2 Chiefs may see initial preseason action Saturday vs. Browns

Andy Reid that two Kansas City players who have been working back from injuries might play in preseason Week 3.

As the Kansas City Chiefs prepare for their final preseason game against the Cleveland Browns — which will be played on GEHA Field at Arrowhead Stadium at Noon Arrowhead Time on Saturday — two significant players are returning from injuries.

While we may see little or no action from the team’s nominal starters on Saturday, head coach Andy Reid thinks there’s a chance that two players working their way back from injuries will get some playing time.

Running back Isiah Pacheco

After becoming a rookie starter in 2022, the second-year player had offseason surgery for the broken hand and torn labrum, with which he reportedly played in Super Bowl LVII. While he participated in all of the team’s training camp practices (including the early quarterbacks-and-rookies practices), his contact was limited; he wore a yellow “non-contact” jersey that kept him out of some drills and scrimmages.

But starting on Monday, Pacheco was back to full participation in practice. Reid said there was “a chance” he could see action on Saturday.

“I’m just kind of spotting him here [and there],” said the head coach after Wednesday’s practice, “seeing what he is comfortable with. We got the yellow jersey off him — and he’s ‘full throttle.’ So we’ll see how he does here [in] the next couple of days.”

Defensive tackle Tershawn “Turk” Wharton

The fourth-year veteran from Missouri S&T started training camp on the team’s Active/PUP (physically-unable-to-perform) list as he recovered from last season’s ACL injury. He was activated to the roster on August 2 — but on August 11, he missed the first of five practices as his knee swelled.

Wharton was back to work on Tuesday.

“He’s doing all right,” said Reid on Wednesday. “He’s lucky he’s got a good foundation, man. He’s got big legs — and strong legs. And so I thought he was moving around well — [moving around] quick.”

And Reid thinks that Wharton could also see some playing time in the preseason’s Week 3.

“There’s a chance,” he said. “It kind of the same thing [as] with Pacheco. We’ll just see where we go with this thing in the next couple of days. Tomorrow’s not a normal walkthrough day. It’s an eight-day period — so we’ve got one more day there.”

We may know little else before Saturday’s game. There will be no media availability before Thursday’s practice — and unlike in the regular season, there are no official injury reports for preseason games.