The Kansas City Chiefs have announced that they’ve placed rookie DE Joshua Kaindoh on injured reserve. In a corresponding move, they officially signed WR Josh Gordon to the 53-man roster.
Kaindoh exited the Chiefs’ Week 4 game against the Philadelphia Eagles with an ankle injury and did not return to the game. After the game Chiefs’ HC Andy Reid didn’t clarify the severity of the injury, simply saying that he had hurt his ankle. On Monday, Reid had no updates on Kaindoh’s status, but with him reporting into team facilities on Tuesday, the team made a determination on his injury.
According to The Athletic’s Nate Taylor, Kaindoh is heading to injured reserve because of the dreaded high-ankle sprain. It’s potentially a short-term stay on injured reserve for Kaindoh with high ankle sprains typically taking 3-4 weeks to recover from.
We have placed DE Joshua Kaindoh on Reserve/Injured.
We have promoted WR Josh Gordon to the active 53 from our practice squad. pic.twitter.com/JsFwPt1AjU— Kansas City Chiefs (@Chiefs) October 5, 2021
A fourth-round draft pick out of Florida State, Kaindoh has had a rough go so far as a rookie. He has appeared in three games so far, playing in 46 total defensive snaps. During those snaps, he recorded no official statistics.
This injury will certainly stunt any progress he’s made this season. He’ll be required to miss three weeks before he can be designated to return from injured reserve. That means, at the very least, he’ll miss games against the Buffalo Bills, Washington Football Team and Tennessee Titans.
The Chiefs’ pass-rush was already hurting before this injury. While Andy Reid expects the return of Frank Clark to help strengthen the defensive line, it might be time that the team begins looking elsewhere for solutions.
