The Chiefs have placed safety Justin Reid on the non-football injury list, per Matt Derrick of ChiefsDigest.com. Fortunately, the situation does not sound overly serious, as Pete Sweeney of Arrowhead Pride notes that Reid is day-to-day with a quad injury.
Reid, a third-round pick of the Texans in 2018, played out his four-year rookie contract with Houston and signed a three-year, $31.5MM deal with the Chiefs in 2022. He has served as a full-time defensive starter since then, racking up 178 tackles and 14 pass deflections along the way while helping the team win consecutive Super Bowls.
Interestingly, a report from last month indicated that Kansas City plans on using him (rather than kicker Harrison Butker) on kickoffs. Thanks to the much-discussed rule changes concerning kickoffs, more returns are expected to take place in 2024, so adding a defender to the coverage team would provide an upgrade in terms of tackling compared to kickers. That is the thought process behind the projected move, and Reid is not entirely unfamilar with the kicking game; in Week 1 of the 2022 season, he handled kickoffs and two extra point attempts (converting one) in relief of an injured Butker.
Teams are generally hesitant to deploy an important offensive or defensive starter on special teams because they don’t want that player getting injured in the game’s third phase, though the Chiefs did add Jaden Hicks in the fourth round of this year’s draft as insurance for Reid. And despite Kansas City’s overall strong defensive showing in 2023, Reid himself regressed a bit, finishing as Pro Football Focus’ 79th-best safety out of 95 qualifiers thanks in large part to a poor 51.8 coverage grade.
Although the prognosis is a good one, any kind of absence could affect the Chiefs’ special teams plans, as Reid will likely need plenty of time to get acclimated to his new kickoff duties.