Chiefs Re-Sign 6-foot-2 Rookie Wide Receiver Amid Injury Issues
The Kansas City Chiefs opened the 2025 campaign with a disappointing 27-21 loss to the Los Angeles Chargers, and even though they have only played one game, injury concerns are beginning to pop up across the roster. Perhaps the spot that has been hit the hardest is wide receiver, which is an issue the team had to deal with in 2024.
With Rashee Rice being suspended for the first six games of the season and Jalen Royals being ruled out ahead of Week 1, the Chiefs were already shorthanded at wide receiver, but they took another big hit when Xavier Worthy was forced out of the game on the first drive with a shoulder injury. With his Week 2 status in doubt, Kansas City opted to reunite with Hal Presley on Tuesday.
Chiefs Sign Hal Presley to Their Practice Squad
Presley didn’t hear his name called in the 2025 NFL Draft, but he quickly signed with the Buffalo Bills as an undrafted free agent. He didn’t last long with them, though, as he ended up getting released after rookie minicamp. That led to the Chiefs signing him ahead of training camp, where he flashed his potential on several occasions.
It wasn’t much of a surprise to see Presley get released as part of the team’s final roster cuts, but he ended up latching on with their practice squad. Again, he didn’t stick around for very long, as Kansas City ended up releasing him one day after signing him to their practice squad, and he’s spent the past couple of weeks waiting for his next opportunity.
With the Chiefs getting hit hard by injuries at wide receiver, they are looking for some more depth, which led them back to Presley. On Tuesday, Presley found his way back to Kansas City, re-signing with its practice squad as an emergency option in the event more injuries pop up at the wide receiver spot moving forward.
“Chiefs are signing WR Hal Presley to practice squad per a league source,” Aaron Wilson of KPRC 2 Houston reported in a post on X.
Chiefs Hoping to Get Healthy at Wide Receiver Soon
The likelihood of Presley suiting up for the Chiefs is low, but he’s still a solid developmental prospect who has familiarity with the team’s offensive scheme. If he’s needed in a pinch, he can fill in on offense, and even if he isn’t needed, there’s no harm in developing him behind the scenes. Chances are Worthy won’t play in Week 2, meaning that Kansas City’s depth is going to be tested again early in the season.
If Worthy and Royals both can’t play against the Philadelphia Eagles in Week 2, that will force Marquise Brown, JuJu Smith-Schuster, and Tyquan Thornton to step up once again in the passing game. The injury bug has already hit the Chiefs pretty hard, but they will have to do their best to not focus on that as they gear up for their Super Bowl LIX rematch with Philadelphia at 4:25 p.m. ET on Sunday.
Texans Planning Bigger Role for Nick Chubb
Expect to see some more Nick Chubb in the Houston Texans' offense after a solid Week 1 showing.
Following Houston's season opener loss vs. the LA Rams, 9-14, Texans head coach DeMeco Ryans was still impressed by what he saw from Chubb in his debut since signing in June. In all, Chubb finished with 13 carries for 60 yards on the ground, averaging 4.6 yards a carry and leading the way in touches throughout the running back room.
And moving forward into the year, Ryans says he wants to lean on Chubb a bit more in the backfield.
"I think Chubb ran the ball really well," Ryans said in an interview with Texans Radio. "We tried to mix it up with the backs– got Woody some touches, Dameon [Pierce]– we're going to try to lean in with Chubb a little bit more."
"He deserves it. He’s shown that he continues to get better as the game went on. You saw him running stronger, finishing plays in a physical manner. So, we've got to get him going a little bit more, and I think he can really help us."
Chubb has seemingly made a super strong impression in the Texans' building since arriving on his one-year, $5 million deal in the offseason, and without Joe Mixon in the fold as he deals with a foot injury that has placed him on the Injured Reserve for at least the first four weeks of the year, the door has opened for Chubb to have some major responsibility in this scoring unit.
Chubb sits in the Texans' running back room alongside veteran Dameon Pierce, rookie Woody Marks, and team captain Dare Ogunbowale to share the workload with– certainly a group that faced a fair share of questions before the season, of just how the responsibilities would be divided in the backfield.
But, as Chubb continues to prove he's healthy from last season and the most productive guy in the room, Ryans clearly wants to get the ball in his hands in the run game while they deal with Mixon's absence– however long that may be– and bank on his physicality and consistent improvements to be a driving force in their work on the ground.
Chubb has reportedly been consistent and hard-working for the Texans dating back to training camp, has clear respect in the locker room from teammates and the coaching staff, and of course, has a proven track record in the league of being one of the better runners of the football in recent history while at his peak production.
That doesn't mean you won't see guys like Pierce, Marks, and Ogunbowale get some occasional reps their way as well, but if Ryans' comments prove true, we could very well be looking at the start of Chubb being a real bellcow in Houston.
