The Kansas City Chiefs have suffered exactly what a playoff team wouldn’t want: a potentially serious injury in the final game of the season.
Rookie safety Juan Thornhill, who has quickly become a staple of the team’s secondary, was carted off the field in Sunday’s game after suffering some sort of non-contact injury.
#chiefs trainers are on the field working on rookie S Juan Thornhill’s left knee area. He was down for a minute before getting helped off the field. He’s putting no weight on that left leg coming off the field. He’s grown by leaps and bounds the last several weeks.
— James Palmer (@JamesPalmerTV) December 29, 2019
For more context, Juan Thornhill was blitzing from his free safety spot. Running full speed at Philip Rivers, Thornhill planted his foot & appeared to fall because of the turf, to some degree.
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) December 29, 2019
The Chiefs said Thornhill has a knee injury and is questionable to return.
The Chiefs can’t really afford this. In theory, they could still grab a first-round bye if they win and the New England Patriots lose, so there is some reason to play the starters. That said, they have clinched a playoff spot and can fall no further than third in the seeding, so this is an injury in a game with only modest upside.
