Kansas City Chiefs wide receivers JuJu Smith-Schuster and Marquez Valdes-Scantling should be available for the season opener Sunday at Arizona.
Chiefs coach Andy Reid said Monday he expects both receivers to be full participants in practice this week after missing much of the preseason with injuries.
“They’ll be ready to roll going forward,” Reid said. “Everybody went today. Today was a good, fast-paced tempo practice.”
Smith-Schuster has been out with a knee injury while Valdes-Scantling had missed time while being in concussion protocol. The Chiefs kept five receivers on their initial 53-man roster, and Smith-Schuster and Valdes-Scantling are listed as starters with Mecole Hardman, Skyy Moore and Justin Watson rounding out the group.
The Chiefs also placed tight end Blake Bell on injured reserve (hip surgery). Bell, in a procedural move, was initially listed on the team’s 53-man roster on cutdown day, but now must miss at least the first four games of the season. With Bell out, Noah Gray and Jody Fortson will fill in.
“Both of those two are capable,” Reid said. “We’ll mix and match people in, but they’re all going to play. Those are good players. There’s some things we can do with them mixing personnel in there.”
Reid said he is eager to see how his team will stack up against the Cardinals defense, which finished 11th overall and seventh against the pass last season.
“I think everybody can’t wait to see what you are, what you’re capable of,” Reid said. “That’s kind of the way it goes every year. And we’re lucky we have a good opponent to do that against Arizona. You get an idea of where you’re at when everything’s flying fast.”
