Chiefs’ Joe Thuney now considered a ‘long shot’ to play again this season

Doctors now disagree on the severity of the Kansas City left guard’s injury — and surgery is still under consideration.

A week ago, the Kansas City Chiefs’ left guard Joe Thuney injured a pectoral muscle during the team’s 27-24 Divisional Round victory against the Buffalo Bills, which advanced the team to Sunday afternoon’s AFC Championship against the Baltimore Ravens.

On Monday afternoon, NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport reported that an MRI of the injured muscle had revealed it to be strained rather than torn — which was positive news. Although Thuney has already been ruled out of Sunday’s game, it was considered possible that he could be available in two weeks if the team advanced to Super Bowl LVIII in Las Vegas.

But in another update before Sunday’s game, Rapoport reported less positive news. The latest information is that Thuney is receiving conflicting reports from doctors. Some continue to say that the injury is a strain. Others say that it is, in fact, a muscle tear.

As our Dakota Watson reiterated in his analysis of Thuney’s prospects, strain is simply a word that describes a minor muscle tear. So it’s not that surprising that doctors could disagree on the precise way to describe the severity of this particular injury.

But it is bad news that surgery is still being considered — and that it is now a “long shot” that Thuney could return before the playoffs conclude.