The cornerback is hoping to return for the playoffs on Saturday after undergoing in-season ankle surgery.
Things continue to trend in the right direction for cornerback Jaylen Watson to play in the Kansas City Chiefs’ Divisional round playoff game against the Houston Texans on Saturday.
Watson underwent surgery on a broken ankle in mid-October. Those within team circles believed it would be a reach for his return this season. But the cornerback rehabbed diligently — and after missing the Chiefs’ last 11 games, he seems poised to make his comeback for the club’s most crucial stretch of the season.
Watson officially took the practice field again on January 3.
“He’s been out there a little,” said defensive coordinator Steve Spagnuolo. “We had last week — those couple of practices. We had [Tuesday] because [Tuesday] was a no-helmets practice, which is a little bit different. Him and I spoke [Wednesday] morning. I think these next two days (Wednesday and Thursday) will be really important because hopefully, we’re going to get outside here [and] we’ll have helmets — at least shells — on.
“He needs to get up to the speed of the game — and it’s not regular-season speed; it’s playoff speed. So we’ll see where we’re at and make a good decision at the end of the week.”
Kansas City’s defense performed best with Watson on the field for the early stretch of the season. During his seven appearances, he allowed 15 receptions on 28 targets (54%), a better coverage rate than now-two-time All-Pro Trent McDuffie (61%) and his primary replacements at the No. 2 cornerback position: Joshua Williams (61%) and Nazeeh Johnson (61%).
This week’s challenge is quarterback C.J. Stroud, who threw for 282 yards and a touchdown against the Los Angeles Chargers while also picking up 42 yards on the ground in the Wild Card round.
“I was very impressed with him [Week 16],” said Spagnulo of Stroud. “I told him that after the game the last time we played them. For a young guy, [he’s] so talented, and we all saw last week what he did with his feet. I think as the importance of these games keep amping up, you could expect quarterbacks to say, ‘Hey, I might have to run it here,’ so we’ve talked extensively about trying to bottle this quarterback up because we saw last week what he can do when he decides to run it.
“It’s like all these athletic quarterbacks we play in this league now. It brings a whole other dimension and you’ve got to figure out ways — whether you commit one guy to the quarterback, turn three loose — however you do it, you’ve got to have ways to do it. That being said, we’ve got to get him in those situations.”
On Tuesday, head coach Andy Reid sounded optimistic about Watson but would not commit to him playing a full game’s worth of snaps. Regardless, Kansas City would be in for a boost when Watson returns to the field, even if that means he starts the game and is used sparingly in key situations.