Ward’s back with Chiefs, but Sammy Watkins has lingering issues from hit taken Sunday
The Chiefs are down a starting wide receiver as they begin preparations for Week 3’s Monday night showdown against the Baltimore Ravens.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Thursday that Sammy Watkins is in the NFL concussion protocol and won’t practice.
“It’s more neck right now than the other part,” Reid said. “He’s working through it.”
Watkins suffered the concussion early in the fourth quarter of Week 2’s 23-20 overtime win over the Los Angeles Chargers. The wideout was hurt after being on the receiving end of a hit by Chargers linebacker Denzel Perryman in a play that raised Reid’s concern.
“Sammy got a hit to the head that I thought was very questionable,” Reid said Sunday. “He got hit to the head, so we’re not supposed to have those in our game here.”
If Watkins isn’t available against the Ravens, the Chiefs have depth at wide receiver on their active 53-player roster, with Tyreek Hill, Demarcus Robinson, Mecole Hardman, Byron Pringle and Marcus Kemp all ready to go.
And in a league with a next-man-up mentality, quarterback Patrick Mahomes has confidence in whoever is asked to fill in for Watkins.
“That’s the good thing about having depth at that position is we hope we have Sammy back and everything is hopefully trending the right way,” Mahomes said Thursday. “But at the same time, it’s good to have guys you can trust to be in there and do what they can to try and replace what he gives us.”
The Chiefs also practiced Thursday without Alex Okafor, who suffered a hamstring injury in Week 1 and didn’t play in Week 2.
“He is getting better, though, and doing well,” Reid said.
It wasn’t all doom and gloom Thursday. The Chiefs also had good news on the injury front.
Cornerback Charvarius Ward, whose fractured hand suffered in Week 1 kept him out of action in Week 2, was expected back on the practice field.
“He’s going to get out there and move around,” Reid said. “We’ll see how he does.”
The Chiefs would later officially list Ward, who was observed with his left hand heavily bandaged during the portion open to the media, as a limited participant in practice. The designation signals Ward went through stretching and individual position drills, but not full team drills. Running back Darrel Williams (ankle) was also limited.
Defensive end Frank Clark (illness), cornerback Antonio Hamilton (groin), safety Juan Thornhill (knee), center Austin Reiter (knee) and defensive tackle Derrick Nnadi (ankle) practiced fully.
Clark and Hamilton left Week 2’s game, so their ability to practice Thursday without limitations bodes well for their availability for Monday night, barring a setback.
This story was originally published September 24, 2020 at 1:48 PM with the headline "Ward’s back with Chiefs, but Sammy Watkins has lingering issues from hit taken Sunday."
