Kansas City Chiefs WR Sammy Watkins won’t play against the Las Vegas Raiders in Week 11, but he could make his return the following week against the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.
According to a new report from The Athletic’s Nate Taylor, the Chiefs are optimistic that Watkins will return when the team travels to Tampa Bay. After tonight, Watkins will have missed the past five games for Kansas City. He suffered a hamstring injury during the Week 5 loss to the Raiders at Arrowhead Stadium.
There was previously some optimism that Watkins would make his return this week after he practiced in full on Wednesday. Then Watkins popped up as a limited participant in practice with a new calf injury. He was ruled out on Saturday. According to Taylor’s report, that injury is considered to be minor.
The Chiefs are optimistic that Sammy Watkins will make his return next week against the Buccaneers, per a source.
Watkins has a minor calf injury & his hamstring feels fine. Watkins won't face the Raiders tonight as a precautionary measure.
— Nate Taylor (@ByNateTaylor) November 22, 2020
Watkins was hoping to escape the injury-prone narrative surrounding his career when he came to Kansas City, but he’s missed multiple games in each of his three seasons with the Chiefs. In total, he’ll have played in 29-of-37 possible regular-season games with Kansas City. When he’s been on the field for the Chiefs he’s been stellar, but he’s missed quite a few games over three years with mostly ticky-tacky injuries. Watkins has seen some of his best performances during the playoffs, including crucial catches during last year’s AFC Championship Game and Super Bowl LIV.
It’s surprising that in an important AFC West game that Kansas City would err on the side of caution with Watkins. It’s likely that Mecole Hardman’s return from the reserve/COVID-19 list gave them the flexibility to do that. Expect Watkins to test his calf as soon as the team gets back to practice on Wednesday next week. If everything checks out, he should be good when the team heads to Tampa Bay.
