The Kansas City Chiefs entered Saturday’s eventual 16-15 preseason loss
to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers reeling from injuries as training camp concluded this week.The Chiefs were already down a starting safety as Chamarri Conner continues to recover from a knee injury. The team’s other starter at the position was pulled before Saturday’s game.
Speaking after the loss, head coach Andy Reid confirmed that safety Alohi Gilman experienced back spasms in pregame warmups. Reid also noted a hamstring injury
to reserve defensive end Tyreke Smith, who the team announced as questionable to return in the second half due to a hamstring injury.
“As far as the injuries go,” Reid began his postgame remarks, “Alohi, in warmups, had some low back spasms, so he didn’t play. Tyreke Smith tweaked his right hamstring. I’m not sure how bad that is, but it was bad enough that he couldn’t continue on there.”
Besides Conner and Smith, 15 other Chiefs players did not appear in the game. Cornerback L’Jarius Sneed has continued to miss time as the Chiefs conservatively manage his recurring knee ailments.
Star quarterback Patrick Mahomes had already been ruled out earlier in the week as the Chiefs continue monitoring his recovery from a major knee injury suffered in December. Starting left tackle Josh Simmons (back) and right guard Trey Smith (hip) also sat following injuries that kept them off the field in the last stage of training camp. Tackle Kellen Diesch did not play after signing with the Chiefs on Thursday. Tight end Mason Pline also did not enter the game.
Wide receivers Rashee Rice and Xavier Worthy have not appeared in either preseason game. Rice is coming off of offseason knee surgery, and Kansas City has managed Worthy’s work after a shoulder injury earlier in camp. The Chiefs were light on reinforcements at the position on Saturday as Jeff Caldwell, Jeff Weimer and Jimmy Holiday did not enter the game. Caldwell suffered a hyperextended knee late in training camp, while Holiday has been out of action with a quad injury.
Linebacker Drue Tranquill has missed both exhibitions due to a back injury of his own. Defensive end Ashton Gillotte has a ruptured planter fascia in his right foot, but he reportedly hopes to be available for Week 1. Key reserve linebacker Jack Cochrane sat with a knee injury.
Second-year defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott missed all of training camp and remains on the team’s physically-unable-to-perform (PUP) list due to an ACL tear suffered last season.
