Chiefs give injury update on Tyrann Mathieu ahead of AFC title game

The Kansas City Chiefs are one step closer to getting their defensive captain back for their showdown against the Cincinnati Bengals in the AFC championship game. Chiefs safety Tyrann Mathieu was a full participant in practice on Friday. It was his second consecutive practice since being placed in concussion protocol.

Tyrann Mathieu missed a significant chunk of the Chiefs’ divisional-round win against the Buffalo Bills last weekend. The former LSU star was knocked out of the game with a concussion, early in the first quarter; after taking a knee to the helmet.

Mathieu is arguably one of the better ball-hawking safeties in the league, and his presence was missed in the Chiefs’ narrow overtime 42-36 victory against the Bills. With Mathieu out, Buffalo was able to score four passing touchdowns on their six final possessions.

This Sunday, Kansas City will face off against another high-powered offense. With this duo on the field, the Chiefs will need all the help they can get in their secondary. But for now, all the team can do is keep their fingers crossed and wait for their Pro Bowl safety to clear concussion protocol.

Chiefs bring back Josh Gordon

The Kansas City Chiefs have made good on their word with wide receiver Josh Gordon. On Monday, NFL networks Tom Pelissero reported that the Chiefs would waive Gordon, but that they did intend on re-signing him to the practice squad if he cleared waivers. Well, he cleared them and Kansas City has agreed to re-sign the veteran receiver to their practice squad.

For Gordon, it is a win-win situation. Because he was a member of their 53 man roster for eight games, he will still get paid his standard playoff check. And now that he’s a member of their practice squad, he will also receive practice squad checks for the rest of the playoffs.

Well before his return with the Chiefs, Gordon was suspended indefinitely in December 2019 for violations of the league’s policies on substance abuse and performance-enhancing substances. That was Gordon’s sixth suspension since the 2013 season and his fifth related to substance abuse. He was reinstated by the NFL once in 2020, but the conditional reinstatement did not go as planned; he had a setback in his recovery, so Gordon was forced to wait until he was handed another reinstatement in 2020.

When active, Gordon has proven to be one of the NFL’s most lethal wide receivers, living up to the nickname “Flash.” During a seven-year NFL career in which he has started just 56 games, Gordon has hauled in 4,256 receiving yards on 247 catches, along with 20 receiving touchdowns. Perhaps most impressively, Gordon averages 17.2 yards per catch in his career, making him a deep-ball threat next to Chiefs quarterback Patrick Mahomes. Unfortunately, that wasn’t the case as Gordon recorded just five receptions for 32 yards and a touchdown over 12 games with the Chiefs.