Chiefs rule Jeremy Maclin out for game at Falcons

The Chiefs won’t have their No. 1 receiver against the league’s top-scoring team on Sunday.

The club downgraded Jeremy Maclin from questionable to out on Saturday, meaning he will miss the Chiefs’ road test against the Atlanta Falcons. It will be the fourth straight game Maclin, who has caught 30 passes for 376 yards and two touchdowns, has missed since he injured his groin against Jacksonville on Nov. 6.

Maclin returned to practice this week – he was a limited participant all three days of practice – but his next chance to play will now come on Dec. 8, when the Chiefs host the arch rival Oakland Raiders for Thursday Night Football.

Also added to the injury report was cornerback Phillip Gaines, who is questionable to play Sunday because of a knee injury. If Gaines can’t play, Steven Nelson – who missed the Chiefs’ win over Denver on Sunday with a neck injury – appears poised to be the starter opposite Marcus Peters, with Kenneth Acker and D.J. White serving as backups.

Four other Chiefs are listed as questionable, side from Gaines: nose tackle Dontari Poe (back spasms), outside linebacker Dee Ford (hamstring), outside linebacker Justin Houston (shoulder) and defensive lineman Kendall Reyes (knee). Poe is the only one who has not practiced at all this week, which typically is not a good sign regarding availability.

“It’s just a matter of back spasms and calming down a little bit,” Chiefs coach Andy Reid said earlier in the week.

The Chiefs also added defensive tackle T.J. Barnes to the active roster from the practice squad, taking the place of Jaye Howard, who was placed on injured reserve this week. With Poe and Reyes banged up, Barnes joins startes Chris Jones and Rakeem Nunez-Roches and backup Jarvis Jenkins as the Chiefs’ only healthy interior defensive linemen on the 53-man roster.

This story was originally published December 3, 2016 at 10:49 AM with the headline "Chiefs rule Jeremy Maclin out for game at Falcons."