Willie

Gay Jr.

The fact that a linebacker isn’t playing through a hand injury suggests it’s a break. Gay was playing a modest 20-30 weekly snaps heading into Week 4, so it’s more of a depth issue than anything else.

Another $2 million is available through incentives. A four-year starter since arriving in Kansas City via the second round of the 2020 draft, Gay has been a perfectly-average two-down ‘backer. He’s neither an elite run-stopper nor a horrid pass-rusher. He’s going from one elite defensive mind in Steve Spagnuolo to another in Dennis Allen.

We’re more than a week out from the Super Bowl, but Pacheco practicing this early on is a good sign. We’ll see how things progress throughout next week, but Pacheco hasn’t missed a postseason contest with his injuries thus far and is a virtual lock to play in the Super Bowl, barring any setbacks. In addition to Pacheco, LB Willie Gay, DT Chris Jones, and WR Kadarius Toney also practiced in some capacity on Thursday.

NFL Network’s James Palmer reported shortly before inactives were announced that Gay was “trending toward not being able to go” after his neck injury reportedly flared up in the morning. Despite his best efforts to get on the field, the Chiefs will be without Gay, who is one of several Chiefs players missing the AFC title game on Sunday. In addition to Gay, the Chiefs also ruled out WR Kadarius Toney, CB Keith Taylor, CB Ekow Boye-Doe, DE BJ Thompson, OG Joe Thuney, and DE Felix Anudike-Uzomah.

Gay was limited on Wednesday and Thursday and drew a DNP on Friday. Given his questionable status for Sunday, we’ll assume Friday’s DNP was due to workload management rather than a setback. Gay injured his neck in last week’s win over the Bills and did not return to the field, but two limited practices during the week should give some cause for optimism.

As noted on the broadcast, the Chiefs have often deployed Gay as a QB spy on Josh Allen, making his absence all the more detrimental to Kansas City’s defense. We don’t know the severity of Gay’s injury, but he exited sometime in the first half and was officially ruled out early in the third quarter.

Fellow linebacker Willie Gay is listed as questionable with a quad injury. It’s possible the team is without a pair of interior linebackers for Week 3. Though it won’t move the betting lines, it could give Justin Fields some extra upside as a runner.

Gay was arrested in January for misdemeanor property damage and will now miss the Chiefs’ next four games. The veteran linebacker will be eligible to return on October 23rd to face the 49ers. Through two games, Gay has totaled 16 tackles on 111 defensive snaps.

The complaint lists this as a class B non-person misdemeanor, labeling it a domestic violence offense for criminal damage of less than $1,000. Gay is currently being held in the Johnson County Jail and is scheduled for arraignment at 2:30 p.m. Thursday. Kansas City’s starting linebacker, it’s unclear if this arrest will keep Gay sidelined for Sunday night’s Divisional Round.

He said the same about Josh Gordon and DL Willie Gay, who are also on the COVID list. All three sat out Kansas City’s win over the Chargers on Thursday night. The Steelers are next up for the Chiefs on Sunday, so the trio has a full week to clear the COVID protocol.