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The Kansas City Chiefs placed Willie Gay Jr. on the injured reserve on September 2, after the linebacker sustained a toe injury in the team’s final preseason game.
Gay’s placement in the injured reserve meant he would be out for at least the first three games of the season. Chiefs head coach Andy Reid provided an update on Gay’s rehabilitation on Wednesday.
“He did a good job with it,” said Reid. “He’s been very diligent with it, and he’s getting there. He’s getting closer. It’s literally day to day as we go here, especially in the home stretch with this. We’ll just see how he does here as he goes along, but he does a good job with it.
At the time of Gay’s injury, the prevailing idea was that veteran linebacker Ben Niemann would see that moment in the lineup. And while Niemann got his fair share of plays, rookie Nick Bolton was the main stopgap.
“He did a really good job,” said Chiefs defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo of Gay on September 16, after the Chiefs’ victory in week one. “In the pre-season games, it didn’t seem like the game was too big for him. I saw the same in this game. I look at him and Matt House and [Anthony] The hitchens all work sitting on the bench and don’t put them in much phase. He picks it up right away. He would be one of those guys that I say we made a little adjustment he went with.
Even as a rookie, Bolton was one of the Chiefs’ best tackles (he leads the team with 12 solo tackles), but struggled to cover the Baltimore Ravens. The Ravens have targeted the rookie four times and converted for four receptions, per Focus on professional football.
This aspect of the coverage is where Gay’s return to programming could be felt the most.
“Willie is a good player. Reid added. “The guys who play are good players, and he’s a good player, and so the more you have the better your chances of being, right? I would leave it there. You start to compare and I tell you other guys aren’t good – you can take this two different ways, and that’s not where I am.
Gay can’t play against the Los Angeles Chargers in Week 3, but we’ll see if he’s activated for the Philadelphia Eagles game in Week 4.
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