has low- and high-ankle sprains. He suffered the ailments in Week 12’s 23-20 win over the Indianapolis Colts. Despite sitting out Thanksgiving Day’s 31-28 loss to the Dallas Cowboys, the former sixth-round pick needs more time.
Taylor, meanwhile, got hurt in the aforementioned Cowboys outing. A triceps ailment forced him out of the game, seeing him play 32 snaps on that fateful Thursday evening. The 2023 Chiefs free agent signing faced an uphill battle to play, which Reid alluded to. On Friday, he indicated that Smith’s still-poor outlook was better than Taylor’s.
Standout rookie left tackle Josh Simmons, who had wrist surgery, is out. He doesn’t appear on the Sunday inactives list because he’s on injured reserve. Simmons will miss at least the next four Kansas City contests.
Kansas City Down a Pair of Supporting Pieces Against Texans on Sunday
The bad news doesn’t stop there for the Chiefs. One supporting player on each side of the ball is out in Week 14 as well.
On offense, wide receiver Nikko Remigio has a shoulder injury. After being a full participant in Wednesday and Thursday’s practices, he got downgraded to limited on Friday. The former undrafted free agent pickup has played in all 12 games thus far this season. He has 1 reception for 21 yards on offense, also bringing back 22 punts for 160 yards and 21 kickoffs for 544 yards.
Kansas City ruled Remigio out on Friday, in addition to defensive back Chris Roland-Wallace. The second-year cornerback-safety hybrid is nursing a back ailment. Like with Remigio, the team knew it would be without him heading into the weekend. Roland-Wallace has played double-digit snaps in each game dating back to Week 3, peaking at 35 snaps in Week 11.
Prior to going on IR, Roland-Wallace was coming off 7 tackles in back-to-back games. According to Pro Football Focus, he’s split his snaps primarily between box (65), free safety (60) and slot (56) alignments. It’ll be worth monitoring how the Chiefs divvy up reps in his absence. Chamarri Conner is a commonly-used nickel option by defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo.
Roland-Wallace was placed on IR on Saturday, making room for safety Mike Edwards to join the active roster on a contract and guard C.J. Hanson to receive a standard elevation for game day.
The Chiefs certainly have their work cut out for them against a feisty Texans team on the Sunday night stage.
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