Trey

Smith

Smith suffered an ankle injury that kept him out of Weeks 13-15, coinciding with the Chiefs losing their grip on a wild card spot. He had the worst season of his career per PFF grading, making it to just a 68.5 overall grade. He did notably play worse with the ankle injury in Weeks 12, 16, and 17. Smith remains a long-term building block for Kansas City’s line, but this ends a rough season for him.

The Chiefs will also be without RG Trey Smith (ankle). Taylor remained sidelined all week. Smith practiced fully on Wednesday before being downgrade to limited on Thursday and an absence on Friday. The Chiefs have also lost multiple left tackles this season, with fill-in OT Wanya Morris rupturing a patellar tendon in his knee just last week.

Chiefs RG Trey Smith (ankle) is also doubtful, and Chiefs LT Josh Simmons (wrist) was recently placed on injured reserve. The Texans’ pass rush generates pressure at the NFL’s second-highest rate (42.4 percent). This is a tough break for QB Patrick Mahomes. Expect him to funnel targets to WR Rashee Rice and TE Travis Kelce on short routes.

Taylor picked up the triceps injury in Week 13 against the Cowboys. He has missed both practices since then. The Chiefs are already without LT Josh Simmons (wrist) and RG Trey Smith (ankle) has also been sidelined over the last two days. The Chiefs face the Texans’ elite pass-rush unit on Sunday.

The tricep injury, suffered in Week 13 against the Cowboys, is what will prevent Taylor from playing this week if he is ruled out. A DNP today puts him on the wrong side of questionable for now. Right guard Trey Smith missed Wednesday’s practice with an ankle injury. Left tackle Josh Simmons underwent wrist surgery and was placed on injured reserve. That’s three starting linemen unlikely to play or explicitly ruled out for a must-win game versus Houston. Expect Patrick Mahomes to get the ball out quickly as often as possible on Sunday.

Losing Smith for this one is unfortunate. The capable pass blocker will be missed against an ascending Cowboys pass-rush unit. Both Mitchell and Royals are healthy scratches. Gray was unable to practice this week, due to a concussion. This matchup should produce a high-scoring game environment.

Smith sustained two sprains on the same ankle in the team’s Week 12 game against the Colts and did not practice Tuesday ahead of KC’s Thanksgiving matchup with the Cowboys. It’s a blow to the Chiefs offense, as Pro Football Focus grades Smith as the NFL’s tenth best pass-blocking guard this season. The Dallas front seven has been much improved over the past three weeks.

Back-to-back DNPs have the star guard looking unlikely to play against the Cowboys on Thanksgiving. He’s reportedly dealing with both “high- and low-ankle sprains,” per NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport. It wouldn’t be surprising if he missed multiple weeks.

The sprain is too low to be high, but too high to be low. According to Rapoport, Smith “is expected to miss some time,” which would include Thursday’s game against the Cowboys. The fifth-year guard has played in all 11 games for the Chiefs this season, earning a PFF grade of 71.4 on 577 snaps.

Smith had his ankle rolled on in the first half and immediately went down. He was ruled out shortly after halftime. The Chiefs will now attempt to pull off a comeback over the Colts without one of the best guards in the league.