Kansas City

Chiefs

We got word early on Wednesday that Worthy would suit up for practice. He ended up being a full participant and remained full today, putting him firmly on track to play in Week 10 against the Falcons. Worthy is down to being a touchdown-dependent FLEX with Josh Downs now on the roster, but his presence helps out Patrick Mahomes.

The Chiefs have been limiting Kelce’s participation on Wednesdays in recent weeks. His return to full participation to begin the week is great to see. Kelce, 37, remains a locked-in TE1 at this point in his career. Treat him accordingly against the Falcons.

For the first time since October 4th, the Chiefs listed Rice only with a knee issue. He had been managing a hamstring strain for more than a month, prior to today, and was typically limited early in the week. This is a great sign for his health moving forward. Rice is a WR2 against the Falcons.

Fields may have picked up a neck injury while attempting a Tush Push last week. Backup quarterback injuries are not always relevant, but with Patrick Mahomes (elbow) nursing a small injury, this is notable.

Butker has missed a field goal in every game outside of Week 1. His 63 percent field goal percentage is the worst mark in the league, outside of Harrison Mevis, who is not currently on a roster. Barring a sharp turnaround in Butker’s play, he’ll get benched at some point this year.

This comes directly from Andy Reid, though we’ll have to wait until the team’s injury report officially drops to be sure it’s actually a full session. Either way, Mahomes is playing on Sunday despite suffering an ugly elbow injury in Week 9. He told reporters it’s simply a matter of pain management for now. The Chiefs may opt to lean on their ground game against the Falcons, but even that won’t knock Mahomes out of the QB1 mix after the addition of Josh Downs.

Head coach Andy Reid told reporters Worthy is “actually feeling pretty good.” Worthy went down with a hamstring injury late in the Chiefs’ win over the Jets on Sunday. The fact that he’s able to practice in any capacity today suggests he will be good to go for Week 10 against the Falcons. With Josh Downs now in the mix for targets, Worthy’s days as a relevant fantasy option appear to be over.

It was an obvious fit. Downs will slot in as Kansas City’s No. 2 wideout behind Rashee Rice and his fantasy stock receives a slight upgrade — though we felt like we’ve spent all year saying that and never seeing any actual returns for it — while Xavier Worthy moves back to the undesirable FLEX shadow zone. The Colts had to make this trade as Downs was a free agent at year’s end, but it has left them with a completely indecipherable wideout room. Ashton Dulin is perhaps the No. 1 target Daniel Jones has outside of Tyler Warren and Jonathan Taylor.

This news comes less than 24 hours after NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that an MRI “did not reveal a major injury” to Mahomes, who was able to finish out the game in Sunday’s win over the Jets. Reid said Mahomes is dealing with some soreness that he will have to rehab a bit, but it doesn’t sound like he’s at risk of missing any time. Mahomes threw for 242 yards and two touchdowns against the Jets and will be on the QB1 radar next week against the Falcons.

Rapoport adds that Mahomes’ “elbow strain/sprain will be monitored over the next few days for pain and swelling.” Without getting too deep into the weeds, there are a few things to note. First off, Rapoport sometimes reports injury news optimistically. It would have been nice to see him actually report a “minor” injury, rather than not “major.” Secondly, “strain” typically refers to muscles and tendons, while “sprain” is often used for ligaments. Using both is a tad confusing. That said, Rapoport’s follow-up statement suggests Mahomes may have a chance to play in Week 10 against the Falcons. Updates will be provided as soon as news breaks. Stay tuned.