Kansas City Chiefs RB LeSean McCoy is a healthy scratch for Sunday’s matchup against the Tennesse Titans.
He wasn’t listed on the injury report this week and hasn’t been listed on the injury report since Week 5. McCoy had suffered an ankle injury earlier this season which limited him. He fought through the injury and played on a bad ankle for several weeks. That doesn’t appear to be related to this situation, though.
According to a report from NFL Network’s James Palmer, the Chiefs had predetermined Week 10 to be a rest week for LeSean McCoy in order to keep him fresh for the remainder of the season and into the playoffs.
This feels like a convenient excuse for the Chiefs regarding McCoy’s status. After a fumble that potentially cost the Chiefs their Week 8 game against the Packers, McCoy hasn’t seen much action. He saw a handful of carries in the early goings against the Vikings in Week 9, but the team rode the hot hand of Damien Williams.
The coaching staff has also mentioned the desire to get rookie RB Darwin Thompson more involved in the gameplan. They think he’s ready to take a bigger step forward in the offense. They’ve had a few plays designed for him but he’s failed to make a major impact save for a key block.
Whether McCoy is active on gamedays moving forward will be telling. If Kansas City is able to perform well without him, they could keep McCoy on ice for an extended period of time in hopes to motivate better play from him. It could be a situation similar to what happened with LB Reggie Ragland early in the season.
