Chiefs’ Tyreek Hill suffers hamstring injury Thursday, does not finish camp practice
The Chiefs’ depth at wide receiver finds itself tested just six days into padded practices and three weeks away from their regular-season opener on Sept. 10.
Tyreek Hill suffered a hamstring injury during one-on-one drills midway through Thursday’s practice and did not finish the session.
The injury occurred after Hill secured a deep pass down the right sideline of the field. After taking a few steps at full speed, he pulled up shortly before crossing into the end zone and reached for the back of his right leg.
Hill then went with trainers to the sideline, where they evaluated him before sending him inside. Perhaps a good sign the injury might not be serious occurred when Hill was later observed jogging inside without a trainer.
Nevertheless, Hill’s injury has added significance because the Chiefs have been without Hill’s veteran receiver running mate, Sammy Watkins, who has missed four consecutive days of practice with a groin injury.
The Chiefs are now down to Demarcus Robinson, Mecole Hardman and Byron Pringle as wide receivers who spent time on their active 53-player roster in 2019. Pringle, the K-State product, recently dealt with a hamstring injury of his own that caused him to miss three days of work before his return on Thursday.
The rest of the wide receiver corps rounds out as Gehrig Dieter, Jody Fortson, Marcus Kemp, Kalija Lipscomb, Justice Shelton-Mosley and Maurice French. The latter three players signed with the Chiefs in late April as undrafted free agents.
Fortson and Dieter, in particular, have enjoyed a strong camp. The Chiefs could give that duo some work with the first-team unit if Hill and Watkins need time to heal before the start of the regular season.
Hill, arguably the NFL’s top deep threat, finished 2019 with 58 catches for 860 yards and seven touchdowns last season to earn his fourth straight Pro Bowl selection. Watkins totaled 52 catches for 673 yards and three touchdowns in 2019.
