Chiefs place two starting cornerbacks, two primary receivers on injured reserve

Blair Kerkhoff, The Kansas City Star on Dec 24, 2025

Published in Football

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KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Several veteran Chiefs players will not finish the season, the club announced Wednesday.

Cornerbacks Trent McDuffie and Jaylen Watson and wide receivers Rashee Rice and Tyquan Thornton have been placed on injured reserve.

All had missed practice this week with injuries, and now they’ll be out for Thursday’s home game against the Denver Broncos and the Week 18 contest at the Las Vegas Raiders.

The Chiefs were already without their top two quarterbacks, Patrick Mahomes and Gardner Minshew (both with knee injuries), for the rest of the year. Chris Oladokun is now the starting quarterback.

Elevated from the practice squad were defensive end Ethan Downs, cornerback Melvin Smith and Tyreke Smith, a tight end who has appeared in three NFL games.

Also, the Chiefs activated cornerback Nazeeh Johnson from injured reserve. Johnson has played in 27 games for the Chiefs since 2022 and started two playoff games last season.