The Chiefs will travel to Arizona to play the Cardinals this Sunday without defensive end Allen Bailey and wide receiver Junior Hemingway as the two are both dealing with concussion symptoms. Hemingway will be missing his second game in a row.
Wide receiver Jason Avant, who was signed a week before the Chiefs played the Broncos last Sunday, saw the second-most snaps (31) of any wide receiver in that game. That number should only increase after he continued to get more comfortable with the playbook this week.
"I'm here and I'm still learning," he said earlier on Tuesday. "I have to get down the fine details of it and try my best to play as hard as I can for the team."
While playing with Andy Reid in Philadelphia, Avant never had a season with less than 79.8 percent of his snaps coming out of the slot receiver position. With that being Hemingway's role on the Chiefs, that should also help to boost Avant's playing time.
As for Bailey, Reid said he plans to replace his spot by committee.
"They'll all play," Reid said, referring to all his reserves on the defensive line. "They'll end up rotating in there, but they will all get a shot."
Practice photos from Wednesday, getting prepped for the Cardinals.
In the game against the Broncos that Bailey had to leave early, Vance Walker played in 17 total snaps, the second most of his season. It's fair to think that Walker will likely have a heavy workload once again this week.
After Reid addressed the injuries, he was asked about the magnitude of this game heading into the season's final quarter.
"It's hard to measure them," he answered. "Every game in this league, and now you're into December, it becomes even more magnified. You have to make sure that you take care of business and you get yourself ready to play."
Practice Bits.
- DE Allen Bailey (concussion) and WR Junior Hemingway (concussion) did not practice and will be out for the game against the Cardinals.
