Will injured Kadarius Toney, L’Jarius Sneed play in NFL opener? What Chiefs GM said

Kansas City Chiefs general manager Brett Veach stopped short of making a guarantee.

Still, when Veach was asked Wednesday whether injured players Kadarius Toney and L’Jarius Sneed would play in Sept. 7’s season opener against the Detroit Lions, he conveyed some optimism.

“I don’t want to speak for the coaches or for Rick (Burkholder, Chiefs trainer), but they have a good chance to be where they need to be Week 1,” Veach said of Toney and Sneed. “And we’ll see.”

Both Toney and Sneed missed almost all of training camp with knee injuries.

Toney, in his second year as a receiver with the Chiefs, hurt himself during the first day of full-squad workouts at camp; that ailment required surgery to repair cartilage.

Sneed, a fourth-year cornerback with the Chiefs, missed all three preseason games while nursing a lingering knee injury. He participated in walk-throughs at practice without a helmet one day last week.

“Those guys have worked with tails off around the clock to put themselves in a position to play Thursday,” Veach said. “And I think that they certainly have a chance (to play vs. Lions).”

Veach had other positive injury news to report Wednesday, saying he didn’t anticipate any 53-man roster players to start the season on injured reserve (IR).

There had been questions on some. That included seventh-round rookie cornerback Nic Jones, who fractured fingers during the team’s first preseason game at New Orleans. Coach Andy Reid said last week that Jones’ injury would not require surgery.

Other statuses that could’ve been in question included linebacker Leo Chenal, who suffered a hip-pointer injury in Saturday’s preseason game against Cleveland, and defensive lineman Turk Wharton, who is recovering from a torn ACL last October and first returned to game action last week.

Veach said he didn’t anticipate that anyone would get an IR designation in the next day that would require a roster swap-out.

“I think these guys are good to go,” Veach said. “It doesn’t mean that they’re 100% and will be active game day. But as we sit here today, I think these guys will all be practicing this week.”