Chiefs coach Andy Reid will play his healthy starters in Friday night’s preseason finale against the Bears. He said they need the work before the season opener, which comes exactly two weeks after the last exhibition game.
“Yeah, there’s just a little bit longer wait here in between this game and the next game,” Reid said Wednesday, via Charles Goldman of AtoZ Sports. “And so, I just think I’d rather give the guys a little bit more time in this game so the timing keeps a little closer to when we get to our game.”
Reid listed the seven injured players the Chiefs will hold out of the game.
Tight end Jake Briningstool (hamstring), cornerback Nazeeh Johnson (shoulder), linebacker Jack Cochrane (bone bruise), offensive tackle Ethan Driskell (appendectomy), safety Mike Edwards (hamstring), defensive tackle Omarr Norman-Lott (ankle) and wide receiver Jalen Royals (knee tendonitis) will not play.
Cornerback Kristian Fulton, who recently returned from the active/physically unable to perform list, could get some snaps. The Chiefs, though, could hold out wide receiver Hollywood Brown, who recently returned to practice from a foot/ankle injury.
“I’m going to just play that by ear,” Reid said of Brown’s status. “I’m going to see how it does through warm-ups and all that. We’ll just kind of go from there. This is day by day right there. I want no steps backward on that.
