Latest injury further compounds Chiefs' conundrum at the cornerback position

The Kansas City Chiefs can't seem to catch a break in their evaluation of the cornerback position.

Ahead of preseason Week 3 against the Chicago Bears, the Chiefs are now dealing with another injury at the position. Third-year CB Joshua Williams did not participate in practice on Tuesday due to a hamstring injury. Williams was unlikely to play in the final game of the preseason as he's tracking to be a starter , however, the new injury now casts at least some level of concern over his Week 1 status.

It also adds to a growing conundrum, which has been injuries in the cornerback room and elsewhere on defense dampening Spagnuolo's ability to truly evaluate a post-L'Jarius Sneed cornerback room.

"More frustrating than annoying, but it's really part of it," Spagnuolo said of the cornerback injuries. "I made this point in our unit meeting the other day, that I don't believe — we couldn't have because J-Reid hasn't had any practice snaps — I don't believe we've had the — let's call it our top 11, 12 or 13 guys, whatever that is — I don't think we've had them on the field for one play. That's concerning, frustrating. Now, I did say to them 'Those things are out of our control.' You can't control guys getting hurt. What we can control is our conditioning and being ready to play and all that. With regard to your question about the corners, it's making it really difficult to decide which way to go. You've got one more game, some of these guys will play that are still fighting for jobs, but we can't say that there's a starting other corner, right now, in all honesty."

Jaylen Watson, Nazeeh Johnson, and Williams — the three players who are likeliest to slot in as starters opposite Trent McDuffie — have each dealt with injuries during training camp. Watson is working his way back from a torn labrum . Johnson is working his way back from a torn ACL and dealt with a hamstring injury during camp. Now Williams is dealing with a hamstring. It has all made it particularly tough to carve out defined "starting" roles in the secondary, to the point where even Andy Reid is expecting a committee.

"We’ll see how it goes," Reid said on Monday. "(It) might be a committee over there, but it’s – there is some talent there.”

Could the Chiefs add a veteran cornerback to the roster?

Chiefs DC Steve Spagnuolo stopped short of saying the team would add a veteran to the cornerback room. However, this is the time of the year when you might have an opportunity to add via trade, free agency, or even waivers.

"I think, if you were to talk to Coach (Andy) Reid or Brett (Veach), they'd tell you that they're always looking," Spagnuolo said. "They've got their eyes on them. Typically, Brett will come to me and say, 'Will you look at this guy, that guy.' I'm sure that will happen in these next couple of days."

Just yesterday, the Chiefs hosted a recently released cornerback on a visit . The team showed interest in that same player ahead of the 2022 NFL draft, the same year they selected Trent McDuffie, Josh Williams, Jaylen Watson, and Nazeeh Johnson.

Spagnuolo also indicated the lack of stability at the top of the depth chart can cause some issues at the bottom of the depth chart. It might impact how many players they decide to keep. Ultimately, they all have one last opportunity to show out.

"We've got to go based off of what we see and our gut feeling," Spagnuolo said. "And these guys have just got to show the best they've got."

Related: Chiefs coach says he'll be 'pounding the table' for underdog wide receiver to make the 53-man roster