The Chiefs got three of their key players back from injuries Wednesday when wide receiver JuJu Smith-Schuster joined running back Isiah Pacheco and defensive end Charles Omenihu on the practice squad ahead of this weekend’s trip to Buffalo.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said there’s a chance Smith-Schuster would play in the pivotal matchup between the unbeaten Chiefs and the Bills. He’s been out since Week 7, when he hurt his hamstring in the opening minutes of a win over San Francisco.
“We’ll see as he goes through practice,” Reid said. “If it’s up to him, he’s back.”
Smith-Schuster’s injury, coupled with earlier injuries to wide receivers Marquise Brown and Rashee Rice, were big reasons why the Chiefs traded a draft pick to Tennessee to land DeAndre Hopkins. And while they share similar skill sets, Smith-Schuster and Hopkins also have some different abilities, and there is a chance they could see the field at the same time Sunday.
As for Pacheco and Omenihu, Reid called it “unlikely” that they would play in their first game after rejoining practice.
Pacheco fractured his fibula in Week 2 against Cincinnati and required surgery. The initial timeline called for him to return in six to eight weeks, and that puts Pacheco right on schedule. But the Chiefs also are not desperate for him to return to the backfield with Kareem Hunt playing so well since he was signed essentially off the couch when Pacheco went down.
Hunt has touched the ball at least 21 times each of the past five games. And despite having no real offseason or training camp, he has run for 449 yards and five scores and caught 14 passes for 116 yards in his first six games.
The Chiefs hope that adding Pacheco to the backfield in the coming weeks will lighten Hunt’s load, though, and perhaps keep both running backs in better shape for the stretch run. In fact, it could look a lot like the one-two punch of Hunt and Nick Chubb that the Browns have had for most of the past five years.
“I’m happy for him, and I know he’s excited to get back out there. I think it’s going to be a heck of a backfield,” Hunt said. “I think it could be very similar (to Cleveland). I’m excited. I’m used to working with other great backs and stuff like that.”
Omenihu had been on the physically unable to perform list ever since the defensive end tore his ACL in the Chiefs’ AFC title game win in Baltimore. The Chiefs have been biding their time until he could return by leaning heavily on George Karlaftis, Mike Danna and Felix Anudike-Uzomah, then added Josh Uche to the pass rush group in a trade with New England.
Omenihu was a force in 11 games for Kansas City last season, piling up seven sacks and forcing a pair of fumbles.
“All these players are different in regards to how they come back from injury,” Chiefs manager Brett Veach told a small group of reporters Wednesday. “They all heal differently. And the exact nature and the rehab and the body and all that — I mean, they’re just so different. Some of these kids, they hit the ground running. Some of these guys, it takes a few games. Some of these guys it takes a few months. Some of these guys, it takes a whole year. There’s a big unknown there.”
Reporting by The Associated Press.
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