Kansas City Chiefs’ Marquez Valdes-Scantling out of concussion protocol and practicing
The Kansas City Chiefs are on track to have one of their top pass catchers available for the start of the regular season.
Wide receiver Marquez Valdes-Scantling, who didn’t play in last week’s preseason finale, said Monday that he cleared the concussion protocol.
More importantly, he didn’t leave any doubt on his status for the season opener against the Arizona Cardinals on Sept. 11.
“I practiced (Sunday), so it was good,” Valdes-Scantling said. “So, we’ll be ready for Week 1.”
Barring a setback, Valdes-Scantling’s presence on the practice field is a good sign that the Chiefs are getting healthier at the wide receiver position.
The Chiefs were without Valdes-Scantling, who entered the protocol earlier last week, and JuJu Smith-Schuster (knee) in Thursday night’s preseason finale against the Green Bay Packers.
Smith-Schuster, who ran routes before kickoff for quarterback Patrick Mahomes, was observed Monday going through stretching and conditioning, followed by individual position drills during the open media portion of practice. Whether he took part in full team drills won’t be known, however.
Earlier last week, Chiefs head coach Andy Reid didn’t express concerns on Smith-Schuster’s availability for the season opener.
“I think he’ll be fine,” Reid said then. “I mean, he’s right there right now. He’s starting to really – he’s kind of turned the corner here the last couple days and he’s running on it, so it’s good.”
In that scenario, the Chiefs could be intact at the wide receiver position with the projected top four options in Valdes-Scantling, Smith-Schuster, Mecole Hardman and rookie Skyy Moore against the Cardinals.
And when the entire group is fully healthy, Valdes-Scantling also left no doubt on how he feels about the Chiefs’ weapons at the position group.
“I think we have one of the best wide receiver rooms in the league,” he said.
The Chiefs also welcomed back rookie cornerback Trent McDuffie (concussion protocol), defensive end Carlos Dunlap (Achilles inflammation) and cornerback Rashad Fenton (groin) to practice. Dunlap and Fenton did not participate in the Chiefs’ preseason finale.
Defensive end Frank Clark, linebacker Leo Chenal, tight end Blake Bell (hip) and tight end Matt Bushman (shoulder) were not spotted on the practice field. Safety Deon Bush and defensive end Malik Herring (oblique strain) stood off to the side without their helmets and watched practice.
This story was originally published August 29, 2022 at 12:54 PM.
