{"id":92780,"date":"2025-08-24T07:52:26","date_gmt":"2025-08-24T07:52:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=92780"},"modified":"2025-08-24T07:52:26","modified_gmt":"2025-08-24T07:52:26","slug":"chiefs-predicted-to-stash-draft-pick-on-ir-after-mysterious-injury","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=92780","title":{"rendered":"Chiefs Predicted to Stash Draft Pick on IR After Mysterious Injury"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"post-featured-container-id\">\n<div id=\"post-featured\">\n<figure><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Andy-Reid-Nagy-e1755993935815.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 820px) 95vw, 780px\" srcset=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Andy-Reid-Nagy-e1755993935815.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780 780w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Andy-Reid-Nagy-e1755993935815.jpg?quality=15&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1100 1100w, https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Andy-Reid-Nagy-e1755993935815.jpg?quality=35&amp;strip=all&amp;w=1350 1350w\" alt=\"Chiefs Predicted to Stash Draft Pick on IR After Mysterious Injury\" width=\"780\" height=\"439\" \/><\/figure>\n<div>\n<p>Getty<\/p>\n<p>Kansas City Chiefs head coach Andy Reid.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<p>The Kansas City Chiefs\u2019 initial 53-man roster cutdown is just a few short days away, and that means head coach Andy Reid and general manager Brett Veach will have several difficult decisions to make \u2014 one could even involve camp standout and rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals.<\/p>\n<p>No, Royals won\u2019t be cut. But there\u2019s a scenario where he unexpectedly begins the season on the short-term injured reserve. This would allow Royals to return after Week 4.<\/p>\n<p>The promising fourth-round draft pick popped up on Coach Reid\u2019s injury report before the preseason finale on August 18, and the issue was a bit mysterious.<\/p>\n<p>The Chiefs HC described it as \u201cknee tendinitis,\u201d but did not elaborate any further. Then, later in the week, concern over Royals\u2019 injury grew a bit when he was ruled out for the preseason finale versus the Chicago Bears.<\/p>\n<p>On August 23, Arrowhead Pride executive editor John Dixon took this situation one step further, predicting that Royals would begin the 2025 season on the injured reserve. This designation would also free up a roster spot for another wide receiver like Nikko Remigio.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Arrowhead Pride Explains Jalen Royals Injury Prediction<\/h2>\n<div id=\"attachment_5464828\">\n<p><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/heavy.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/Jalen-Royals2-e1755995816357.jpg?quality=65&amp;strip=all&amp;w=780\" alt=\"Chiefs Predicted to Stash Draft Pick on IR After Mysterious Injury\" width=\"780\" height=\"437\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-5464828\" data-lazy-load=\"\" \/><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-5464828\">GettyKansas City Chiefs rookie wide receiver Jalen Royals during the 2025 preseason.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>In total, Dixon and Arrowhead Pride only kept six receivers, including Rashee Rice.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cFor most of the offseason, we\u2019ve assumed that Rice would begin the season serving a suspension,\u201d Dixon began his explanation. \u201cBut unless that situation is resolved in the next 48 hours, he\u2019s going to be leading the wide receiver group. [Xavier] Worthy and [Hollywood] Brown are locks behind him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSome would let go of [JuJu] Smith-Schuster, but we won\u2019t,\u201d the long-time KC writer continued. \u201cWe might never have predicted it during his time with the Pittsburgh Steelers, but he\u2019s now the room\u2019s steady, veteran hand. We think Kansas City will keep him.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Finally, Dixon noted that \u201cthe Chiefs have a difficult choice to make between [Tyquan] Thornton, Remigio and rookie Jalen Royals.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAll can fill important roles. None would probably survive the waiver wire,\u201d he wrote. \u201cSo Kansas City chooses to put off that decision by placing Royals \u2014 who was held out of Friday\u2019s game with a knee injury \u2014 on its Reserve\/Injured list, identifying him as being eligible for a return designation. That allows the team to bring him back at any time after Game 4 \u2014 which might be about the time Rice begins serving his suspension.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s hard to determine if this is a bit of wishful thinking from Dixon, as this move allows him to keep other players on the 53, or maybe it\u2019s just a shrewd job of reading the tea leaves heading into the Chiefs\u2019 roster cutdown.<\/p>\n<hr \/>\n<h2>Chiefs LB Jack Cochrane Could Circumvent 53-Man Roster Cutdown, Too<\/h2>\n<p>Similar to Royals, Dixon also predicted that linebacker and core special teamer Jack Cochrane would begin the season on the injured reserve. NFL teams can designate up to two preseason injuries to return from IR, and the veteran writer has KC using their two slots on Royals and Cochrane.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe believe the Chiefs won\u2019t want to expose [undrafted rookie LB Cooper] McDonald to the waiver wire, so they\u2019ll do the same thing they did with the wide receivers: Jack Cochrane will go on short-term IR with his knee injury (he also didn\u2019t play on Friday night) so McDonald can make the initial 53,\u201d Dixon explained. \u201cWhen it\u2019s time for Cochrane to come back, the team will re-evaluate the situation.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>It should be noted that this time, Dixon and Arrowhead Pride were not alone. Chiefs Digest beat reporter Matt Derrick also predicted that Cochrane would start the season on IR on August 23.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cCochrane\u2019s knee bone bruise might be a blessing in disguise for the Chiefs if it allows them to keep McDonald,\u201d Derrick told readers.<\/p>\n<p>Adding: \u201cThe Chiefs may have wanted to hide the 6-foot-3, 240-pound TCU product during the preseason, but he \u2018unfortunately\u2019 posted 14 tackles, tied for 11th in the NFL in the preseason, and he added a 10-yard sack on Friday night.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Michael Obermuller covers the NFL for Heavy Sports, where he began writing in 2021. His areas of focus include the Kansas City Chiefs, New York Giants, Tampa Bay Buccaneers and Pittsburgh Steelers, with expert knowledge on each based on years of coverage. Michael is an NYC area native and Quinnipiac graduate. More about Michael Obermuller<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>With the 2025 53-man roster cutdown almost here, the Kansas City Chiefs were predicted to make an unexpected IR decision with a draft pick.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":6,"featured_media":92781,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-92780","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-nfl"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Chiefs Predicted to Stash Draft Pick on IR After Mysterious Injury - News 365<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/new365.azontree.com\/?p=92780\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Chiefs Predicted to Stash Draft Pick on IR After Mysterious Injury - 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